Download Introduction to Drama

Introduction to Drama 2009-10
Q31501
Module Convenor: James Moran
Module Tutors and Lecturers: Sarah Grandage
Sam Haddow
Wallace McDowell
Gordon Ramsay
Joanna Robinson
Lucie Sutherland
Clare Wright
Please read this carefully. It contains essential information about
procedures, expectations, assessment and deadlines and you will
need to consult it regularly. If you fail to make yourself aware of the
information incorporated here, such as procedures for handing in
work, you may incur penalties. The information aims to be correct
and comprehensive, but if you find anything puzzling, or want to
suggest the addition of any further details, please contact James
Moran, who as module convenor has overall responsibility for
teaching and learning on this module.
Consultation of module convenors outside of contact hours
James Moran’s office hour is Wednesday 8.30-10.30am. If you wish
to make an appointment to see him at another time you can contact
him by email: [email protected].
CONTENTS
 About the Module: Aims, Teaching and Assessment
 Lecture, seminar and workshop list
 Bibliography and Required Reading
 Classification Guidelines
 Module Outcomes
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About the Module
Organisation of the module
The module is delivered via lectures and performance workshops in
the Autumn semester and lectures and seminars in the Spring
semester. Throughout the year lectures take place every other
Wednesday at 11am. Lectures will be held in the Clive Granger
building, room A48. The first lecture will take place on
Wednesday 7th October.
Performance workshops (held in the Autumn semester) take place
every other week in the Performing Arts Studio in the Trent Building
(LG18). These take place on either Monday 9-11am, or Monday 24pm, or Monday 4-6pm, or Tuesday 4-6pm, or Wednesday 9-11am,
or Wednesday 11am-1pm. The first workshops will take place
either on Monday 28th September or Tuesday 29th September
or Wednesday 30th September, depending on the group you
have signed up for. Please note that this first workshop
session takes place before the first lecture. You can sign up
online by using the ‘Nexus’ system
(http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/business/EnglishNexus/).
You will stay in the same class, although tutors may change, for the
Spring semester seminars, which are also held fortnightly in the
Performing Arts Studio. Times for the seminars will remain the
same as for the performance workshops, but to facilitate discussion
the workshop groups will be split in two, with half of the group
attending the first hour and half attending the second hour.
In the Autumn semester, workshops will take place with the
following tutors:
Monday 9-11 – Jim Moran
Monday 2-4 – Wallace McDowell
Monday 4-6 – Clare Wright (changing to Sam Haddow in semester
S)
Tuesday 4-6 – Lucie Sutherland
Wednesday 9-11 – Sarah Grandage
Wednesday 11-1 – Sarah Grandage
Performance workshops will centre on performed interpretations of
the week’s selected text. These workshops focus upon analysis of
performance convention. You will not be required or expected to
demonstrate acting proficiency!
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Seminars include a variety of modes of teaching, including script
analysis, video viewing and analysis, and general tutor-led
discussion.
The module uses two modes of assessment. The first mode,
performance presentations, take place during the performance
workshop sessions in the Autumn semester. The second, a
performance analysis takeaway exam, takes place at the end of the
module. Performance Presentations are weighted at 40% of the
total mark, whilst the performance analysis takeaway exam is
weighted at 60% of the total mark.
There are no scheduled one-to-one tutorials, but you are
encouraged to make an appointment with your tutor if you have
problems to discuss.
Module aims
This module is designed to provide an introduction to the analysis
and performance of drama. It has three main aims:



to provide an introduction to the analysis of drama;
to give a taste of the wide range of performance convention in
history, from Ancient Greek tragedy to nineteenth-century
naturalism;
to foreground drama as a performance medium rather than a
form of literature.
At Nottingham, we approach drama as a performance medium: an
event within a specific time, space and locale, in which real people
and objects are presented to other people in real, shared space. It
is always a social event, so we learn to think about the people who
do the performing, the place they perform in, and the people they
perform to. Written texts may be looked at as much for information
about the modes and places of performance as for what they
represent or ‘say’. It is to be understood that the space itself and
the mode of performing in it create meaning as much as do prescripted words.
We emphasise the fact that performance analysis is not literary
criticism, and that play scripts should not be read simply as texts.
The interpretation and analysis of drama requires different skills.
The seminars on the module will provide opportunities for you to
develop these skills yourself, while the lectures are designed to
provide you with the kind of information necessary for an analysis
of performance as an event in real historical time and space.
The module also aims to introduce a range of historical examples of
theatre practice, drawn from several different moments in theatre
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history. The lectures will explore what we know about the
performance conventions of Greek tragedy, medieval religious
plays, Shakespeare's plays and Restoration/Augustan comedy,
turning lastly to the arrival of naturalism as an approach to
performance in the late nineteenth century.
Finally, we believe that a seminal way of learning to understand
how theatre works is getting involved in performance itself. The
workshops held in the Autumn semester provide structured
opportunities to discuss the kind of decisions that are taken when a
script is realised on stage and to experience the practical
consequences of a theatre director’s decision making. More
information on the format of workshops is provided below.
Modes of teaching
The module uses lectures, general whole-group discussions,
individual or group analyses of written or video material, and
performance workshops. All of these except the last item are
probably familiar or self-explanatory. A detailed explanation of the
performance workshop format follows below under ‘Performance
Presentations’.
Role of tutors
The module tutors will give general lectures, organise group work in
seminars and lead the performance workshops. They will also be
available for private consultation should problems arise: in this case
you are urged to make an appointment. Although the tutors will
lecture and demonstrate analyses, the emphasis on the module is
towards individual learning. Assessment work is not expected to
regurgitate what the tutors say, but to build on or take issue with it.
Modes of assessment
Assessment on the module is divided between:
1) A performance presentation
These take place during the workshops in alternate weeks in the
Autumn semester. You will be working in pairs, and your task is
to direct a group of approximately eight other students in a five
minute performance of a section of the week’s script. Together
with your fellow director, you will be examined on: the production
of a set of preparatory instructions and explanation (about 1,500
words, to be sent to your group’s part of the module’s Web CT by
12 noon on the Friday before the workshops); a five minute
response to questions from the group and the tutor following the
performance; and an individual self-reflective write-up (about 500
words, to be submitted by 3.30pm on the next working day after
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your workshop. The performance presentation exercise is
weighted at 40%.
2) Take Away Exam: Performance Analysis.
Analysis of an extract of performance viewed on video in the final
session of the module at 11am on Wednesday 5th May. This will
take place in the usual lecture venue. A video extract will run on
a continuous loop for approximately 30 minutes, after which you
will have until 3.30pm the next day to complete writing up your
response. Latecomers to the video viewing will not be allowed
extra time. Submissions must be word processed and handed into
the School office. This assessment exercise is weighted at 60%.
The primary object of the exercise is to analyse the construction
and effects of the performance in the extract as fully and
precisely as possible. Remember that this kind of analysis is not
the same as literary criticism. What you are assessing is how the
effects of the piece are produced on stage in this particular
production. You are also expected to be able to demonstrate
knowledge of the performance conventions of the play’s period in
this exam. More information about this exercise will be provided
in a lecture and on Web CT at the start of the Spring semester,
and you will be given an opportunity to practise analysis of both
script and video before writing the exam.
Performance presentations
During the first week’s workshop, each workshop class (of
approximately 40 students) will be divided up into four separate
groups, which will then stay together for the whole of the module.
Performance presenters and presentations will also be identified in
the first workshop session: details of the presentation topics are
included in the module outline which follows.
Performance Presentations take place in the workshop session, and
will be done in pairs wherever possible. These pairs will plan,
organise, and direct the other members of their group in a short
piece of performance, lasting no more than five minutes.
Preparation
The two directors are expected to choose a section from the original
play script being considered that week or to use one of the excerpts
from modern adaptations provided in the module reader. The
approach they are required to adopt in their direction will be issued
by the module convenor on the module’s Web CT news board by 12
noon on the Monday of the lecture week.
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When choosing a section of script, directors should be concerned
primarily with its potential for performance, the length of time it
takes to perform, and whether it allows them to explore the
approach issued by the module convenor. It will not always be
necessary to use all of your group in the performance: some plays
may not contain parts for everyone in your group.
Most directors choose a single, continuous section from the script.
However, you are not obliged to do so. You may choose to jump
between scenes, or to cut lines as you see fit. This approach would
obviously require you to reproduce the edited script in the
instructions you send to your group. If you decide to reproduce the
script in this way it will not count towards the 1,500 word limit for
your instructions.
The timing of the piece is very important. Directors should carry out
a timed read through of the section to be presented before the
workshop. They should also calculate the amount of time taken up
by silence/movement etc. It is essential that the performance
does not over-run the five minutes allotted. If it does so, the
tutor will have to intervene and stop the performance so that all
groups have an equal opportunity to present their work. You will not
be penalised for a shorter performance (within reason!). A short,
well thought-through, three-minute piece would be preferable to an
under-prepared epic which will inevitably be cut short half way
through.
The first hour of the workshop is dedicated to rehearsal time. If it is
clear during this hour that you have underestimated the amount of
time the section will take, you should take the opportunity to cut it
short.
When planning the performance presentation, you should bear in
mind that any member of your group could be ill and unable to
attend the workshop. You will need to consider strategies for
dealing with this situation, so that your performance can still go
ahead. You may have to ask another member of the group to step
in or even participate in the performance yourself if necessary.
The directors’ instructions for the performers
Having decided upon a section of script, the directors should write
an explanatory set of instructions (approx. 1,500 words) for the
other members of the group. These instructions should describe
what is required in the performance in as much detail as possible.
Casting, movement, use of the performance space, and possibly use
of props or costume (to be provided by the two directors if used)
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should all be covered. The instructions should make it clear to each
member of the group exactly what will be required of them.
When writing these instructions, the directors need to consider how
the effect you wish to achieve will be realised by your performers.
For example, instructions which simply state ‘Character X is angry/
shy/ flirtatious’ are inadequate. You need to describe how your
performers should demonstrate these emotions. Think about how
you want them to use their body, face, and voice, and describe
these details so your performers can follow them on the day.
These instructions must be uploaded, as a Word document,
onto the discussion section (the drawing pin icon) of the
module’s Web CT by 12 noon on the Friday preceding the
workshop. Label the document clearly with the title of the piece
you are performing (eg. Medea). Please ensure that the document
is not larger than 1MB.
The role of the performers
The members of the group who will be performing the piece
selected by the two directors also have several obligations. They
must visit Web CT to download their instructions before the
workshop. They should then consult these carefully and read the
selected section of script thoroughly (i.e. three or four times).
The group is expected to follow the directors’ instructions and to put
as much into their performance as possible. However, it should be
made clear that none of the group are expected to be particularly
good performers. No one is expected to be an excellent actor or
actress, and no one is expected to learn their lines off by heart.
Remember that it is the directors, not the performers, who are
being assessed. Nonetheless, it is important that the group give the
performance their concentration and commitment, not least
because they will need and expect such commitment when it is their
turn to be directors.
After the performance
Immediately after the performance, the two directors will spend five
minutes answering questions from the whole seminar group about
their directorial decisions. The two directors must also produce
individual statements reporting on how the performance went and
reflecting on the learning process after the workshop and making
reference to the peer feedback (see below). These self-reflective
statements should be about 500 words long and should be
submitted to the main secretarial office by 3.30pm on the
next working day following your performance.
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Peer feedback questionnaires
After all of the performances, at the end of the session, the
members of the group who have been performing will complete
questionnaires which ask them to comment on the organisation,
management and communication skills of the two directors. You are
encouraged to complete these questionnaires thoughtfully. Peer
feedback, when it is carefully considered and constructive, can be
very valuable.
Peer assessment on directors is not directly incorporated into the
marking system, since it needs to be possible for it to be frank and
perhaps critical if it is to be useful to you; but you are expected to
take it into account and make reference to it in your write-up. If
you wish to you may hand in the questionnaires with your selfreflective statement.
Assessment of performance presentations
Performance presentations will not be assessed on how they are
executed, but on how they are conceived and defended. An
unsuccessful performance will not necessarily result in a low mark.
The emphasis is on the ability of the directors to communicate their
directorial decisions to the other members of the group, their
defence of their decisions in response to questions from the whole
group immediately afterwards, and the insight they show in their
self-reflective write-ups. You can expect a joint mark with your
fellow director unless you request a separate mark in your
individual self-reflective write up, or if your self-reflective write ups
differ substantially in quality.
