EDUC06018 2022 Drama Studies: An Introduction

General Details

Full Title
Drama Studies: An Introduction
Transcript Title
Drama Studies: An Introduction
Code
EDUC06018
Attendance
70 %
Subject Area
EDUC - 0110 Education
Department
SOCS - Social Sciences
Level
06 - Level 6
Credit
05 - 05 Credits
Duration
Semester
Fee
Start Term
2022 - Full Academic Year 2022-23
End Term
9999 - The End of Time
Author(s)
Bernie Meehan, Suzanne Collery, Dr. Garret Scally, Breda McTaggart
Programme Membership
SG_HENGL_H08 202200 Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English and Psychology
Description

This introductory course surveys dramatic literature from the Elizabethan to the modern period, covering a broad and diverse range of international dramatic works. We will consider these texts within theatrical contexts and as works shaped by specific historical and socio-cultural moments to create an understanding of what they offer to modern readers and society. Students will be introduced to contemporary critical approaches and perspectives that can be applied to theatre, performance and drama texts.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module the learner will/should be able to;

1.

Discuss dramatic texts considering historical and socio-cultural contexts from the Elizabethan to the Modern Period.

2.

Identify key genres, periods, trends and forms in dramatic literature.

3.

Demonstrate the relationships between text and society

4.

Evaluate the theatrical event in theory and in practice

Teaching and Learning Strategies

This module will be taught using workshops, seminars and experience-based learning strategies.

Module Assessment Strategies

Continuous assessment project  60%

The project work engages students in forming an understanding of how dramatic literature is produced and received and understood from the Elizabethan to the Modern Period. Through engaging with each dramatic period, trends, movements and issues the student will focus in on key analytical concepts to examine the relationship between the texts and their historical contexts. The student (as part of a group project) will engage with the process of producing a 'review' of key texts and performance selecting from a particular dramatic period or genre.  

End of term essay – 40%

Students will write an essay critiquing and critically analysing a performance of a dramatic text.

MLA (Modern Language Association) style is used for documentation and referencing in all formal academic submissions.

Repeat Assessments

Repeat requirements will depend on failed components. 

Module Dependencies

Co-requisites
Texts, Contexts and Subtexts

Indicative Syllabus

Discuss the historical contexts of drama

There is a survey of the history of dramatic literature with particular emphasis on key periods from the 16th century on, including Renaissance/Elizabethan, Augustan, Romantic, Victorian and Modernist dramatic literature. The student will be able to broadly classify important dramatic developments along with key playwrights writing in different periods. The student will be able to recognise how the dramatic text ‘lives’ in relation to and in tension with historical and cultural contexts.

We will cover the work of theatre playwrights and forms of drama such as Shakespeare, commedia dell'arte, Aphra Behn, Dion Boucicault, Henrik Ibsen, John Millington Synge, Seán O'Casey, Bertolt Brecht, Samuel Beckett, Shelagh Delaney, Marina Carr, devised theatre, and musical theatre, with a focus on situating their works in their socio-historical contexts.

Identify Dramatic Trends and Forms

The student will be able to identify key dramatic forms and genres across the periods for the module. The student will be able to understand how classification of dramatic literature is defined and how that which constitutes dramatic form has changed over time. The student will be able to identify the relationship between prevailing ideas in dramatic literature at a given moment in history and the prevalent dramatic forms in the time along with the de-stabilisation of a definite sense of when dramatic trends and forms begin and end. The student will also be able to demonstrate an understanding of the complex relationship between Elizabethan, Romanticism, Victorian and Modernism dramatic literature and its contexts.

Demonstrate the relationships between text and society

The student will explore the complex interactions between the dramatic text and its contexts through the foci of dramatic trends, movements, texts and issues within each period. The student will demonstrate foundational analytical skills to so as to critically engage with dramatic literature and its connection to diverse social, economic, political and cultural aspects of each period.

Evaluate the theatrical event in theory and in practice

The student will be able to analyse and discuss main dramatic forms and genres within a selected period understood within its socio-political and cultural contexts. The student will analyse in detail the key features of the period including trends, contexts, playwrights and audience. The student will be able to demonstrate critical, imaginative and practical engagement with key texts of the moment and to discuss the relationship between ideas of the dramatic text and performance text within across time.

Coursework & Assessment Breakdown

Coursework & Continuous Assessment
100 %

Coursework Assessment

Title Type Form Percent Week Learning Outcomes Assessed
1 Project Project Group Project 60 % Week 8 1,4
2 Essay Coursework Assessment Essay 40 % Week 12 1,2,3
             

Full Time Mode Workload


Type Location Description Hours Frequency Avg Workload
Independent Learning Not Specified Independent Learning 3 Weekly 3.00
Workshop / Seminar Flat Classroom Seminar 3 Weekly 3.00
Total Full Time Average Weekly Learner Contact Time 3.00 Hours

Required & Recommended Book List

Required Reading
2016 The Cambridge Introduction to Theatre Studies Cambridge University Press

Required Reading
1997 Understanding Theatre: performance analysis in theory and practice. Almqvist and Wiksell

Required Reading
Performance Studies: An Introduction Routledge

Required Reading
2000 The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama Earl McPeek

Required Reading
2018 The Bedford Introduction to Drama Bedford/St. Martin's
ISBN 1457606321 ISBN-13 9781457606328
Required Reading
2009 Modern and Contemporary Irish Drama W W Norton & Company Incorporated
ISBN 0393932435 ISBN-13 9780393932430
Required Reading
2018-10-08 The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Irish Theatre and Performance Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN 1137585870 ISBN-13 9781137585875

This Handbook offers a multiform sweep of theoretical, historical, practical and personal glimpses into a landscape roughly characterised as contemporary Irish theatre and performance. Bringing together a spectrum of voices and sensibilities in each of its four sections Histories, Close-ups, Interfaces, and Reflections it casts its gaze back across the past sixty years or so to recall, analyse, and assess the recent legacy of theatre and performance on this island. While offering information, overviews and reflections of current thought across its chapters, this book will serve most handily as food for thought and a springboard for curiosity. Offering something different in its mix of themes and perspectives, so that previously unexamined surfaces might come to light individually and in conjunction with other essays, it is a wide-ranging and indispensable resource in Irish theatre studies.

Module Resources

Non ISBN Literary Resources
Journal Resources
URL Resources
Other Resources
Additional Information

As a 5 credit module, the total student independent effort hours for this module are 3 hours per week. As a 10 credit module, the total student independent effort hours for this module are 5 hours per week.