VISITING STUDENT Module Book
2015-16
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Module Code:
Module Title:
DR3020
Contemporary Irish Theatre in Context 1 (compulsory
module for all Junior Sophister students)
ECTS Allocation: 5
Module Co-ordinator: Dr Chris Collins
Teaching Staff:
Dr Collins & Guest Speakers
Semester:
2
Aims:
This module aims to develop the students’ awareness, analysis, and critical
evaluation of contemporary Irish theatre, with specific reference to the
programme of productions taking place in Dublin during the course of the
module. Upon completion, all students should be conversant with issues of
representation, approaches to theatre-making, matters of directorial strategy, and
ways of speaking and writing about those practices in contemporary Irish theatre.
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:



Understand, analyse and compare the work of practitioners currently
working in Ireland;
Discuss contemporary Irish theatre in a national and international context;
Provide oral and written critical reponses to contemporary theatre practice
in Ireland.
Working Methods:
The module will be taught through lecture/seminars, critical reading, public
interviews, and theatre visits. Each student is obliged to attend a number of
designated productions in Dublin theatres at their own cost, and to discuss these
performances with invited practitioners, and with other students on the module. A
series of lectures and public interviews with practitioners will form the basis of the
weekly schedule. Students are reminded that interviews with practitioners are a
public forum in which they are invited to enter a meaningful dialogue on
contemporary Irish theatre in its various contexts. Students are encouraged to
ask clear and concise questions and they should not be discouraged by formal
pretence.
Syllabus:
Designated critical reading and theatre visits.
Assessment:
The module is assessed through submission of two critical essays of 1,500 (50%
each)
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Module Code:
Module Title:
ECTS Allocation:
Module Co-ordinator:
Teaching Staff:
Semester:
DR3411
Principles of Devising 2
5
Chrissie Poulter
Chrissie Poulter
1
Overview
This module is the first level of two available to Visiting Students as an introduction to
the practice of group-created theatre, with a focus on the process of developing an
ensemble and negotiating the balance between individual and group creativity. Students
wishing to take the next level: DR3431 Applied Devising (a shared class with Trinity
students) must successfully complete Principles of Devising 2.
Objectives
This first level of the course aims:
 To develop the students’ awareness and understanding of drama and theatre
practices as utilised in the development of an ensemble and the exploration of
individual and group creativity
 To introduce the evolving discourse and vocabulary surrounding devised theatre
 To develop the students’ awareness, understanding and experience of using
drama workshops, theatre games and exercises to explore and develop
individual and group creativity
 To establish the practice of reflective journaling and the development of a
personal portfolio both in preparation for a devised piece and as a resource for
reflection and evaluation
Learning Outcomes
Level one of the course (Principles) will enable students to:
 Recognise and compare different approaches to group creativity
 Develop their ability to create and lead drama/theatre activities as part of the
devising processes
 Translate ideas into theatre image
 Develop their experience and facility for group-work through the teaching and
learning strategies used to deliver this course
 Work within a group to present a 5-10minute piece of group-created theatre
 Document practice and create a reflective report
 Develop a portfolio of material relevant to the creative process
Working Methods
The course will be taught through practical workshops and seminars.
In the second half of the semester students work on a collaborative performance project,
developed and presented with and within the class, based on the students’ own ideas.
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Small group discussion, peer-learning and reflective journaling form the core teaching
and learning strategies
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Schedule (Michaelmas Term)
Week 1 – registration
(visiting students are usually still sorting out module choices in week one)
Week 2
Pratical: Preparation of the individual
(Relaxation / presence; Breath / voice; Flexibility / Expressivity; Preparedness)
Preparation of the individual within the group – creating an ensemble
(Observation; Contribution; Resonance; Response; Collaboration)
Reading:
course outline (this document)
Week 3
Practical : Catalysts and Creativity
(Improvisation; Image theatre; Writing; Found objects; Narration/story-telling)
Reading:
Heddon, D. & Milling, J. (2006) Devising Performance: A Critical History
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Week 4_________________________________________________
Practical:
Site-specific
(tour of sites for possible performance interventions / installations )
Reading:
Hill, Leslie and Helen Paris, eds, Performance and Place
Week 5___________________________________________________
Practical:
Practical: group-led devising activities as part of project development
Reading:
Heddon, Deirdre, Autobiography and Performance
Week 6___________________________________________________
Practical:
Presentation/discussion of ideas for performance projects
Reading:
Wilson, Michael, Storytelling and Theatre
Week 7___________No class - Reading Week
Week 8___________________________________________________
Practical: group-led devising activities as part of project development
Reading
Material relevant to own project
Weeks 9_& 10_________________________________________________
Practical:
Rehearsal
Reading:
Material relevant to own project
Week 11___________________________________________________
Practical:
Presentation of devised performance pieces
Portfolio:
Scripting – before and/or after performance
Week 12___________________________________________________
Feedback
Panel discussions re the performances and process
Course evaluation
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Assessment - There are three assignments:
1. participation in a group-created performance of no more than 10 minutes, to be
presented in the weekly teaching space and focussing on the skills involved in
negotiating, creating, and performing in an ensemble, and in translating idea into theatre
image
2. Reflective portfolio (min 2500, max 5000 words). Students may negotiate alternative
forms of presenting part of the material e.g. DVD, website etc.
