| Unit name | Popular Performance |
|---|---|
| Unit code | THTR20018 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Reimers |
| 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) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of Theatre |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
This unit provides students with the chance to study forms of performance that many people see and enjoy, but that have historically been neglected within academic study. Examining forms such as musical theatre, stand-up comedy, and drag performance, the unit engages with the latest scholarship in the field to interrogate the cultural significance of the “popular”. Engaging with questions of entertainment, value, and politics, this unit considers popular performance as a site of contestation and invites students to explore creatively how ideology operates within performance. The unit provides an opportunity to apply theory to practice, exploring how scholarship can inform staging approaches.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study:
Popular Performance builds on your learning on the Analysing Performance and the Pitching Productions units. You will develop your understanding of a range of critical theories and will hone your skills in applying these theories to creative outputs. Practical work on the unit will be underpinned by your learning in the Making Theatre unit and will help prepare you for the staff-led and independent practice-as-research unit options in your final year of study.
An overview of content
The unit engages with a range of forms regularly defined as “popular”, which might include music hall, cabaret, musical theatre, theme parks, stand-up comedy, carnival, and contemporary popular music. Students will encounter a range of critical approaches from Cultural Studies and beyond to facilitate an investigation into the relationship between popular performance and a range of issues, such as commercialism, industrialisation, globalisation, neoliberalism, race, gender and sexuality. Through asynchronous activities and in-class discussions you will develop your understanding of the relationship between representation and ideology, while practical activities will enable you to explore these issues creatively. The unit will take an international perspective, considering the significance of global and local dynamics in popular performance.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
The learning activities on this unit are designed to support your development as a critically-engaged practitioner, who can apply theory to practice and whose work is sensitive to the operations of power within performance.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
The unit will take a project-based learning approach, examining a number of popular performance case studies through both critical theory and practical exploration. Students will undertake a range of asynchronous activities to prepare for in-class activities that will include the application of theory to practice.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
There will be a variety of in-class activities which will provide opportunities for peer and tutor feedback on your work, which might include micro-presentations, pitches, and brief written tasks. Tutorials will also be offered to students ahead of the assessments.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Group creative presentation (50%) [ILOs 1-3]
Critical reflection (50%) [ILO 3,4]
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year. In the case of the presentation the re-assessment would be an individual rather than group presentation - Individual Presentation presentation (50%)
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. THTR20018).
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 University 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. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