Use of ‘Second Life’
We do understand that your rehearsal time and facilities in the
performing arts studio are limited. We have therefore set up a
virtual performing arts studio (along with an assortment of props,
lighting equipment, and so forth) in ‘Second Life’ for you to use
when planning your work. This is not a mandatory part of the
assessment, but you might find it helpful to experiment with your
ideas here. If you want to, for example, you could print off a
screen image of your work in second life in order to show to your
actors or to submit as part of your write-up. The official ‘Second
Life’ guide can be found at http://static-secondlifecom.s3.amazonaws.com/downloads/Second_Life_Quickstart.pdf.
When you have logged in you can either search for 'University of
Nottingham' in the Search window (Edit > Search) or the Map
window (click Map at the bottom of SL). You then select our island
from the search results and click Teleport.
However, do remember that you should not spend the bulk of your
preparation time using this resource: if you do decide to use
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‘Second Life’, it should add to your real life planning rather than
distract from it.
Late submission of instructions or self-reflective write-up
Non-submission of the self-reflective write-up, or the performance
instructions, by the due date is penalised in line with usual Faculty
penalties, at a rate of 5 marks per working day for work submitted
late without extenuating circumstances. Failure to provide
instructions before the workshop will be more heavily penalised
unless there is supporting evidence of extenuating circumstances,
as this makes it impossible for the whole seminar group to work
properly.
Absence of performance directors
Should a director be absent, s/he should contact the module
convenor, as missing a scheduled performance presentation is the
equivalent of missing an examination. Students are directed to the
Undergraduate Study Guide for advice about this eventuality.
General advice about assessment
Students should be aware that both the Undergraduate Study Guide
and the School’s ‘Producing Assessed Coursework’ contain useful
advice on assessment. In particular, your attention is drawn to the
section of ‘Producing Assessed Coursework’ which deals with the
issue of plagiarism: both in written work and in presentations you
must be careful to acknowledge other people’s words and ideas, and
to provide a bibliography of sources used, including internet
sources, where appropriate. (We recognise that some work of this
kind is independent of other sources.)
The performance analysis take-away exam will be penalised for
failing to operate within the word limits and for non-submission by
the due dates in line with Faculty penalties, at a rate of 5 marks per
working day for work submitted late without extenuating
circumstances.
Remember to keep a copy of everything you hand in.
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Lecture, Workshop and Seminar List
Lectures take place on alternate Wednesdays at 11am in room A48
of the Clive Granger building.
Workshops and seminars are held in the Performing Arts Studio,
Trent Building LG18.
Date
AUTUMN SEMESTER
28-30 September
Introductory Workshops
7 Oct
11am lecture: Greek tragedy
7 Oct
12.30pm talk: ‘Lakeside and the Role of the Director’
with Matt Aston, director and programmer, at the
Djanogly Theatre.
12-14 Oct
Workshop, set text: Medea
21 Oct
Lecture: Medieval mystery plays
26-28 Oct
Workshop, set text: The Wakefield Second Shepherds’
Play
2-6 Nov
READING WEEK – NO TEACHING
11 Nov
Lecture: The Shakespearean Stage
16-18 Nov
Workshop: set text, Macbeth
25 Nov
Lecture: Theatre in the Restoration
30 Nov-2 Dec
Workshop: set text, The Rover
9 Dec
Lecture: Naturalism
XMAS BREAK
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SPRING SEMESTER
18-20 Jan
Workshop: set text, A Doll’s House
3 Feb
Lecture: Why perform?
8-10 Feb
Seminar, set text: Oedipus Rex
17 Feb
Lecture: Where does performance happen?
22-24 Feb
Seminar, set text: Everyman
3 Mar
Lecture: What’s in the script?
8-10 Mar
Seminar, set text: Doctor Faustus
17 Mar
Lecture: Who performs?
22-24 Mar
Seminar, set text: The Beggar’s Opera
31 Mar
Lecture: Conclusion and revision
EASTER BREAK
5 May
Take-away exam: performance analysis
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Bibliography
Required reading
All of the primary play texts are found in three places:
1) The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Eighth Edition:
Volume 1, ed. Stephen Greenblatt (London: Norton, 2006). This is
available from the Blackwells bookshop on campus.
2) The module reader. This is available from the School of English
office.
3) Macbeth, ed. Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen (Houndmills:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2009). Or use the unedited text of ‘Macbeth’
available online at
http://lion.chadwyck.co.uk/searchFulltext.do?id=Z000118547&divLevel=0
&qu
The texts contained will be discussed in detail during the lecture and
seminar sessions so you will be expected to read the appropriate
sections carefully. It will not be possible to share copies of these
texts during workshops and seminars so you should ensure that you
have your own copy of both the Norton Anthology and the module
reader. It is essential that you bring along your copy of the
appropriate section of the reader to lectures, seminars and
the workshops. You may find that the Norton Anthology is too
bulky and unwieldy to use in the performance workshops, and so
we strongly recommend that you photocopy the relevant pages
from the anthology in preparation for each session.
Where to find the essential play-texts for each session
1) Euripides, Medea, c.431 BCE. Text in the module reader part
one.
2) The Wakefield Second Shepherds’ Play, c.1415 CE. Text in the
Norton Anthology, pp.407-435.
3) William Shakespeare, Macbeth, c.1603 CE. Text in the Palgrave
edition or available unedited online.
4) Aphra Behn, The Rover, 1677 CE. Text in the module reader
part two.
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5) Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s House, 1879 CE. Text in the module
reader part three.
6) Sophocles, Oedipus Rex, c.425 BCE. Text in the module reader
part one.
7) Everyman, c.1485 CE. Text in the Norton Anthology, pp.463484.
8) Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, 1604 CE. Text in the
Norton Anthology, pp.1022-1057.
9) John Gay, The Beggar’s Opera, 1728 CE. Text in the Norton
Anthology, pp.2613-2656.
Select bibliography
In addition to the required reading, students who get the best
marks in the assessment exercises tend to have read a wide array
of secondary material. Here are some useful starting points for
your own research.
R Beadle, The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Theatre
(Cambridge UP 1994)
S Bennett, Theatre Audiences (Routledge 1990)
E Braun, The Director and the Stage (Methuen 1982)
T W Craik, ed., The Revels History of Drama in English, 9 vols
(Methuen 1975-83)
M Carlson, Places of Performance (Cornell UP 1989)
M Carlson, Performance (Routledge 1996)
C Counsell, Signs of Performance (Routledge 1996)
C Counsell, Performance Analysis (Routledge 2001)
J D Cox and D S Kastan, ed., A New History of Early English Drama
(Columbia UP 1997)
J Dillon, The Cambridge Introduction to Early English Theatre
(Cambridge UP 2006)
J Dillon, The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare’s Tragedies
(Cambridge UP 2007)
P E Easterling, The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy
(Cambridge UP 1997)
D P Fisk, The Cambridge Companion to English Restoration Theatre
(Cambridge UP 2000)
J Forse, Art Imitates Business (Bowling Green State University Press
1993)
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R Green and E Handley, Images of the Greek Theatre (British
Museum Press 1995)
A Gurr, The Shakespearean Stage (Cambridge UP 1970)
A Gurr, Playgoing in Shakespeare's London (Cambridge UP 1987)
A Gurr and M Ichikawa, Staging in Shakespeare's Theatres (Oxford
University Press 2000)
J W Harris, Medieval Theatre in Context (Routledge 1992)
M Hattaway, Elizabethan Popular Theatre (Routledge 1982)
E Howe, The First English Actresses (Cambridge UP 1992)
C Innes, A Sourcebook on Naturalist Theatre (Routledge 2000)
R & H Leacroft, Theatre and Playhouse (Methuen 1988)
J Lennard and M Luckhurst, The Drama Handbook: A Guide to
Reading Plays (Oxford UP 2002)
I Mackintosh, Architecture, Actor and Audience (Routledge 1993)
J McFarlane, The Cambridge Companion to Ibsen (Cambridge UP
1994)
D Mann, The Elizabethan Player (Routledge 1991)
L Montrose, The Purpose of Playing: Shakespeare and the Cultural
Politics of the Elizabethan Theatre (Chicago UP 1996)
J R Mulryne and M Shewring, Making Space for Theatre
(Shakespeare Institute 1995)
J Powell, Restoration Theatre Production (Routledge 1984)
R Rehm, Greek Tragic Theatre (Routledge 1992)
F Rokem, Theatrical Space in Ibsen, Chekhov and Strindberg (UMI