3. A script /score of the finished piece
Distribution of Marks:
50% - practical work: evaluation will be based on
 experience of the end-of-semester performance
 evidence of participation in the group process as demonstrated through the
reflective journals of both the individual student and the group
50% - written work: evaluation will be based on
 the reflective portfolio and report
 a script/score of the performed piece
Practical assessments will take place in class time in Week 11
Reflective portfolio report is due in 2 weeks later
BOOKLIST
Bicat, Tina, and Chris Baldwin, eds.,Devised and Collaborative Theatre: a practical
guide, Marlborough: Crowood, 2002
Blatner, Adam, Interactive and Improvisational Drama: Varieties of Applied Theatre
and Performance, New York: iUniverse, 2007
Boal, Augusto, Games for Actors and Non-Actors (revised edition), London:
Routledge, 2002
Govan, Emma, Helen Nicholson and Katie Normington, Making a Performance:
Devising Histories and Contemporary Practices, London: Routledge, 2007
Heddon, D. & Milling, J. Devising Performance: A Critical History
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006
Heddon, Deirdre, Autobiography and Performance, Basingstoke and New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2008
Hill, Leslie and Paris,Helen, eds, Performance and Place, Basingstoke and New
York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006
Jackson, Anthony, Theatre, Education and the Making of Meanings: Art or
Instrument, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007
Johnston, C., House of Games, London: Nick Hern Books, 1998
Johnston, Chris, The Improvisation Game: Discovering the Secrets of Spontaneous
Performance, London: Nick Hern Books, 2006
Kaye, Nick, Site-Specific Art: performance, place, and documentation, London:
Routledge, 2002
Oddey, Alison, Devising Theatre: A Practical and Theoretical Handbook, London:
Routledge, 1994
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Tufnall, Miranda and Chris Crickmay, Body, Space, Image : Notes towards
improvisation and performance, New York: Dance Books, 1993
Wilson, Michael, Storytelling and Theatre, Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2006
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Module code:
Module title:
ECTS allocation:
Module coordinator:
Teaching staff:
Semester:
DR3431
Applied Devising
10
Chrissie Poulter
Chrissie Poulter
2
Aims:
This module is the second of three designed to develop, in stages, a student’s
ability to devise a piece of theatre – with the involvement of a group at some
point in the creative process, leading to the pre-rehearsal scripting/scoring of the
piece to be performed. The focus is on the creative, research and production
processes involved in the development and production of a 20-minute piece of
group-devised theatre, based on or inspired by the history, geography or
architecture of the site of Trinity College.
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:







recognise and compare different approaches to group creativity;
develop their ability to create and lead drama/theatre activities as part of
the devising process;
engage in personal and group research as part of the ongoing process of
catalysing and responding to each other’s ideas and the developing
performance possibilities;
translate ideas, research materials and theoretical concepts into theatre;
develop their experience and facility for group-work through the teaching
and learning strategies used to deliver this module;
work within a group to present a 20-minute piece of group-created theatre;
document and analyse practice in a reflective report.
Working Methods:
 The module will be taught through practical workshops.
 After a series of formal workshop classes students will devise and present
a 20-minute piece of group-devised theatre, in a site of their own choosing
(dependent on relevant permissions being granted).
Assessment: devised piece of no more than 20 minutes (60%); reflective
portfolio (40%)
Pre-requisite: successful completion of DR3450 Principles of Devising.
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Module code:
Module title:
ECTS allocation:
Module coordinator:
Teaching staff:
Semester:
DR3495
Principles of Directing 2
5
Dr Chris Collins
Dr Chris Collins
2
Aims:
This is the first module of a three-part cycle designed to equip students with the
skills of the theatre director. This first part of the module will offer a practical
engagement with the role of the theatre director and her/his relationship with a
text in a workshop environment. The discipline of directing will be considered in
turns as an interpretive, a pragmatic and a creative art.
