UDTHPEPR - BA Theatre and Performance Practice
Course Specification
Validation status | Validated | ||||||||
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Highest award | Bachelor of Arts | Level | Honours | ||||||
Possible interim awards | Bachelor of Arts, Diploma of Higher Education, Certificate of Higher Education, Bachelor of Arts | ||||||||
Total credits for course | 360 | ||||||||
Awarding institution | London Metropolitan University | ||||||||
Teaching institutions | London Metropolitan University | ||||||||
School | School of Art, Architecture and Design | ||||||||
Subject Area | Art | ||||||||
Attendance options |
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Course leader |
About the course and its strategy towards teaching and learning and towards blended learning/e-learning
The course aims to encourage students to develop their own informed and systematic knowledge and understanding of the issues and challenges faced in Theatre and Performance Practice; while developing their professional skills to a high level. Students will experience a variety of learning and teaching strategies including plenary lectures, smaller group seminars, workshops and practical sessions, tutorials, individual project supervision, directed group and individual independent study. Although a variety of teaching methods are employed, teaching and learning will be mainly workshop/seminar/rehearsal based, given the nature of the study of the processes of theatre and performance practices. Practical work taking the form of whole or small group exercises is designed to enhance students’ knowledge and understanding of theatre and performance practice. Frequently and where appropriate, students are able to direct their own learning opportunities, e.g. in workshops, practical performances and in seminar presentations, supported by tutorial guidance. The learning methods encouraged are experiential as well as analytical and conceptual and are aimed at producing autonomous learners who are confident in the knowledge and understanding they have developed. An extra-curricular/enhancement programme of professional events and career development seminars further enhance the development of knowledge and understanding of theatre and performance practice.
A blended learning strategy will be employed to enhance the student learning experience, to facilitate communication between students and tutors and develop collaboration among students.
Students will have open access to the three dedicated theatre spaces and under supervision will have access to theatre and lighting technologies. They will also have access to faculty IT suites and a wide range of software that will support their personal and educational development.
Connectivity within the university is essential to the degree. The course requires strong and consistent use of the Library and Learning Centre, which has a subject-specific librarian offering workshops and one-to-one assistance with printed and online academic material. The Learning Centre, adjacent to Tower Building, offers private study space as well as academic material. Other study and conversation spaces are available at the Tower Building (location lectures, seminars and tutors’ offices), and students are expected to collaborate with each other regarding seminar topics, group or joint presentations, preparation of peer feedback, and networking (supported by subject staff) across undergraduate study years and disciplines.
Course aims
The programme aims to:
• enable students to develop a sense of community that can then be transferred to those they work with;
• develop, via voice, movement and acting workshops, creative theatre makers who can access performance and cultural activity in others;
• enable students to explore the aesthetics of an accessible theatre and develop skills in making environments, props, sets objects and costumes;
• develop students’ ability to lead workshops and work with individuals and groups;
• provide students with an understanding of the context of performance and society from an historical and theoretical perspective;
• provide students with an understanding and working knowledge of cultural identity and theories of gender, race, sexuality and ability and understand how these relate to performance in a variety of contexts.
• equip students with the necessary skills to become social and cultural entrepreneurs – producing, marketing, business;
• develop the ‘soft’ skills – communication, confidence, co-operation, collaboration etc. - inherent to any theatre work;
• give students the opportunity to apply skills in real-life settings via the making of socially engaged theatre;
• prepare students for possible postgraduate research in a number of related areas;
Course learning outcomes
The following learning outcomes incorporate and depend on systematic understanding of the key aspects of the knowledge base of [the subject], including a coherent and detailed knowledge of some specialist areas in depth.
On completing the course students will be able to:
• deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within Theatre and Performance Practice;
• devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of Theatre and Performance Practice;
• describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in Theatre and Performance Practice, recognising the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge;
• manage their own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources (for example, refereed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to Theatre and Performance Practice);
• apply the methods and techniques that they have learned to review, consolidate, extend and apply their knowledge and understanding, and to initiate and carry out projects;
• critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts and data (that may be incomplete), to make judgements, and to frame appropriate questions to achieve a solution - or identify a range of solutions - to a problem;
• communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences;
• exercise initiative and personal responsibility, including decision-making in complex and unpredictable contexts;
• undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature.
Principle QAA benchmark statements
(Dance, Drama and Performance) http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Documents/DDP07.pdf
Assessment strategy
The BA (Hons) Theatre and Performance Practice through a wide range of formative and summative assessment strategies will give students the skills and knowledge to create and deliver theatre based cultural activity informed by political processes, social inclusion and participation. Self-assessment and reflection are key factors in the process of learning and are part of the module’s assessment strategies.
