Unit information: Methods and Questions in Performance Research in 2013/14

Unit name	Methods and Questions in Performance Research
Unit code	DRAMM1217
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Professor. Baz Kershaw
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Theatre
Faculty	Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences

Description including Unit Aims

This unit will explore key concepts of, and questions about, research into and through performance in culture generally and cultural performance in particular. It will draw on a wide range of research methods developed in theatre and performance studies (and related disciplines), and investigate their application in a variety of creative contexts including, e.g. the traditions of professional theatre, avant garde performance, performance in rituals and everyday life. In dealing with research methods it will address the formulation of key questions in performance research, in light of debates surrounding notions of process and products, of live and mediated, of ephemerality and documentation and so on, all of which impact crucially on research project design. Students will select a particular area of performance research - e.g. a historiography, practice as research, performance ethnography - and undertake a close study of contrasting performance practices in order to determine how such research can enhance understandings of aesthetic principles and social purposes. The performances will be chosen for their cultural significance to particular communities and groupings and for the potential for fresh applications of research methods. Overall, the unit will provide an investigation of the sources of performance in particular social processes and specific cultural contexts, through investigation of performances selected from genres of practice such as domestic ceremonies, secular rituals, celebratory protests, popular entertainments, "$ymainstream") theatre, political performance and cross-cultural performance.

Aims:

1. To explore key concepts and methods relating to performance research in theatre and performance studies (and related disciplines);
2. To explore critically a range of performance practices, in a range of contexts, including traditions of professional performance, at an advanced level.
3. To develop and apply appropriate critical and theoretical approaches to research into chosen practices;
4. To investigate relationships between performance and its social contexts through research.
5. To investigate in a chosen theoretical/analytical and practical/creative manner one or more alternative modes of performative expression to an advanced level.
6. To develop and apply appropriate self-reflective analytical methods in performance research.
7. To identify, develop and apply appropriate critical awareness of research methods in performance to an advanced level.

Plus as appropriate to the mode of teaching, that is, the combination of seminar and practice-based workshop and/or presentations.

1. To develop and apply, as appropriate, production skills for performance practice.
2. To develop group-work project skills to an advanced level
3. To be able to reflect on individual work within a collaborative production context.

Intended Learning Outcomes

1. To demonstrate knowledge of, and use creatively, a wider range of secondary literature than at Level H
2. To demonstrate knowledge of a research methods in a range of performance practices, in a range of contexts, including traditions of professional performance, at an advanced level.
3. To be aware of, and able to apply to an advanced level, a broad range of established critical and theoretical ideas and to develop a critical approach towards them
4. To demonstrate an understanding of relationships between performance and its social contexts through research.
5. To be able to present a clear and well-structured argument concerning performance reserach, supported by relevant critical and theoretical literature, that additionally develops independent lines of inquiry
6. To demonstrate abilities in various approaches to performance research, selected from a range including practice as research through to historiographic performance research.
7. To present work that is assured in its use of English and referencing
8. To be able to communicate verbally key ideas based on a range of secondary reading, relevant primary texts and independent research/lines of inquiry
9. To demonstrate skills of time management
10. To plan and execute a research project to an advanced level

Plus as appropriate to the mode of teaching, that is, the combination of seminar and practice-based workshop and/or presentations:

1. To be able to write a reflective account of practical work, making connections with an appropriate range of critical and theoretical ideas
2. To be able to work constructively and creatively in a group-based workshop
3. To be able to work within the disciplines of production and project processes, working to deadlines and within production budgets
4. To work independently and reach individual/personal judgements within a collaborative context
5. To be able to reflect on individual work within a collaborative production context and with reference to an appropriate range of critical ideas.

Teaching Information

These may include: Lectures; workshops; seminars; plenary and small group discussions; viewings; essay/critical analysis; small-scale practical project;

Assessment Information

Either:

2 x Essays (2,500 words)

Or:

1 x Essay (2,500 words) (50%) and 1 x Seminar Presentation and write up (1,500 words) (50%)

Or:

1 x Essay (2,500 words) (50%) and 1 x Critical Analysis (1,500 words) (50%)

Or:

1 x Practical Project Outcome: students will devise and present a small-scale performance for/with a group in the university or local community; this may be done as a group or individually, in agreement with the Course Director. (70%)

And:

Written Analysis and Theoretical Reflections: students will submit a 1,500 word report analysing the strengths and weaknesses of the practical project with reference to appropriate theoretical perspectives (30%)

Reading and References

Auslander, Philip (1999) Liveness: Performance in a Mediatised Culture, London: Routledge.

McKenzie, John (2001) Perform or Else: from Discipline to Performance, London: Routledge.

PARIP documents: www.bris.ac.uk/parip

Phelan, Peggy & Jill Lane, eds. (1998) The Ends of Performance, New York University Press.

Kershaw, Baz (1999) The Radical in Performance: Between Brecht and Baudrillard, London: Routledge.

Kershenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara (1998) Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums and Heritage, Berkeley: University of California Press.