The objective of this module is to introduce students to the elementary principles
of directing performance for the theatre. Starting with research and development,
students will be introduced to all of the necessary skills that a director needs to
facilitate action in the rehearsal room. These skills include dramaturgy, working
with actors, articulation and attendance to given circumstances. Students will
consider these elementary principles through interrogating a Modernist playtext.
NB: This module is aimed particularly at those students who do not intend to
progress to Applied Directing. Students interested in taking Applied Directing
should opt for Principles of Directing 1.
Working Methods:
The module operates throughout the first semester in a series of workshop
classes. It focuses on some of the more fundamental aspects of drama. Looking
individually at composition, rhythm, stages, convention, subtext, articulation, play
and stage properties, the module asks at all times: what is it, in each of these
things, that we find interesting? What is dramatic? And how does that affect
decisions for a director? A certain amount of time and space in these classes will
be allotted for demonstration and/or practical engagement with the exercises,
methodologies and approaches raised in class-time.
We will cover thirty-seven principles of directing in this class. Each week I will
send you a learning aid with the principles covered and, at the end of the course,
I will give you all thirty-seven principles in one PDF document.
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
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

conceive and work toward theatricalisation of a concept based on a
dramatic text;
identify and work with actors toward a realisation of objectives in a text;
conceptualise action scenically;
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arrange and populate the stage space with an eye toward signification;
choose appropriate dramaturgical strategies for embodiment;
utilise techniques for the motivation of actors;
identify textual and character trajectories and work with actors toward their
realisation.
Syllabus:
This module is primarily practical in nature and students should come to class
prepared for practical work and with any supplementary reading covered.
Throughout the module students should be prepared to present work and to
comment critically upon each other’s work. Halfway through the course (week six)
you will be asked to present a five-minute duologue from a Modernist playtext. This
duologue will not be assessed but it is an integral halfway point in the course because
the final assessment will be a ten-minute duologue. In the final week of the module
each student will direct and present in class a ten-minute scene (duologue) from
a text of their own choosing. All text choices must be approved by the module
tutor.
Assessment:
Direction of 10-minute duologue (50%) and a 2,500-word reflective practice
document (20%), identification of subtext in a Modernist playtext (10%) and
attendance, preparation and participation (10%).
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Module Code:
Module Title:
ECTS Allocation:
Module Co-ordinator:
Teaching Staff:
Semester:
DR3408
Principles of Theatre Management (1)
5
Chrissie Poulter
Chrissie Poulter
1
Overview:
This module is designed as an introduction to the field of administration and
management as it applies to small and medium-scale arts organisations and
companies. Students wishing to undertake an individual practical project in this
area may go on to Applied Theatre Management if they successfully complete
the Principles module and pass with a grade of 2:1 or higher.
Objectives:
This module aims to:
 develop the student’s awareness, experience and understanding of
personal and organisational management;
 introduce a range of practices that are relevant to the field;
 develop the student’s ability to analyse practice and recommend
improvements – both to self and others.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
 recognise and compare administrative and management practices;
 review a particular aspect of organisational practice, communicating
findings and recommendations through a report and a presentation;
 develop their experience of and facility for consultation, team-work and
presentation skills through the teaching and learning strategies used to
deliver and assess this course.
Working Methods
The course will be taught through seminars and the undertaking of supervised
project-work linked to events in the School of Drama Film & Music. Small-group
discussion, peer-learning and the examination of case studies form the core
teaching and learning strategies.
Assessment
There are three assignments:
1. A supervised project carrying out basic tasks linked to events in the
School of Drama Film & Music (eg one of the following: publicity/marketing
for Final Year Director’s show, creation of an event to showcase
screenings of student films, preparation of press information for the
Composers’ Centre ...).
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2. A timed “in-tray” task:
This exercise is intended to demonstrate the student’s ability to deal
quickly and efficiently with a range of instructions and tasks in the same
way as s/he would if working in the field. The exercise relates solely to
work covered over the term, including a review of the practical projectwork, and will take place during class time.
3. A consultative report:
This will comprise of a review of an aspect of practice of a business or
organisation, and of three recommendations for improving the relevant
business practice. The report is to be presented in an appropriate format,
including:
 An introduction to the context for the review
 A summary of current practice
 An identification of aspects of that practice which could be improved
 Recommendations for improving the practice
To be submitted by the Friday of Week 3 of Hilary Term. Before the final
submission each student will give a 15-minute presentation of the
document and its findings, taking questions from the floor.
