- UCAS course code
- WW34
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Course unit details:
Directing Theatre
Unit code | DRAM30411 |
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Credit rating | 40 |
Unit level | Level 3 |
Teaching period(s) | Semester 1 |
Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
This professional practice module offers students the opportunity to explore and experience the activity of directing contemporary plays in theatre spaces and through doing so build the foundations of a working practice. The course will be taught through workshops, readings, discussion, group rehearsal and supervision.
Assessment will focus on the sharing/showing of work-in-progress excerpts from plays in performance . A complementary written component called a working notebook will build on ideas presented by developing concepts further and reflecting on process and practice.
Pre/co-requisites
Pre-requisite units | Any L1 Drama Practical option (DRAM10101 or DRAM10102) Any L2 Drama Study core option - Theatres of Modernity; Screen, Culture and Society At least one 20 credit L2 Drama practical course unit |
Co-requisite units | None |
Aims
- To explore the role of the theatre director in the realisation of play and text-based performance
- To prepare students for professional practice, fostering and noting skills important for theatre and related environments, including cooperative and collaborative working
- To develop student’s abilities to investigate/approach practical methods and critical perspectives when undertaking the development, direction and production of plays/texts for theatre.
Knowledge and understanding
- Demonstrate an understanding of what it means to be a director in the current landscape of theatre practice
- Work with a range of dramatic texts and approaches, with a focus on textual analysis and the process of taking a text from page to stage
- Work in a team to produce and present short pieces/excerpts of work-in-progress, in collaboration with their peer group, the CUD and technical staff
- Consider the relationship between the director, the actor, the text, the stage and the audience
- Evaluate and apply a process of critical enquiry to their working process and final outcomes.
Intellectual skills
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of some of the multiple possibilities that exist in the relationship between director, text, actor, backstage teams, theatrical space and spectator
- Develop and demonstrate an understanding of your own developing directing practice through critical engagement with that of others.
- Explore the subject through distinct kinds of writing about directing, including writing by professional directors, researchers, reviewers, and actors as well as other critical and related sources.
- Demonstrate a systematic understanding of key aspects of practical and intellectual approaches to directing and theatre production
Practical skills
- Articulate an understanding and use of directing techniques in theatre production
- Develop an extract of theatrical text towards a coherent work-in-progress performance
- Demonstrate awareness and apply professional standards and industry practices in the act of directing theatre
- Work collegially and productively with peers as well as staff to realise theatre production
- Offer constructive feedback to peers and revise their own approach in response to feedback
Transferable skills and personal qualities
- Advanced interpersonal communication and team-working skills
- Critical thinking skills and creative group-work practice skills (problem-solving, thinking innovatively, drawing on creative approaches of others, evaluating arguments, giving and receiving feedback, timekeeping)
- Using effective leadership and group-work skills to solve complex problems
- Performing with confidence and precision for specific audiences/contexts, making use of diverse creative approaches and media
Employability skills
- Group/team working
- Ability to work independently and as part of a group to conceive, plan, undertake and evaluate original, well-developed projects that involve complex and unpredictable scenarios
- Project management
- Advanced skills in group-work, leadership, reflexivity, planning and project management
- Other
- Understanding of and adherence to industry-level professional and ethical standards in practical work
Assessment methods
Practical: Presentation of work in-progress performance of chosen play extract | 60% |
Working notebook / Reflective writing | 40% |
Feedback methods
Feedback method | Formative or Summative |
Observed rehearsal - oral (peers and tutor) | Formative |
Practical - written | Summative |
Working notebook - written | Summative |
Formative feedback points throughout the process, via dedicated tutorial hours and in-class sessions |
Recommended reading
Russ Hope, Getting Directions: A Fly-on-the-Wall Guide for Emerging Theatre Directors (NHB 2013)
Katie Mitchell The Director’s Craft: A Handbook for the Theatre (Routledge, 2008)
Avra Sidiropoulou, Directions for Directing: Theatre and Method (Routledge, 2019)
Rosemary Waugh Running The Room: Conversations With Women Theatre Directors (Nick Hern Books, 2024)
Mike Alfreds, Different Every Night: Freeing the Actor (Nick Hern Books, 2007)
Study hours
Scheduled activity hours | |
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Practical classes & workshops | 220 |
Independent study hours | |
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Independent study | 180 |
Teaching staff
Staff member | Role |
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Andrew Smith | Unit coordinator |