| Unit name | Staging the Text |
|---|---|
| Unit code | THTR10006 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | C/4 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Mark France |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
Introduction to Performance Practices OR Introduction to Design for Performance |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of Theatre |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit introduces students to a range of approaches to staging a play for an audience. Practical, studio-based workshops will explore various ways of performing, directing and designing dramatic texts. Students will follow the process from page to stage, collaborating in groups to rehearse a shortened version or adaptation of the chosen play, which will be performed in the Department’s Wickham Theatre. Scenography and production elements will be realised through a separate strand of teaching, which will combine with acting, directing and dramaturgy workshops so that together this unit addresses most aspects of practical theatre-making, enabling students to take a play through to the various processes of making a performance. The unit will explore exemplary stagings, actors, directors, dramaturgs or ensembles, and will develop students’ critical skills through reflection on their own and others’ practice.
The unit aims to:
On successful completion of this unit students will have developed their
(1) ability to stage a scene or scenes from a play in the Wickham Theatre;
(2) practical understanding of a range of ways of making theatre;
(3) approaches to interpreting a play and analysing texts for performance;
(4) ability to collaborate effectively, constructively and creatively in group-based workshops;
(5) ability to apply and adapt the tools introduced through taught workshops to their own interpretations of scenes;
(6) approaches to documenting workshops, contextual research, rehearsal processes and performance;
(7) critical engagement with theatre through reflections on their own and others’ practices.
Students will initially take part in practical workshops, followed by self-directed research, development and rehearsals in groups, with staff tutorials. The unit concludes with a rehearsal and production period, leading up to the assessed performance. If a live physical performance is not possible, digital and other alternatives will be used to assess student practical work.
The taught workshops develop students' ways of approaching a play and provide tools for interpreting, devising around, directing, acting, designing and staging a text. These will be contextualised by further reading, discussion, occasional presentations of research and screenings. Workshops are increasingly self-directed, and teaching will take the form of group tutorials and feedback on ideas for staging, performance material produced and work-in-progress.
Critical analysis (1000 words) (40%) ILO 3, 4, 6, 7.
Practical work: for a group mark (60%) ILO 1,2,4,5
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. THTR10006).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an
assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
