PERFORMANCE and PROCESS weighted at 80% (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)
Individually marked, you will be assessed on your ability to create one or more characters in a production of a heightened text play. .

WRITTEN ASSESSMENT weighted at 20% (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)
Individually marked, you will be asked to analyse and reflect upon your practical work and discuss the efficacy of the acting and performance technique and methodologies used when creating characters from non-naturalistic texts. This written assignment which may be in the form of blogs or short reflective notes which will allow an opportunity for you to develop your critical and analytical skills in response to your practical work experienced. The total number of words will be 1,200.

You will be introduced to key concepts, key practitioners and major historical forms in theatre, drama and performance practice. You will work on a heightened text play exploring acting and performance techniques commonly used for the realisation of non-naturalistic texts. You will be required to identify the performance possibilities inherent in the texts studied and pay particular attention to the form and structure of the language. You will engage with the work of other groups working on heightened text plays and be required to see their performances. This will help you deepen your study of rehearsal techniques, methodologies and concepts advocated by a wide range of theatre practitioners. There will be four introductory seminar and workshop sessions which, together with the rehearsal and performance process, help you consider the following:

Text and context: locating the text in historical, social-political, cultural and aesthetic contexts.
Theatre semiotics: stage directions and implications (for body, language, space and action).
Theatre historiography: the relationship between practices in a historical context and contemporary articulations.
Narrative, structure, style and dramaturgy.
Character development.
Key concepts and acting/performance methodologies appropriate to the realisation of non-naturalistic texts.

The play texts for this module will be introduced through a series of staff led rehearsals specifically designed to help deepen each student’s engagement with the rehearsal and performance methodologies and the critical theories and vocabularies introduced.

Students will be expected to work independently outside of timetabled staff contact hours and creatively engage with the texts through their participation in both staff and student led workshops. Therefore, integral to the learning experience of this module will be the ability to devise and construct appropriate exploratory rehearsals and workshops and to learn to read and engage with a variety of texts from different periods and styles.

Students will be encouraged to notate, document and analyse the theatrical procedures and training encountered in the module, to work collaboratively and to recognise the importance of teamwork in the pursuit of common goals within the rehearsal environment and to reflect upon their creative achievement. (1200 words)

Drama Studios
Library
Seminar Rooms
Lecture Theatres
Internet and Blackboard VLE
IT software
Lighting and Sound software and equipment

Barba, Eugenio (1991) A Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology – the Secret Arts of the Performer. Routledge
Barton, Robert (2010) Style for Actors. Routledge.
Berry, Cicely (2001) Text in Action. London Virgin Publishing.
Block, Giles (2014) Speaking the Speech. Routledge.
Calley, Dymphna (2007) Through the Body. Nick Hearn Books.
Callow, Simon (2010) Acting in Restoration Comedy DVD. BBC.
Donnellan Declan (2007) The Actor and the Target. Nick Hearn Books.
Linklater, Kristin (2006) Freeing the Natural Voice. Nick Hearn Books.
Noble, Adrian (2010) How To Do Shakespeare. Routledge.
Pearson, Mike (2010) Site- Specific Performance. Palgrave Macmillan

1. IDENTIFY THE PERFORMANCE POSSIBILITIES INHERENT IN SELECTED NON-NATURALISTIC TEXTS AND CONTEXTUALISE THESE TEXTS WITHIN THEIR ORIGINAL HISTORICAL, SOCIAL-POLITICAL, CULTURAL AND AESTHETIC CONTEXTS.
[Knowledge and Understanding]

2. EXPLORE A RANGE OF CONCEPTUAL AND REHEARSAL TECHNIQUES APPROPRIATE TO THE REALISATION OF CHARACTERS FROM DIFFERENT THEATRICAL STYLES.
[Creativity]

3. WORK EFFECTIVELY WITHIN SMALL GROUPS ON SELECTED SCENES WITHIN THE TIME SCALE AND GUIDELINES SET.
[Creative Collaboration]

4. CRITICALLY REFLECT UPON, ANALYSE AND DISCUSS THE EFFICACY OF THE REHEARSAL PROCESSES EXPERIENCED FROM A RANGE OF THEATRICAL AND PERFORMANCE PERSPECTIVES.
[Enquiry; Reflection]