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SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES SINGAPORE MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY THAR003 POST-MODERN THEATRE STUDIES Term II, 2009-2010 Instructor: Tel: Email: Office: Margaret Chan Practice Assistant Professor of Theatre/Performance Studies 6828 0838 [email protected] School of Social Sciences, SOE/SOSS Level 4, Room 094 Course Overview The Post-Modern Theatre Studies course is not a module that teaches theatre craft. Instead it is an exciting examination of society and culture based on the premise that all in life is theatre. The Post-Modern Theatre Studies course represents a progressive exploration into the theories and practices of theatre that take students beyond the prescriptive syllabuses of theatre studies modules. The Post-Modern Theatre Studies course is designed to encourage intellectual curiosity and questioning. Drama is examined less for its artistic merit than for its social voice. Through interactive seminars as well as performance, students interrogate the playwright’s agenda. In the final staged presentation, students come together to make theatre resonant with meaning that situates them as a young person in their world. Course Objectives To develop: • Intellectual curiosity and questioning • Introspection and self-reflexivity • Communication skills; how to use the tools of theatre to persuade an audience A fundamental concern of the course is to encourage the students to constantly question and to evaluate any norm, for example: Is the theatre event a collaborative exercise in real time and space, or is theatre made and exists only in the minds of the spectator? The Post-Modern Theatre Studies Course is taught within the context of a leading international school of Business. The course will provide students with an insight into the business of theatre-making, but will also teach students important lessons in the management of people and resources. There will be opportunities for leadership as well as teamwork. Students will learn how to be responsible and will be made aware of accountability when dealing with projects that present a public face. Students develop stamina through the rehearsal process and learn the performer’s code, “That the show must go on”. Above all, students will learn to value accomplishment. Class Sessions 1 Class sessions are of 3-hour duration per week. Each session will involve inter-active seminars, discourse, debate and performances. However theatre demands rehearsals and production and this will involve a considerable amount of work outside the usual class hours. Assessment & Evaluation Attendance – 10 percent Participation – 10 percent Early Play Performance and Presentation on Meaning – 15 percent Individually written dramaturgical comment on a play read and discussed in class – 20 percent Individual Presentations - 15 percent Final Production – 30 percent Attendance – 10%: 2 points if you come to class on time, 1 point if you’re half an hour or more late. 0 points for absence without a medical certificate of leave of absence. Full attendance over 13 weeks = 26 points = 10% Attendance at the Final Production is compulsory. Absence on that day means 0% will be recorded for the Final Production. Participation – 10% Participation accounts for a significant portion of the overall score a theatre class requires students to enter fully into the spirit of the class. You are expected to engage enthusiastically in all activities. If you are not in class to participate, work on a project or turn in an assignment, you will not receive credit. The nature of class assignments, particularly the Final Production, will mean that you must work in groups outside class time. Early Play Performance and Presentation on Meaning – 15%: The class will be divided into four teams. The team will draw lots to set an order of presentation. Each team will be assigned a play and two weeks to put together a Performance and Presentation. This will take the form of a dramatised performance of a short excerpt of the play of about 15min in length. The team will also make a presentation on the play and its social meaning, this should be between 5-10mins. The team is then asked to engage the class in discourse. Up to half an hour is allocated for this part of the presentation which shows the weight given to the quality of discussion that the team can stimulate. Thoughtfulness is the goal, not pronouncements and closure – in other words a debate is what we’re after, not conclusions. We should all agree to differ. This grade includes an element of peer evaluation. Individually written commentary (dramaturgical and socio-cultural and sociopolitical meanings) on a play read and discussed in class – 20 percent Choose any one of the six plays presented and discussed in the first half of the term (not the individual presentations). Discuss the social meanings in the play and how the playwright used dramatic devices to present these meanings. The piece may refer to actual class performance of excerpts, although this is not compulsory since the two 2 earlier plays would not have