Drama

Three years full-time or flexible part-time.

Drama is an experiential practice-led discipline in which students practically explore key aspects of theatre and performance practice styles, conventions and theories across a wide range of historical and cultural backgrounds. We seek responses to the questions: What makes theatre alive, and what is the significance of performance in the wider society? You will experience different and exciting dimensions of these questions through group-devised ensemble work and tutor-led projects in which the emphasis is to maintain the inter-relation of practice and theory.

Students will develop and increase their repertoire of physical and performance skills. They will develop physical and vocal techniques for work in different styles of performance, for improvisation and for devising. They will also acquire skills relevant for textual interpretation and critical analysis. These skills will be developed through a combination of teaching strategies including theatre visits, lectures/seminars and workshops with visiting professionals. We are looking for gifted people with some experience of performance. This practical course will appeal to people wishing to pursue careers in different areas of the theatre and performance industries and related fields; in the arts, in community work, in education and in postgraduate studies. Applicants should be able to express themselves in practice and in writing underpinned by research.

Stage one

The first stage, termed 'theatre foundations', forms the basis for study in stages two and three. This first stage concentrates on developing key skills, both practical and academic, through four compulsory modules consisting of workshop-based, practice-led investigations of selected performance theories and lecture/seminar courses.

Stage two

The second stage builds on the ensemble work of the foundation year through increased specialisation in chosen areas of interest whilst extending the depth of study and scope of practical work. Students are exposed to work of greater complexity and challenges requiring more creativity and imagination most especially in the compulsory modules, Specialist Study, Writing for Performance, and Professional Practices 1. 

Stage three

In the final year of study the course allows for continued specialisation and students take more responsibility for their learning. A compulsory module, Adaptations, provides an opportunity for dynamic and detailed practice-led research projects that might be seen as the intellectual base-line for the year. Students also participate in a second core module, Professional Practices 2, an intensive tutor-directed workshop course that is underpinned by placement in professional settings. These courses lead to the development of skills for work in a diverse range of applied theatre settings and opportunities also exist in both modules for students to form creative relationships with professionals in the performance and creative industries.  

• Five fully equipped drama studios and a large flexible performance space where diverse staging can be explored
  
• Practice intensive approach to the study of drama, theatre, and performance
• A wide variety of work with visiting professionals in the creative and performance industries
  
• Highly experienced and dynamic staff with professional experience in and of the creative industry
  
• Friendly and supportive atmosphere
• Links with professionals in performance and creative industries and with theatres, locally and nationally
• Opportunities for placements in the theatre industry and related areas and the forming of companies to work in applied theatre contexts
  

• Actor and Text
• Writing for Performance
• Performance Skills Improvisation, Voice, Body and Text
• Introduction to Theatre and Performance Theories and Practices
• Performance Technology
• Practice-led Drama Specialist Study
• Professional Practices 1
• Theories and Movements of Performance (Practice)
• Adaptations
• Professional Practices 2
  

Reading one or two chapters from at least four of the selection below will help students settle quickly onto the course:

Aston, E. and Savona, G., Theatre as Sign-system: A Semiotics of Text and Performance, London: Routledge, 1991.

Auslander, P., From Acting to Performance: Essays in Modernism and Postmodernism, London: Routledge, 1997.

Barba, E., and Savarese, N., The Secret Art of the Performer: A Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology, London: Routledge, 1991.

Barker, Clive, Theatre Games, London: Methuen, 1977.

Buse, P., Drama + Theory: Critical Approaches to Modern British Drama, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001.

Etchells, Tim, Certain Fragments: Contemporary Performance and Forced Entertainment, London: Routledge, 1999.

Heddon, Deirdre and Jane Milling, Devising Performance: a Critical History, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.

Hodgson, John & Richards, Ernest, Improvisation, London: Methuen, 1977.

McAuley, G., Space in Performance: Making Meaning in the Theatre, Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2000.

Nicholson, Tom, The Phonics Handbook, Chichester: Whurr, 2005.

Richards, Thomas, At Work with Grotowski on Physical Action, London and New York: Routledge, 1995.

