EA371-6-AU-SO:
Applied and Political Theatres
2024/25
East 15 Acting School
Southend Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 6
Current
Thursday 03 October 2024
Friday 13 December 2024
30
31 March 2021
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
BA W495 World Performance
This module engages students in the study of performance practitioners and forms (e.g. Boal, Brecht, Ancient Greek theatre, Agit-Prop, Worker's Theatre, Feminist Theatre, etc) which have an intended application beyond the entertainment of paying audiences by professional practitioners. The module includes an overview of such practice, and case studies of three such practitioners or forms.
The aims of the modue are:
To engage critically and analytically with a range of applied performance forms
To raise awareness of the function of performance as a tool for social conformity, community identity or socio-political change, as well as aesthetic endeavour or entertainment
To undertake a substantial independent research project
To allow students to work collaboratively in creating a piece of applied theatre for a specific audience
Students will be able to demonstrate:
An understanding of several forms of applied and political theatre, and their relationships to their original cultural contexts
An ability to investigate, and to offer a critical and analytical account of, one major practitioner or form in the area
The ability to present complex information both orally and in writing so that it is clear, structured, accurate, and engaging
Project planning skills (including negotiation and communication skills) to realise a piece of group collaborative performance with minimal input from tutors
Performance and/or camera and video editing skills sufficient to create and/or make a record of a piece of Applied performance
The ability to articulate their ideas and research findings spontaneously
Module Outline
1. Overview: Theatre and Society
A survey of forms of theatre and performance that refuse to be, or seek to be more than, entertainment and have agendas beyond the aesthetic.
2. Practical examinations may be derived from the following:
- Compulsory Theatre - For example: Ancient Greek theatre festivals, Passion Plays or initiation rituals, in which the performance is an essential event in the life of the community that produces it.
- Engaged Practitioners - For example: Bertolt Brecht, Joan Littlewood, etc. in which practitioners stage for an audience material with an explicitly radical socio-political content.
- Audience engagement - For example Boal's Forum Theatre, Invisible Theatre, or Theatre of the Oppressed, Worker's Theatre, 1960s 'Happenings,' which rely for their effect on the active involvement and participation of the spectator.
3. Creating Performance:
Under the direction and supervision of a professional practitioner, students will research, develop and devise a piece of original work on a theme developed in collaboration with the director.
Teaching Methods: 1 x 2-hour lecture per week; 1 x 2-hour workshop per week.
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Marshall, L. and Oida, Y. (1992) Actor Adrift. London: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.
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Stanislavsky, Konstantin (no date)
An Actor’s Work?: A Student’s Diary. Edited by Benedetti, Jean. Available at:
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=325509.
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Stanislavski, Konstantin (no date)
An actor’s work on a role. Available at:
http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780203870921.
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Leach, Robert, (no date)
Makers of Modern theatre?: An Introduction. Available at:
http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780203487860.
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Aristotle, (no date) Poetics /Aristotle?; translated with an introduction and notes by Malcolm Heath.
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Barba, E., Fowler, R. and Savarese, N. (2006)
A dictionary of theatre anthropology: the secret art of the performer. 2nd ed. London: Routledge. Available at:
https://essex.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/view/action/uresolver.do?operation=resolveService&package_service_id=4613765190007346&institutionId=7346&customerId=7345.
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Adrian, B. (2008) Actor training the Laban way: an integrated approach to voice, speech, and movement. New York: Allworth Press.
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The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Reflective Essay |
|
20% |
| Practical |
Continuous Assessment |
|
30% |
| Practical |
Performance |
|
50% |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
tbc
For further information please email tinaw
No
No
No
Available via Moodle
Of 2 hours, 0 (0%) hours available to students:
2 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
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