Module Identifier DRM0730  
Module Title INTERCULTURAL THEATRE  
Academic Year 2005/2006  
Co-ordinator Dr Daniel Dinkgräfe  
Semester Semester 2  
Course delivery Lecture   Lecture/presentations with seminar component: 12 x 2 hours. 24 contact hours  
  Other   Each lecture includes a component of group discussion  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Assessment Essay: 7,500 words Submission: one month after the end of the module100%
Supplementary Assessment Essay: Submission of the essay to a new title100%

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:



Aims

The aim of the module is:

Content

Since the beginning of the 20th century, Western theatre artists have been more and more influenced by non-Western concepts relating to philosophy or psychology in general and theatre aesthetics in particular. This development has led to intentional and conscious attempts at intercultural theatre, which can be broadly grouped into three categories: productions in which material from other cultures dominates, being regarded as models or ideals (e.g. productions "in the style of" Peking Opera or Noh theatre). Productions in which the original culture dominates, and foreign elements are used to enlarge the range of expression in the theatre (e.g. Mnouchkine's Shakespeare productions). The third group of intercultural theatre aims at a universal language of the theatre (e.g. Peter Brook, The Mahabharata). Theatre practice has been followed, over the last 10 years, by theoretical approaches to intercultural theatre by Pavis, and in a scathing critique by Rustom Bharucha. The debate is only just beginning. In 12 two-hour lecture/seminar sessions (spread over six weeks) this module will introduce the major Western intercultural theatre artists of this century, and discuss their intercultural theatre practice in the light of the theory and the criticism. Finally, an alternative model of interculturalism is proposed, inviting lively discussion.

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
Grotowski, Jerzy (1969) Towards a Poor Theatre, ed. Eugenio Barber with a preface by Peter Brook London: Metheun
Pavis, Patrice (1992) Theatre at the Crossroads of Culture London & New York: Routledge
Shevtsova, Maria (1993) Theatre and Cultural Interaction (Sydney Studies in Society and Culture 9) Sydney: University of Sydney Press
Barba, Eugenio and Nicola Savarese (1991) The Secret Art of the Performer. A Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology London & New York: Routledge
Artaud, Antonin (1974) The Theatre and its Double (Collected Works Vol. 4, translated by Victor Corti) London: Calder & Boyars Ltd.
** Essential Reading
Bharucha, Rustom (1993) Theatre and the World. Essay on Performance and Politics of Culture London & New York: Routledge
Pavis, Patrice (1996) The Intercultural Performance Reader London, New York: Routledge

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 7