Ridout, N., Theatre & Ethics, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.

Schechner, R., Performance Theory, London: Routledge Classics, 2003.

Shepherd, S., and Wallis, M., Drama/Theatre/Performance, London: Routledge, 2004.

Zaporah, Ruth (1994) Action Theatre: The Improvisation of Presence. Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books.

For all enquiries about the course, please contact one of the following by email or by telephone:

• Course Leader - Victor Ukaegbu
• Field Chair - Rachel Ewu
• Foundation Year Tutor - Patrick Duggan
  

This course is assessed through practice and theory and uses a variety of methods, including performances, self and peer assessment, written work, seminar presentations and continuous assessment.

• Five fully equipped drama studios and a large flexible performance space where diverse staging can be explored
• Links with professional theatre companies, small theatres and practitioners, locally, provide additional rehearsal studios
• A range of modern, up-to-date lighting, recording, and editing equipments
• A technical unit in the Division of Performance Studies and IT services where students may borrow cameras and camcorders
• A huge resource library with the latest volumes on drama, theatre, performance and multi-media and designated librarian
• The Division of Performance Studies of which Drama is one of the courses is home to professional companies, Jawi Theatre Collective and Choreographic Lab in which staff and students across year levels collaborate and work occasionally
• The Portfolio Innovation Centre where students may book practical space and graduates can lease space to work from and to develop their emerging practice at subsidised cost

The teaching methods used on the course are based on the inter-relation of practice and theory; workshop practice, lecture seminars, theatre visits, master-classes, productions, individual tutorials, specialist supervision, and visiting guest workshops/sessions. Practical workshops, individual tutorials, theatre visits and lecture seminars are common to all modules. The types and numbers of additional methods employed depend on the nature and content of modules.

This rigorous and comprehensive course provides an excellent foundation for entry into the competitive professional and academic field of drama. Our graduates have gone into a wide cross-section of careers; as performers, directors, stage managers, dramaturges and writers, theatre journalists, community arts administrators and practitioners, as well as teachers and lecturers in the discipline. Furthermore, because of the highly valued transferable skills gained from the course some graduates have gone on to work outside the arts at managerial level, whilst some have gone on to postgraduate study. Students will have highly developed performance and academic skills and transferable skills for work in different fields. They will become incisive critics and confident performers and makers of theatre.

Students go on placements in regional and national theatres and also in applied and touring theatre companies in order to experience first-hand, professional work in the creative and performance industries. Roles can include performers, directors, stage-managers, costume and set-designers, lighting technicians, tour managers, theatre administrators, etc. Some students go to schools and colleges to observe and work with teachers and tutors, to big organisations where they work in customer services, administration and public relations, and to community settings where the transferrable skills developed on the course are deployed to facilitating and organising workshops, in marketing, publicity, fundraising, promotions, etc.

There is presently no formal framework in the course to send students abroad but periodically, Drama plays host to Erasmus and American Studies exchange students who cite the range of modules and teaching methods as significant factors in their development of confidence and skills for presentation and communication.

Will there be many opportunities for me to perform and to develop skills in other areas of performance such as directing, writing, technology, stage-management, etc?

Yes

What is the balance between practice and theory?

There is in general a 60% practice to 40% theory split, but depending on the module, practice could be anything from 40% to 70% of a module.

Other than performing or making performances, will I be expected to know or study drama, theatre and performance theories?

Yes

Are there opportunities for me to engage in extra-curricular work with local amateur and professional theatre organisations outside and inside the University?

Yes

Do your students go on theatre visits and do you invite professional theatre companies, run master-classes or invite professionals to contribute to teaching?

Yes

Do your students go on professional placements?

Yes

Do students work in small groups or large groups?

Both

Do you award a single group grade for practical work?

Yes, but the effect of a group grade is usually mitigated by the presence of other items in a module assessment framework. There is usually a tutor mark and/or self and peer assessment element that help to differentiate individual grades. There are also other individual elements in the forms of coursework continuous assessment and individual written work amounting to between 40% and 60% of the overall module grade.

Do students have a choice about their practical work?

In principle there is a choice, but the extent depends ultimately on the module.