Module Identifier DR30620  
Module Title SHAKESPEARE IN PERFORMANCE  
Academic Year 2005/2006  
Co-ordinator Dr Alison Forsyth  
Semester Semester 2  
Pre-Requisite Successful completion of Part 1 Drama.  
Course delivery Lecture   20 x 1 Hours  
  Seminars / Tutorials   10 x 1 Hours  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Exam2 Hours 60%
Semester Assessment Essay30%
Semester Assessment Class contribution  10%

Learning outcomes

Typically, upon completion of this module students should be able:

- To demonstrate a critical and analytical awareness of the theatricality of specific Shakespeare plays.
- To reflect analytically and critically on the assumptions which documented production choices embody.
- To show an understanding of the implications various critical approaches may generate for production choices.


Brief description

This module will focus on a selection of Shakespeare plays with a particular emphasis upon the staging of those plays throughout history. The production history of the selected plays will provide insights into how performance, context and staging techniques can alter or discover new meanings from the play-texts

Aims

This module examines a number of Shakespearean play texts to explore ways in which:
a) their creation and mediation was determined by original staging circumstances
b) later generations restaged them in ways to create new meanings
c) they might be staged creatively today

Content

During the study for this module students will encounter differing approaches to the interpretation and performances of selected texts.   

Lecture Schedule

Shakespeare: Society and Performance
Titus Andronicus
Othello
King Lear
The Taming of The Shrew
Henry V
Richard III
Twelfth Night
The Tempest
Directing Shakespeare

Module Skills

Research skills Students will demonstrate the results of individual research in the form of essays, examinations and oral contribution.  
Communication Communication skills will be developed in seminar sessions  
Improving own Learning and Performance Students will receive feedback on written assignments  
Information Technology IT and information handling skills will be demonstrated through students individual research (library and web) and through written work (word processing).  
Personal Development and Career planning Students will have the opportunity to explore specific areas which reflect and strengthen their individual career needs  
Subject Specific Skills Students are encouraged to develop the use of critical and analytical vocabulary in their written and oral response to issues concerning Shakespeare's plays as text and in performance. Production history of selected Shakespeare plays will also be considered in some depth so that students will acquire an understanding of how context, directorial choices, acting styles, casting and other aspects of production alter or bring out new meanings in the plays. Upon completion students should be able : to respond analytically to a range of theatrical texts and modes of live performance, to articulate an awareness of relationships between texts, performances and cultural contexts, to demonstrate an understanding of key concepts and methodologies within Shakespeare studies.  

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
Bate, and Jackson, (2001) The Oxford Illustrated History of Shakespeare on Stage (OUP)
Dessen, (1989) Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare in Performance: MUP)
Holderness, (1989) The Taming of The Shrew (Shakespeare in Performance: MUP)
Leggatt, (1991) King Lear (Shakespeare in Performance: MUP))
Mangan, (1996) A Preface to Shakespeare's Tragedies (Longman)
Shakespeare, William, The tempest / Cambridge University Press, 521783755
Shakespeare, William Titus Andronicus edition n.e. . Arden Shakespeare 1903436052
Dawson, Anthony B. Hamlet edition n.e. . Manchester U.P. 719046254
Loehlin, James N. Henry V edition n.e. . Manchester U.P. 719059445
Wells, Shakepeare in the Theatre (Oxford)
Shakespeare, William Othello edition n.e. . Arden Shakespeare 1903436451
Shakespeare, William Merchant of Venice edition n.e. . Arden Shakespeare 1903436818
Shakespeare, William King Lear edition n.e. . Arden Shakespeare 1903436583
Leggatt, Alexander King Lear Manchester U.P. 719027489
Shakespeare, William Hamlet edition n.e. . Arden Shakespeare 1903436672
Shakespeare, William Twelfth Night edition n.e. . Arden Shakespeare 1903436990
Dessen, Alan C. Titus Andronicus edition n.e. . Manchester U.P. 719027446
Mangan, (1996) A Preface to Shakespeare's Comedies (Longman)
Wells, & Stanton, (2002) The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Stage (Cambridge)
Holmes, (2004) Merely Players? (Routledge)
Bogdanov, (2003) Shakespeare: The Director's Cut (Capercaillie)
Gurr, The Shakespearean Stage: 1574 - 1642 (CUP)
Scott, Shakespeare and the Modern Dramatist (Macmillan)
Alexander and Wells Shakespeare and Race (Routledge)
Bristol, Big Time Shakespeare (Routledge)
Parsons & Mason, (1995) Shakespeare in Performance
Thomson, (1992) Shakespeare`s Theatre (Routledge)
** Supplementary Text
Shakespeare, William Taming of the Shrew edition n.e. . Arden Shakespeare 1903436931
Oxford Illustrated History of Shakespeare on Stage Oxf.U.P. 192802135
Mangan, Michael "Preface to Shakespeare's Comedies,1594-1603" Longman 582095905
Mangan, Michael Preface to Shakespeare's Tragedies Longman 582355036
Shakespeare in Performance edition n.e. . Salamander Bks. 1840651954
Thomson, Peter, Shakespeare's Theatre / Routledge, 415073111

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6