been performed. The essay must move beyond a description of the drama into a critical analysis of the play script in order to uncover the social resonance in the drama and how these ideas are achieved in the play text and in performance. Students are asked to be self-reflexive as this is a part of critical analysis that especially responds to the post-modern condition. Students should introspect, that is, think about the social meanings found in the drama and self-reference these insights. How is the student moved by the drama? What are the implications of the social meanings set out in the script for the student him/herself, for his/her society and the social world. A 1000 word (please keep to this word limit); 12 point, double-spaced. No cover sheets, no files, simply stapled at the top left hand corner. Number the pages. Please give a word count. This is an academic essay and should be written using an academic style. There must be in-text citations and a bibliography. Please select either: MLA Style http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/ or APA Style http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ Individual Presentations – 15%: At the start of the term, teams will be given a set of scenes for young people. These will use two to three performers. The performances will take place in class on Week 9 and Week 10. The performances should be edited down to a maximum of 10 mins. You can do shorter performances, but not longer presentations. All students will be evaluated on an individual basis. This means all students must perform a role. Avoid plays that give you little chance to show off your talents. To ensure that everyone gets a chance to perform, students should do only one role. Only when a team is short of players, will a student be allowed to take a second role, that student will be graded only for one performance and should inform the examiner which role he/she wishes to be evaluated before the start of the performance. This is a classroom exercise; please use the minimum of props and costumes – Grotowski’s notion of a “Poor Theatre”. The idea is to focus on you as the individual, not on production values. Final Production The Final Production is a theatrical production by the entire class. It is examined as a production and a collaborative effort. As the Post-Modern Theatre Studies module does not teach theatre craft, a well-made production is not the objective that the group should aim for. Instead the emphasis is on creative collaboration among students, so that the process, and therefore work-in-progress rather than the endproduct is scrutinised. This grade is assigned to the entire production team including cast, crew, business and management unit. Credit will be given for a production that can engage the audience fully in the enjoyment of the production and in critical thinking. This grade may be awarded by an external examiner/s. Attributes for success of the Final Production: • • creativity performing competencies 3 • • • • • • • • flair innovation independence team work the generosity with which resources, knowledge and skills are shared the ability to seek out and consult with specialists/professional the ability to negotiate and acquire space, technical and stage support the ability to focus upon a subject of inquiry, to plan for and sustain a systematic investigation into the subject. Roles in a Production: Executive Producer { Director { { { { { { { { { { { Playwright/Scriptwriter Musical Director Stage Manager Dramaturg Sound Engineer Lighting Engineer Set Designer/Staging Costume Designer Make-up & Hair Designer Props Designer Crew { General Manager { Finance & Business Manager { Marketing & Publicity { Programme Designer { Human Resources { Front of House Manager { Documenter { Logistics { Liasion Officer Required Text No set text, students will receive text excerpts in class and will also be required to research and present knowledge to class. Supplementary References No set supplementary references but student are required to do independent research and present knowledge to class. Course Schedule Week Topics 1 • • Course Overview Play 1 – reading and discussion 2 • • Play 2-- reading and discussion Lecture – Gender as Categorisatio 3 • • Play 3 –- reading and discussion Performance & Presentation Group 1 Notes 4 4 5 6 7 • • • • • • • Lecture – Socio-Cultural Strictures Play 4 –- reading and discussion Performance & Presentation Group 2 Lecture – Social Stratification Play 5 –- reading and discussion Performance & Presentation Group 3 Lecture – Orientalism & Stereotyping • • Play 6 –- reading and discussion Performance & Presentation Group 4 • • • Lecture – Self-Determination Discussion on Final Production Election of Executive Producer, Director, General Manager 8 RECESS WEEK 9 • Examination of Individual Performances 10 After class hours • Rehearsals for Final Production SUBMIT INDIVIDUAL COMMENTARY • Examination of Individual Performances After class hours • Rehearsals for Final Production 11 STAGING OF FINAL PRODUCTION 12 No class in lieu of double class on week 9 13 No class in lieu of double class on week 10 5 • •