| Unit name | Age of the Actress |
|---|---|
| Unit code | THTR20026 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Professor. McGirr |
| 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 uses PAR and historical methodologies to interrogate the birth of celebrity culture and its impact on theatrical meaning-making. By bringing together historical and performance practices, we open up questions about both past and present, interpretation and reception. This course offers a primary focus on the power of the period’s celebrity actresses to make meaning both on-stage and off. We will use both celebrity studies and eighteenth-century acting techniques to investigate celebrity personae and create ‘star turns.’ This course develops writing for performance, dramaturgical and acting skills together with historical research and editing.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study:
This course balances historical research, close reading, dramaturgical and acting techniques to investigate how, where and when meaning is made. It builds on both the research and text-based skills of units such as Reading Drama and Performance Histories and the practical work of course units such as Making Theatre. It develops a suite of PAR skills and methodologies that will be further developed elsewhere in I/5 and H/6.
Overview:
It is no coincidence that celebrity culture developed in tandem with the rise of the professional actress. The long eighteenth century (1660-1832) was the age of the actress: audiences flocked to see female performers, who commanded the best parts, the highest wages and were the most talked and written about. The public “knew” these celebrity performers through their overlapping performances on stage and off: the roles they played were vehicles for managing and promoting the celebrity of star actresses; actresses used their on-stage characters in turn to promote their off-stage celebrity personae; while these celebrity personae inflected and informed interpretations of the roles they played. This course will explore the early actress’s repertoire and contemporary media representations to deepen understanding of these pioneering professionals, and the centuries-old interrelation of media and theatre.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit:
Students will develop confidence in archival and historical research, in writing and editing scripts for performance and in presenting and performing real people. They will also deepen their understanding of the impact of celebrity on performance and interpretation.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
Class time will be a mix of seminar, workshop and lecture. Each session will model one or more practice as research methodologies appropriate for the course content, including but not limited to: working with databases, archival research with digital and physical objects; close reading and script work; adapting documentary evidence for performance; experimentation with costume, acting techniques and staging conventions.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
All sessions provide students opportunities to learn through doing and practice the skills they will be assessed on: continuous formative feedback will be provided each week. In addition, all students will have a work-in-progress showing and receive peer and tutor feedback to inform the final assessment.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Biographic sketch, 1250 words (30%) [ILOs 1,3]
Creative Presentation, 5 minutes/person (70%) [ILOs 1-3]
When assessment does not go to plan
Reassessment
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
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. THTR20026).
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.
