module specification

Production: Practice and Performance will focus upon theatre making – conceptualisation, devising, text work, dramaturgy, writing and performing. Along with Production: Research and Realisation it will lead towards the student’s final piece of practical work that will be a culmination of all the work undertaken on the course: a festival of short theatrical productions, which will be performed to a public audience. The structure reflects current practice in the industry: the first part of the module will operate as research and development for the second part and will be assessed via practice and theory.

• To allow students to apply performance and theatre making skills and knowledge’s learnt on the course to a practical project with a social agenda.
• To model a two part structure to making work: research and development and performance.
• To allow students to apply, rehearsal disciplines and processes to the development of a production.
• To test students collaborative skills in practice.
• To teach the skills to make formal presentations of theory (particularly related to identity, culture and society) and practice appropriate for industry and community settings.
• To allow students to rehearse productions to professional standards and perform in in front of a public audience.  
• To teach self and peer evaluation skills.

For both Production modules, students will form small production companies (in groups of 5/6, with an opportunity to move groups after 12 weeks) and they will undertake all their work in these groups. Students will be encouraged to both contribute to the ensemble and take a specialist role(s) within their groups: choosing from performer, director, movement director, dramaturg, aesthetic realisation, producer, participation and engagement.  Practice and performance will provide a structure for students to 1) undertake their own research and to develop a concept for their piece, 2) to practice performance and theatre making skills and techniques appropriate for their piece, 3) to devise and/or realise text based material for their piece, 3) to rehearse that material to professional standards and to perform it in front of a public audience, 4) to evaluate their work. Practical work will be assessed on both process and product but not specifically performance.

This module will be taught through practical and theoretical approaches.  It is envisioned that a number of lecturers might mentor each production group through their process.
Practical workshops
Self-directed learning
Independent completion of tasks in small groups
Guided learning through observation and feedback
Seminars
Tutorials

By the end of the module students will have gained:
• The ability to undertake both traditional and practice based research as individuals and as a group.
• The ability to present ideas, concepts and practice in a clear, engaging and complex way.
• The ability to make practical theatre work, as a group, independently.
• The ability to structure a process and liaise with external bodies and individuals in order to meet deadlines.
• The ability to evaluate their own work and the work of others, in the context of industry standards.

Assessment will be in two parts, both practical with supporting online submission:
1) Theory/practice presentation of research and practical work in development, which will reflect the requirements of many industry bodies. Part of this assessment will also be submitted online.
2) A polished production presented in front of an audience in a festival of work.  Process and product will be assessed but not ‘performance’.

Knowles, R. 2004.  Reading the Material Theatre (Theatre and Performance Theory)  CUP
McAuley, G. 2000.   Space in Performance: Making Meaning in the Theatre
(Theater: Theory/Text/Performance)   University of Michigan
Mudford, P. 2001. Making Theatre: From Text to Performance  Continuum International Publishing
Murray, S. and Keefe, J. 2007. Physical Theatres: A Critical Introduction    Routledge
Pitches, J. and Popat, S. 2011. (Eds) Performance Perspectives: A Critical Introduction   Routledge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC-dkYZOUVo
http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/
http://totaltheatrereview.com/artforms/devised-theatre
http://www.dellarte.com/dellarte.aspx?id=285