Research Press 1986)
J Sanders, Shakespeare and Music: Afterlives and Borrowings
(Polity 2007)
S Shepherd and M Wallis, Studying Plays (Arnold 1998)
S Shepherd and M Wallis, Drama/Theatre/Performance (Routledge
2004)
S Shepherd and P Womack, English Drama: A Cultural History
(Blackwell 1996)
M S Silk (ed.), Tragedy and the Tragic: Greek Theatre and Beyond
(Clarendon 1996)
R Southern, The Seven Ages of the Theatre (2nd ed., Faber 1964)
J L Styan, Restoration Comedy in Performance (Cambridge UP
1986)
P Thomson, Shakespeare's Theatre, 2nd ed., (Routledge 1992)
E Tornqvist, Ibsen: A Doll’s House (Cambridge UP 1996)
S Trussler, The Cambridge Illustrated History of British Theatre
(Cambridge UP 1994)
W Tydeman, English Medieval Theatre 1400-1500 (Routledge and
Kegan Paul 1986)
G Walker, The Politics of Performance in Early Renaissance Drama
(Cambridge UP 1998)
R Weimann, Shakespeare and the Popular Tradition in the Theatre
(Johns Hopkins UP 1978)
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G Wickham, Early English Stages 1300-1660 (2nd ed., Routledge
2001)
G Wickham, The Medieval Theatre (3rd ed., Cambridge UP 1987)
D Wiles, Greek Theatre Performance: an introduction (Cambridge
UP 2000)
R Williams, Drama in Performance (Open University 1991)
R Woolf, The English Mystery Plays (Routledge and Kegan Paul
1972)
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Classification Guidelines
All forms of assessment on the module are assessed on the basis of
module outcomes, as listed in your undergraduate study guide and
at the end of this document. Performance presentations, however,
assess some rather specific skills in addition to knowledge and
understanding of the subject-matter. The following classification
guidelines are designed to provide you with a guide to the further
skills which you are required to demonstrate in the performance
presentation, and provide an outline of the standard for each grade.
Performance presentation: technical skills
70-100 Work at a First Class Honours standard will
demonstrate
 The delivery of completely clear instructions to the performers
prior to the performance
 Supportive leadership and excellent organisation during
rehearsal
 Fully integrated choice of performance activity designed to
generate debate
 Focused, confident defence of directorial decisions in response to
audience questioning
60-69 Work at an Upper Second Honours standard will
demonstrate
 The delivery of clear instructions to the performers prior to the
performance
 Evidence of leadership and organisation during rehearsal
 Considered choice of performance activity designed to generate
debate
 Focused defence of directorial decisions in response to audience
questioning
50-59 Work at a Lower Second Class Honours standard will
demonstrate
 The delivery of clear instructions to the performers prior to the
performance
 Evidence of organisation during rehearsal
 Considered choice of performance activity
 Defence of directorial decisions in response to audience
questioning
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40-49 Work at a Third Class Honours standard will
demonstrate
 The delivery of instructions to the performers prior to the
performance
 Evidence, albeit minimal, of organisation during rehearsal
 Evidence of choice of performance activity
 Some attempt to defend performance activity choice in response
to audience questioning
0-39 Work at a Fail standard will demonstrate
 Inadequate provision of instructions to performers prior to the
performance
 Insufficient evidence of organisation during rehearsal
 Insufficient evidence of choice of performance activity
 Inadequate attempt to defend performance activity
Module outcomes
When working on your performance presentation, and your video
analysis, bear in mind that both should aim to fulfil the module
outcomes which are identified on the module specification form and
listed below:
Learning Outcomes:
Knowledge and understanding of
 the issues of performance and analysis specific to drama,
including some key elements in performance practice from
Ancient Greek tragedy to contemporary performance
Professional skills
 the ability to construct and communicate an analysis of
performance texts verbally and in writing
 the ability to carry out research in a range of media and make
use of that material
Transferable skills
 the ability to communicate effectively by oral presentation