The aim of this module is to develop your independent study skills and your knowledge of local theatres and theatrical practice, focusing on the New Victoria Theatre and the Regent Theatre. An awareness of the discrete 'type' of each theatre (subsidised/producing, commercial/presenting) will form a key part of the understanding in the module. This will form the basis for further study into areas such as: funding sources and mechanisms, history, programming and policy, audiences and marketing and media coverage. For the individual presentation assessment you will be asked to complete one of the following:

Programme Note: In consultation with the module tutor, you will devise your own topic under the umbrella title of 'Aspects of Local Theatre History'. For example, you may decide to investigate the staging of a particular play at one of the local theatres in 1950, utilising theatre archives, local and national newspaper reviews and other research. Your findings will be presented in the form of a programme note, which might accompany the restaging of this play in the future.

Playbill: By assuming (theoretically) the position of artistic director of either the New Victoria Theatre, Stoke on Trent, or the Regent Theatre, you will construct a season of four plays to be staged at one of these theatres within a clearly-defined time period. Your account should be carefully researched, providing an analysis of the kind of repertoire normally performed at that theatre, the audience composition, financial considerations and box-office targets. Each play should be supported by an explanation of why you have selected it and its purpose in the season as a whole. You should consider the following factors in devising your season: i) number of actors required; ii) size of budget required per production; iii) expected box-office percentage; iv) casting; v) publicity.

PORTFOLIO 1,500 words [Learning Outcomes 1,4]
PRESENTATION - INDIVIDUAL, 0.17 hrs [Learning Outcomes 1-3]

Video, audio, slide projection equipment
IT software (e.g. word processing, PowerPoint)
Library
Theatre and newspaper archives
Theatre visits

J. Gibaldi & W. Achert: MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
Susan Bennett, Theatre Audiences: A theory of production and reception, Routledge, 1990
Anthony Jackson, 'The Repertory Movement in England 1960-1990', in Englisches Theater der Gegenwart, GNV, 1993
Denis McQuail, Audience Analysis, Sage, 1997
John Pick, The Theatre Industry: Profit, subsidy and the search for new audiences, Commedia Media and Communications Industry
Profile, 1985 George Rowell and Anthony Jackson, The Repertory Movement: A History of Regional Theatre in Britain (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984)

Lectures will introduce students to the nature, history and organisation of the local theatres to be studied. The lectures will also provide historical and theoretical context for comparison of the theatrical work of each, and consider ways of approaching historical and contemporary research of theatrical practice. Seminars and/or workshops will enable further student discussion, analysis and comparative study of the theatrical venues in specific areas (e.g. marketing, artistic policy). Tutorials will offer guidance on the development of your chosen presentation topic. Depending on whether you have opted for the Programme Note or the Playbill, your independent study will include certain elements of the following: investigation of a particular theatre via theatre visits, newspaper and theatre archives, and library resources; consideration of the process of theatre management via theatre visits and library resources. Students will also articulate the results of the research in the form of an 8-10 minute oral presentation. The portfolio will consist of a number of short written pieces (e.g. a review of the production) which will examine your understanding of each 'type' of theatrical venue and its work.