Modes of assessment are integral to the teaching and learning process and vary accordingly. Much of the assessment is based on practical presentations, performances, students' reflections on their experience and knowledge of performance, either as practitioners, as members of audiences or as participants in exercises.
Coursework will ranges across formal essays, portfolios and journals, creative writing, critical-creative activities, reviews, and assessed oral presentations and performances. These different forms of coursework assessment will be used to test a range of knowledge and understanding and take account of the suitability of assessment modes to a process and practically oriented course. In each module the mode of assessment is determined by the nature of the focus, whether practical, technical or theoretical, and based on the material studied and the approaches adopted in the teaching.
Formative assessment will include contribution to seminar and workshop, short exercises in class, presentations and essay plans. These will receive oral and sometimes written feedback during and between class sessions.
Summative assessments include academic essays, reflective logs/journals, set presentations, group work, reviews, and portfolios of critical work.
Assessment strategies will take into account the student’s ability to work independently and as part of a team.
Modules required for interim awards
Performing Narratives of Self, Devising, Objects and Theatre, Identity and Performance, Excavating the Text, Performing the Text, Society in Performance,
Production: Practice and Performance, Production: Research and Realisation, Engagement and Participation
Career opportunities
Progression routes
- Community Performance/Theatre in Education
- Performance/Theatre Making
- Workshop Facilitation
- Arts Policy Making
- Arts Administration/Marketing
- Cultural Industries
- Acting
- Directing
- Producing
You will graduate with a wide range of transferable skills which will make you employable in both the theatre and the wider cultural industries. Career guidance and industry contextualisation is embedded throughout the programme. In addition a series of visiting workshops and lectures from leading experts in the theatre and performance industries will be arranged each year.
Much of the course replicates working industry environments that strengthen the careers education element of the course. Staff maintain strong links with the industry, and use these to help students to access opportunities for internships and employment during and after the course. Modules in the Creative and Cultural Industries, Business and Marketing will give you the opportunity to learn the skills appropriate to self management in the arts.
Entry requirements
In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have:
- 280 UCAS points or equivalent.
- Mature students with previous relevant experience are encouraged to apply.
All applicants must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. Applicants who require a Tier 4 student visa may need to provide a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. For more information about English qualifications please see our English language requirements.
Students are required to attend an interview workshop day as part of the application process.
Official use and codes
Approved to run from | 2014/15 | Specification version | 1 | Specification status | Validated |
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Original validation date | 01 Sep 2014 | Last validation date | 01 Sep 2014 | ||
Sources of funding | HE FUNDING COUNCIL FOR ENGLAND | ||||
JACS codes | W400 (Drama): 100% | ||||
Route code | THPEPR |
Stage 1 Level 04 September start Offered
Code | Module title | Info | Type | Credits | Location | Period | Day | Time |
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SM4010 | Devising | Core | 30 | NORTH | AUT+SPR | MON | AM | |
NORTH | AUT+SPR | MON | PM | |||||
SM4011 | Objects and Theatre | Core | 30 | |||||
SM4012 | Identity and Performance | Core | 30 | |||||
SM4016 | Performance Skills | Core | 30 |
Stage 2 Level 05 September start Offered
Code | Module title | Info | Type | Credits | Location | Period | Day | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SM5008 | Excavating the Text | Core | 30 | |||||
SM5009 | Performing the Text | Core | 30 | |||||
SM5010 | Society in Performance | Core | 30 | |||||
SM5055 | Installation and Site | Option | 15 | |||||
SM5056 | Directing 1 | Option | 15 | |||||
SM5057 | Marketing the Arts | Option | 15 | |||||
SM5058 | Dramaturgy | Option | 15 | |||||
SM6067 | Choreographing Performance | Option | 15 |
Stage 3 Level 06 September start Offered
Code | Module title | Info | Type | Credits | Location | Period | Day | Time |
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SM6015 | Performance Research and Development | Core | 30 | NORTH | AUT+SPR | MON | PM | |
NORTH | AUT+SPR | MON | AM | |||||
SM6P10 | Festival Showcase | Core | 30 | NORTH | SPR | WED | AM | |
NORTH | SPR | WED | PM | |||||
SM6P11 | Collaborative Film Project | Alt Core | 30 | |||||
SM6P12 | Independent Project | Alt Core | 30 | NORTH | AUT+SPR | NA | ||
SM6056 | Directing 2 | Option | 15 | NORTH | AUT | TUE | AM | |
SM6061 | Writing for Theatre and Performance | Option | 15 | NORTH | SPR | TUE | PM | |
SM6066 | Producing | Option | 15 | NORTH | SPR | TUE | PM | |
SM6068 | Installation and Site | Option | 15 |