BA Connect in Performing Arts Studies First Year 2017 2018

Semester 1

KEY DATES for 1B PS STUDENTS

Introductions to Years

31 August / 1B PS orientation , 2-4, STUDIO 1

Other Important Dates

4 September / Week 1 of teaching
16-22 October / Baboro International Arts Festival for Children (performances in O’Donoghue Centre)
Friday 24 November / end of teaching.
27 November – 2 December / study week – no exams, assessment or classes may be scheduled during this week.
15 January 2018 / teaching resumes
19-23 February / Theatre Week
22 April / End of teaching
23-28 April / Study week

TIMETABLE

  • In semester one, all students take TP108 Theatre History.
  • In semester two, all students take DT110, Production Practicuum
  • TP103, Acting and Acting Methods in Performance, runs for the whole year.

Semester One timetable

Acting Tp103 / Ian Walsh / Monday 10-11 / Studio 1
Theatre History TP108 / Finian O’Gorman / Tuesday 11-12
Thursday 11-12 / CR1
STUDIO 2

Semester Two timetable

DT1110: Production Skills (a course on practical theatre skills) / TBC / Thursday 11-12 / BOI
Acting TP103 / Vincent O’Connell / Tuesday 11-1 / BOI

TP108 Theatre History 2017/18

Instructor: Finian O’Gorman

Course Outline

This module offers students the opportunity to develop their skills in reading dramatic texts from diverse periods in the European theatrical tradition, and to trace the development of theatre from the Greek classical period, through the Elizabethan and Restoration periods, and into the nineteenth century. Students will discuss and analyse theatrical conventions at play in a range of texts, and examine the relationship between space, audience, language, and convention.

Course Objectives

Students will be offered the opportunity to learn, historically situate and evaluate the conventions of the stage. The course aims to foster active learning and creative thinking through developing the practice of analysis in practical sessions, and in the discussion of lecture materials in small group teaching. Small groups will be offered the possibility of viewing and discussing a variety of theatre pieces. Theatre visit(s) will also be included in the schedule.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module students should be able to:

  • Identify and discuss a range of theatrical conventions,
  • Evaluate and situate the different historical genres covered,
  • Analyse theatrical texts in terms of performance conventions,
  • Test and practically investigate how conventions work on stage.

Assessment

Scene Analysis: 30%

Performance: 15%

Critical Reflection: 15%

Final Essay: 40%

Workshop Schedule

Week 1: Lecture: Introduction: Theatre Conventions

Workshop: Theatre Conventions in Performance

Week 2: Lecture: Greek Tragedy

Workshop: Greek Tragedy in Performance

Week 3 Lecture: Oedipus the King

Workshop: Oedipus the King in Performance

Week 4: Lecture: The Elizabethan Stage

Workshop: The Elizabethan Stage in Performance

Week 5: Lecture: Hamlet

Workshop: Hamlet in Performance

Week 6: Commedia dell’Arte

Workshop: Commedia dell’Arte in Performance

Week 7: Lecture: The Servant of Two Masters

Workshop: The Servant of Two Masters in Performance

Week 8: Lecture: Restoration Comedy

Workshop: Restoration Comedyin Performance

Week 9:Lecture: The Rover

Workshop: The Rover in Performance

Week 10; Lecture: Melodrama

Workshop: Melodrama in Performance

Week 11: Lecture: Arragh-na-Pogue

Workshop: Arragh-na-Pogue in Performance

Week 12: Scene Showings

TP103 ACTING First Year BA CONNECT

Lecturer: Dr Ian R Walsh

Teaching Assistant: Melinda Szűts

The objective of this course is to provide an introduction to the fundamentals of an actor’s process that is rooted in the dramatic works and teaching approaches of the contemporary Western theatre, with an emphasis on realistic acting technique and texts. You will be engaged in an active and experimental process that draws on your artistic and intellectual skills in order to furnish you with an understanding of basic realistic acting terminology and processes.

CLASS SCHEDULE

Week 1: Introduction: (JN)

Reading:

Sharon Carnickie, “Introduction,” “Demythologizing Stanislavsky,” “in Stanislavsky in Focus: An Acting Master for the Twenty-First Century, 1-17

J.L Styan, ‘The Naturalistic Revolt’ in Modern Drama in Theory and Practice 1: Realism and Naturalism

Week 2: Units & Objectives (IW)

Reading:

Stella Feehily, Duck

Bella Merlin, ‘Mining the Text’ in The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit.

Week 3: Physical and Psychological Senses (JN)

Reading:

Harold Pinter, Betrayal

Uta Hagen, “The Physical Senses” and “The Psychological Senses,” A Challenge For The Actor

Week 4: The Given Circumstances(IW)

Reading:

Diane Son, Stop Kiss

Bella Merlin, ‘Mining the Text’ in The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit.

Week 5: Rehearsing Scenes (JN)

Week 6: Showing of Scenes (IW)

Week 7: Showing of Scenes (JN)

Week 8: Problematising Stanislavski 1: Disability & Diversity (JN)

Reading:

Carrie Sandahl, ‘The Tyranny of Neutral: Disability and the Actor’ in Bodies in Commotion: Disability and Performance ed. Carrie Sandahl and Philip Auslander.

Richard Schechner, ‘Race Free, Body-Type Free, Age Free Casting’. TDR Vol 33, No 1 (Spring 1989), pp. 4-12.

Week 9: Problematising Stanislavski 2: Gender (IW)

Reading:

Rosemary Malague, “Chapter One: The ‘Given Circumstances,’” An Actress Prepares: Women and the “Method,” 1-29.

Week 10: Rehearsing of Scene (JN)

Week 11: Final Showing of Scene (IW)

Week 12: Final Showing of Scene. (JN)

ASSESSMENT

Please note that all files will be submitted as .doc or .docx via Turnitin on Blackboard.

1. Mid-term assessment (20)%

Students will submit:

  • Marked up breakdown of their scene with overall objective, beat shifts and playable actions identified.

2. Scene Showing- 30%

Showing One (Mid-term)- 15%

Showing Two (End of term)- 15%

3. Final Research Paper (1500 words)-50%

REQUIRED READING

Play Texts:

Feehily, Stella, Duck (text will be provided by Lecturers)

Pinter, HaroldBetrayal (Available through Drama Online)

Son, Diane, Stop Kiss(text will be provided by Lecturers)

Core Texts:

Including excerpts from but not limited to:

Ball, David. Backwards and Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays. Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 1983. Print.

Carnickie, Sharon, Stanislavsky in Focus: An Acting Master for the Twenty-First Century,Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1998. Print

Hagen, Uta. A Challenge for the Actor. New York: Scribner, 1991. Print.

Merlin, Bella, The Complete Stanislavski Toolkit, London: Nick Hern, 2007. Print

------, Routledge Performance Practitioners: Konstantin Stanislavsky. New York: Routledge, 2003. Print

Sandahl, Carrie and Auslander, Philip, Editors.Bodies in Commotion: Disability and Performance. University of Michigan Press, 2005. Print

Stanislavski, Constantin ,An Actor’s Work on a Role, translated by Jean BenedettiLondon: Routledge, 2010. Print.

------An Actor Prepares. Elizabeth R. Hapgood, trans. New York: Routledge, 1964. Print.

Styan, J.L, Modern Drama in Theory and Practice 1: Realism and Naturalism. Cambridge:CUP, 1981.