ENGL06011 2022 Drama 2 Through the Looking Glass: Representation and Performance

Identify form, genre, and recurrent themes within the chosen play texts

Analyse the influence of larger historical, social and cultural movements on drama forms, genres and representations

Perceive and explain some key theoretical issues pertaining to the field of drama studies and make links to Drama 1

Engage in critical analysis of the original plays and their performance through class-based discussion/presentations and written work

Interrogate relevant secondary literature, critically engage with live theatre and online film resources

The module will be delivered using a number of different strategies, for example, student or lecturer led in class discussions, lectures, tutorials, workshops, seminars, EBL.

This module is 100% Continuous Assessment.

Assignments are directly related to the module learning outcomes.

50% Presentation.

50% End of Semester written assignment.

Students will be assigned repeat projects in the event that they have failed the module.

However this will be determined by what the failed component is and will be recorded at Progression and Reward Boards.

The student will be able to 1. Identify form, genre, recurrent themes within the chosen play.  The student will explore dramatic literature beginning with the melodramas of Oscar Wilde and examine the turn towards naturalism at the end of the nineteenth century through to the expressionist and modernist plays and practices up to the present day. Playwrights of interest may include Ibsen, Lady Gregory, Chekhov, Yeats, Wilde, Brecht, Marie Jones, Wole Soyinka, Manjula Padmanabhan and others. The student will recognise, analyse and compare the works of a number of plays and their practices employing a mix of close reading, critique and performance related analyses.

2. Analyse the influence of the historical, social and cultural movements on drama forms, genres and representations.  Student will analyse chosen plays from various socio-historical perspectives and cultural movements and their influence on form, genre and representation. 

3.  Perceive and explain some of the theoretical issues in the field of drama studies and make links to Drama 1.  The student will interrogate and discuss in detail one or more of the major theoretical positions that have shaped stage theory in the nineteenth and the twentieth century.  The student will be able to demonstrate knowledge of a number of important critical writings that have influenced the making and reception of mid 19th-mid 20th Century Theatre and make links with the Introduction to Drama module.

4. Engage in critical analysis of the original plays and their performance through class-based discussion, presentation and written work.  The student will demonstrate knowledge and understanding as well as apply conceptual and practical understanding through critical analyses and class discussion. 

5. Interrogate relevant secondary literature, critically engage with live theatre and online film resources.  The student will show evidence, both written and through discussion, of having conducted relevant research into secondary literature pertaining to the plays, genres, themes and will have explored online film resources as well as attended live theatre relevant to the module.