ACP207 - Dramatic Plot, Story, Character and Theme for Performance

Unit details

Note: You are seeing the 2020 view of this unit information. These details may no longer be current. [Go to the current version]
Year:2020 unit information
Important Update:

Classes and seminars in Trimester 2/Semester 2, 2020 will be online. Physical distancing for coronavirus (COVID-19) will affect delivery of other learning experiences in this unit. Please check your unit sites for announcements and updates one week prior to the start of your trimester or semester.

Last updated: 2 June 2020

Enrolment modes:Trimester 1: Burwood (Melbourne)
Credit point(s):1
EFTSL value:0.125
Unit Chair:Trimester 1: Glenn D'Cruz
Prerequisite:

Students must have completed 2 level 1 units

Corequisite:

Nil

Incompatible with:

ACP101

Typical study commitment:

Students will on average spend 150-hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit.

Scheduled learning activities - campus:

1 x 2-hour seminar per week and 1 x 1-hour class per week

Content

This unit provides students with practical strategies for reading and rehearsing dramatic texts for performance. It explicates various approaches to textual analysis with a focus on the relationships between dramatic codes and conventions and their theatrical counterparts. More specifically, the unit will analyse the dramatic elements of plot, story, character, theme and language with reference to different modes of rehearsal and actor/director relationship with reference to systems of rehearsal developed by Stanislavski, Brecht, Grotowski as well as contemporary practitioners such as Robert LePage, Robert Wilson and Tadashi Suzuki. It will also examine the strengths and limitations of these systems for post dramatic and devised performance. Students will also engage with close readings of key realistic and non-realistic dramatic texts of the last 120 years (primarily from the Western tradition of dramatic literature), and participate in workshops exercises designed to develop practical approaches to researching and developing characters for performance. The unit will also focus on the roles of the director and dramaturg in contemporary performance.

 

These are the Learning Outcomes (ULO) for this unit

At the completion of this unit, successful students can:

Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes

ULO1

Work collaboratively to create and communicate systematic rehearsal programs for theatre production that draw on techniques pioneered by significant historical and contemporary theatre directors

GLO2: Communication

GLO7: Teamwork

ULO2

Work collaboratively to analyse scripts and plays in order to realise them in performance

GLO4: Critical thinking

GLO7: Teamwork

ULO3

Critically analyse dramatic texts to create and communicate characters for performance

GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities

GLO4: Critical thinking

ULO4

Critically evaluate key rehearsal techniques and challenges to define and explore strategies and solutions for conducting rehearsal programs for theatre production

GLO4: Critical thinking

GLO5: Problem solving

These Unit Learning Outcomes are applicable for all teaching periods throughout the year

Assessment

Trimester 1:
Assessment Description Student output Grading and weighting
(% total mark for unit)
Indicative due week
Assessment 1 (Individual) - Take Home Examination 800 words or equivalent 20% Information not yet available
Assessment 2 (Individual) - Research Paper 1200 words or equivalent 30% Information not yet available
Assessment 3 (Individual) - Performance Project 2000 words or equivalent 50% Information not yet available

The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.

Learning Resource

There is no prescribed text. Unit materials are provided via the unit site. This includes unit topic readings and references to further information.

Unit Fee Information

Click on the fee link below which describes you: