- UCAS course code
- W400
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA Drama
Study a wide range of drama - on stage, screen and beyond - including options to work with our acclaimed centre for applied and social theatre.
- Typical A-level offer: AAB
- Typical contextual A-level offer: BBB
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBC
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 35 points overall with 6,6,5 at HL
Course unit details:
Writing For Performance
Unit code | DRAM30212 |
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Credit rating | 40 |
Unit level | Level 3 |
Teaching period(s) | Semester 2 |
Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
Please note that this unit is delivered on-campus only and is therefore not available to remote learners
During this module, you will draft – and redraft – an original, full length, play script. This process will be supported by your tutor, fellow students and workshops with playwrights and theatre professionals, including sessions with the Royal Exchange and visits to see plays there during the semester. In addition to studying the key elements of a play in depth, students will workshop their own developing plays, and also explore writing for radio. These workshops will provide a coherent toolbox of structures and approaches to writing for theatre, including sessions on dramatic action, character, story, dialogue. They will include a range of writing, reading and discussion activities designed to support students in the writing of their own plays for the course. As well as developing students’ individual writing voices, the course facilitates the development of students’ analytical and dramaturgical understanding and their ability to provide peer feedback and critical support.
Pre/co-requisites
Pre-requisites: Any Level 1 Drama Practical core option
Any Level 2 Drama Study core option - Theatres of Modernity; Screen, Culture and Society
Aims
- To develop the students’ creative writing by facilitating and supporting the writing of a full length, original play script
- To develop students’ ability to evaluate and critically appraise their own – and others’ - creative work
- To introduce students to a range of industry practices, working in different forms of drama and theatre-making, in order to facilitate an understanding of the practicalities and realities of writing drama
Knowledge and understanding
- Demonstrate a deep, engaged and critically aware understanding of a variety of dramaturgical forms, features and possibilities in both practice (their creative writing) and theory (through critical reflection)
- Understand and critically reflect on a range of professional writing practices across several contemporary dramatic media
- Articulate an enhanced understanding of what makes a script for theatre, and what makes a script for radio, and worked creatively across both forms
- Demonstrate a sophisticated critical understanding of their own creative process
Intellectual skills
- Evaluate and critically reflect on the craft of the playwright and the effects of particular writing decisions on the overall shape and impact of a piece of drama, articulating this through their own writing (both creative and critical)
- Demonstrate an ability to not only critically appraise but also develop, shape and rework their own creative writing in order to hone its dramatic form, structure and character work.
- Explain, articulate and evaluate convergences and differences in writing practices through a theoretically, professionally and practically informed framework.
Practical skills
- Write, redraft, develop their own pieces of creative writing
- Interpret, apply, and work effectively with a range of feedback and responses (from tutors, peers, and themselves) to their creative work, and discuss this process with clarity and critical rigour.
- Work creatively to deadlines and with specific tasks, paying close attention to details of brief, audience and form.
Transferable skills and personal qualities
- Advanced interpersonal communication and team-working skills
- Critical thinking skills and creative practice skills (problem-solving, thinking innovatively, drawing on creative approaches of others, evaluating arguments, giving and receiving feedback, time-keeping)
- Using effective leadership, group-work, and creative/dramaturgical 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 solve problems arising from engaging with challenging and unpredictable scenarios
- Project management
- Ability to work independently to conceive, plan, undertake and evaluate original, well-developed creative projects that involve complex and unpredictable scenarios
- Other
- Advanced skills in group-work, independent creative writing, reflexivity, planning and project management. Understanding of and adherence to industry-level professional and ethical standards in practical work. Ability to develop informed critique of professional practice (own and others), drawing on understanding of high quality standards Development of a professional identity and skills/knowledge base to inform further professional practice, training and learning
Assessment methods
Play (full length) 60%
Reflective Essay 40%
Scene N/A (formative)
Feedback methods
Feedback method | Formative or Summative |
Play – written | Summative |
Scene – written | Formative |
Reflective essay – written | Summative |
Formative feedback points throughout the process, via individual tutorials, and in-class workshops (from both tutor and peers) | Formative |
Recommended reading
Ayckbourn, A (2004) The Crafty Art of Playmaking London: Faber & Faber
Caulfield, A (2009) Writing for Radio: A Practical Guide, Ramsbury: Crowood Press
Edgar, D (2009) How Plays Work, London: Nick Hern Books
Fountain, T (2007) So You Want To Be A Playwright? London: Nick Hern Books
Gooch, S (2001) Writing A Play: Third Edition, London: A&C Black
Griffin, G (2009) Contemporary Black and Asian Women Playwrights in Britain. Cambridge
Hansberry, L (1996) To Be Young, Gifted and Black: Lorraine Hansberry in her own words. London: Vintage Books.
Sigal, S. (2016) Writing in Collaborative Theatre-Making, Hampshire and NY: Palgrave Macmillan
Spencer, S (2002) The Playwright’s Guidebook, London: Faber and Faber
Unwin, S (2011) The Well Read Play, London: Oberon Books
Waters, S (2010) The Secret Life of Plays, London: Nick Hern Books
The majority of books about playwriting have been written by white men, although this is slowly changing. To encounter a more representative range of playwrights talking about the writing process, please delve into the following sources:
https://royalcourttheatre.com/series/playwrights-podcast/
http://www.blackplaysarchive.org.uk/
Study hours
Scheduled activity hours | |
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Practical classes & workshops | 132 |
Independent study hours | |
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Independent study | 268 |
Teaching staff
Staff member | Role |
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Cara Berger | Unit coordinator |
Additional notes