Important: The Module Aims, Learning Outcomes and Briefing are unique to this assignment: read these sections very carefully. Do not skip straight to the Briefing. Module Aims (Why am I doing this?)
develop your understanding of a broad range of plays, genres, theatrical styles and concepts in writing for the theatre;
enable you to begin to locate and employ historical and contextual strategies and vocabularies for the analysis of theatre;
to enable you to develop skills of close reading and analysis of plays in terms of their dramatic and theatrical potential. Learning Outcomes (What am I supposed to show I can do?)
Knowledge and Understanding
Identify and explain the relationship between formal dramatic structure dramatic technique and the ‘world view’ of the play;
identify the relationship between historical dramatic conventions and practices, and the contexts and actual conditions of performance;
understand and utilize terminology associated with theatre making and performance analysis.
Intellectual Skills
identify the alignment of the spectator’s point of view in relation to dramatic choices made by play makers; character and situation;
demonstrate key skills in the systematic analysis of scenes and plays.
Practical Skills
undertake close and careful analysis of the means used to deliver moments of impact and significance in the theatre;
utilize knowledge gained in the development of creative responses to tasks.
Transferable Skills
respond to the precise terms of the brief;
present a structured argument in written assignments;
engage in independent scholarly research and discursive written analysis;
undertake a range of formal assessments to a range of specified briefings (assignments, portfolios);
P A G E | 2
Guidelines:
*You are not permitted to select a play that you have studied or written about for any other assignment/module;
plan your work before writing so that there is a clear argument and logical structure;
define key terminology;
use well-chosen quotations from your chosen playtexts to support your argument;
choose at least five appropriate critical secondary sources to develop your argument; ensure these sources are utilized in a way that allows you to challenge and/or extend what the writers say;
proofread carefully and make sure you have cited your sources properly using the Harvard guidelines;
include an annotated bibliography which lists all texts (primary and secondary
Assignment Briefing (What do I have to do?)
Option 1
Choose a play from List A and a play from List B, and, in essay form, respond to the following:
Compare and contrast the way the ‘world of the play’ is revealed through the playmakers’ crafting of THREE of the following, ensuring the relationship between craft and context is made explicit:
narrative
form and structure
language
performative signifiers
usage of/challenges to the conventions of stagecraft.
List A*
List B*
Medea by Euripides
A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
Noises Off by Michael Frayn
The Lower Depths by Maxim Gorky
Look Back in Anger by John Osborne
The Caretaker by Harold Pinter
Woyzeck by Georg Büchner
Arcadia by Tom Stoppard
Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht
The Encounter by Complicite
Option 2
Choose one play from the following list:*
a) Fen by Caryl Churchill
b) Galileo by Bertolt Brecht
c) Beautiful Burnout by Bryony Lavery
d) The Frogs by Aristophanes
e) Attempts on Her Life by Martin Crimp
P A G E | 3
Part i (1000 words approximately)
Write either an alternative beginning or ending for the play. Your ending or beginning should not significantly change the action of the play but can reveal new information, in keeping with the rest of the play. Ensure that you keep closely to the conventions of your chosen playmaker. You will not be marked on your playwriting skills, but the style and approaches to writing you employ must show an awareness of how the original playmaker(s) crafted the script.
Part ii (2000 words approximately)
In essay format, write a critical justification for the choices you have made with your script for Part i. This justification must be firmly rooted in both primary and secondary research and should show an understanding of how the playmaker(s) crafted the script by addressing:
The temporal context of the original play (i.e. the time and social conditions in which the play was originally crafted) and conventions utilised/challenged by the playmaker
The genre/style of the original play
The playmaker’s usage of structure and form
The playmaker’s approach to language, including visual language.
Option 3
Imagine you are a director at a small local theatre and you have been tasked with choosing the next play to put on. Choose ONE of the plays listed in Option 2 above.
Part i
Create a 5-8 minute presentation for the theatre’s board providing them with information on how you, as director, would choose to interpret the original playmaker’s intentions on stage. This can be a video recording of you speaking to camera, or a recorded Powerpoint presentation with voiceover.
The presentation should be uploaded to your TS403 Mahara page, with a link to the page included with your written submission.
Part ii (2000 words)
Provide accompanying notes for the board in the form of a formal report, arguing why the play will be of interest to contemporary audiences, and providing information on:
The temporal context of the original play (i.e. the time and social conditions in which the play was originally crafted) and conventions utilised/challenged by the playmaker
The genre/style of the play
The playmaker’s usage of structure and form
The playmaker’s approach to language, including visual language
