| Unit name | Early Modern Theatre Performance |
|---|---|
| Unit code | THTR20022 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Eleanor Rycroft |
| 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 a unique opportunity to focus solely on the drama of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Significantly, it will facilitate your development as critical makers of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, advancing your historical awareness but also the role of early modern drama in contemporary society and the modern theatre. A working knowledge of the playtexts and performance conventions of the early modern era is crucial for any graduate entering a theatre industry in which Shakespeare is the most performed playwright, and where venues such as the RSC and Shakespeare’s Globe are culturally dominant. Importantly, this unit will provide you with a number of practical skills, including verse-speaking and understanding of early modern embodiment and performance spaces, in addition to developing specialist critical and interpretative abilities. These will enable you to approach the early modern cultural and creative industries with confidence.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study:
This Year 2 unit builds on the theatrical and practical skills introduced through Year 1 and develops them through a specialist investigation of one of the key periods of British theatre. It expands the cultural, contextual, historical and performative frameworks of theatre practice, and builds skills in classical theatre techniques such as verse-speaking, stock characterisation and boy playing and its impacts on performance.
Overview
Students will encounter a range of performance texts and contexts from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in a unit which emphasizes modes of staging and early modern performative practices, while examining how we can respond to classical drama as contemporary practitioners. Students will develop understanding of indoors and outdoors performances in amphitheatres such as The Globe and private playhouses such as The Blackfriars. Through workshops they will develop their interpretative and performance skills, focusing on, for instance, early modern rehearsal and acting techniques and uses of space in the early modern drama. By the end of the unit, students will have a thorough understanding of the historical and cultural contexts of early modern theatre, as well as a detailed knowledge of early modern practices of playing including verse-speaking, stagecraft, and stock characterisation. They will have the ability to collaboratively devise and produce, and individually reflect, upon a group project which responds to early modern drama as a product of its time, and of our own too.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
Throughout this unit, students will develop appropriate critical and theoretical approaches to texts and performance practices. As well as developing detailed knowledge of the historical contexts which shape early modern drama, they will also be able to reflect critically upon the performance of Shakespeare and his contemporaries in a contemporary theatre context. Through the workshops, and the skills developed through the group performance project’ students will develop the confidence to intervene, reinterpret and reimagine texts from the past, and to critically reflect upon the choices they have made.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
Workshops will provide the opportunity to develop and apply historical and theatrical knowledge to the performance of early modern drama. We will develop critical practice which will engage with contemporary theatrical forms such as Original Practice, as well as examining how to adapt early modern plays for modern audiences. We will also build the analytical skills to reflect upon our work. Learning will be augmented with film screenings, industry-focused visiting practitioners, and optional theatre trips.
Tasks which help you learn:
Although there are no formal formative assessments, students will learn through presenting their ideas in seminars and during workshops. They will also have opportunities for small group and 1-2-1 tutorials before each assessment.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Group performance (3 mins/student) assessment (70%) [ILOs 1, 2, 3, 4]
Critical reflection (individual), 1000 words (30%) [ILOs 1,3, 5]
When assessment does not go to plan
Reassessment
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.
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. THTR20022).
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 assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
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.