Evaluation will focus on the student’s ability to conduct a review and to
present an appropriate document.
Assessment
Supervised project – 20%
In-tray exercise – 30%
Consultative report – 50%
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Module Code:
Module Title:
ECTS Allocation:
Module Co-ordinator:
Teaching Staff:
Semester:
DR3416
Principles of Theatre Management 2
5
Chrissie Poulter
Chrissie Poulter
2
Overview:
This module is designed as an introduction to the field of administration and
management as it applies to small and medium-scale arts organisations and
companies. Students wishing to undertake an individual practical project in this
area may go on to Applied Theatre Management if they successfully complete
the Principles module and pass with a grade of 2:1 or higher.
Objectives:
This module aims to:
 develop the student’s awareness, experience and understanding of
personal and organisational management;
 introduce a range of practices that are relevant to the field;
 develop the student’s ability to analyse practice and recommend
improvements – both to self and others.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
 recognise and compare administrative and management practices;
 review a particular aspect of organisational practice, communicating
findings and recommendations through a report and a presentation;
 develop their experience of and facility for consultation, team-work and
presentation skills through the teaching and learning strategies used to
deliver and assess this course.
Working Methods
The course will be taught through seminars and the undertaking of supervised
project-work linked to events in the School of Drama Film & Music. Small-group
discussion, peer-learning and the examination of case studies form the core
teaching and learning strategies.
Assessment
There are three assignments:
4. A supervised project carrying out basic tasks linked to events in the
School of Drama Film & Music (eg one of the following: publicity/marketing
for Final Year Director’s show, creation of an event to showcase
screenings of student films, preparation of press information for the
Composers’ Centre ...).
5. A timed “in-tray” task:
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This exercise is intended to demonstrate the student’s ability to deal
quickly and efficiently with a range of instructions and tasks in the same
way as s/he would if working in the field. The exercise relates solely to
work covered over the term, including a review of the practical projectwork, and will take place during class time.
6. A consultative report:
This will comprise of a review of an aspect of practice of a business or
organisation, and of three recommendations for improving the relevant
business practice. The report is to be presented in an appropriate format,
including:
 An introduction to the context for the review
 A summary of current practice
 An identification of aspects of that practice which could be improved
 Recommendations for improving the practice
To be submitted by the Friday of Week 3 of Hilary Term. Before the final
submission each student will give a 15-minute presentation of the
document and its findings, taking questions from the floor.
Evaluation will focus on the student’s ability to conduct a review and to
present an appropriate document.
Assessment
Supervised project – 20%
In-tray exercise – 30%
Consultative report – 50%
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Module Code:
Module Title:
ECTS Allocation:
Module Coordinator:
Teaching Staff:
Semester:
DR3419
Principles of Drama & Community
5
Chrissie Poulter
Chrissie Poulter
1
Aims:
This module is the first of three in a cycle and is designed as an introduction to
the growing field of drama and theatre practice known as Applied Theatre or
Socially Engaged Theatre – with the aim of supporting the student to discover
and pursue an area of personal interest within the field. Applied Theatre uses
techniques from theatre and drama, applying them to non-theatre contexts
including Educational drama & Theatre-in-Education (T.I.E.), Youth Theatre,
Community theatre and drama, Theatre Outreach & Education projects, Prison
drama/ theatre, Arts and Health, Disability Arts, Theatre of the Oppressed, and
more.
Students who wish to take the next module, Applied Drama and Community
(DR3464), which involves a placement with a practitioner in the field, must
successfully complete the Principles module with a grade of 2:1 or higher.
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
 recognise and compare Applied Theatre practices;
 design and develop a theatre workshop;
 research a particular aspect of Applied Theatre practice;
 demonstrate a facility to participate constructively and productively in
group-work.
Working Methods:
The module will be taught through discursive and practical seminars, some of
which will include practical engagement in active workshops for the purpose of
exploring and analysing different elements of Applied Theatre practice.
Assessment:
Essay – 50%
Workshop design – 50%
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Module Code:
Module Title:
ECTS Allocation:
Module Coordinator:
Teaching Staff:
Semester:
DR3464
Applied Drama & Community
5
Chrissie Poulter
Chrissie Poulter
Observational Placement
Aims:
This module is the second of three in a cycle and is designed as an observational
work placement of the growing field of drama and theatre practice known as
Applied Theatre or Socially Engaged Theatre.
The aim of this second level of the module is that students undertake a study of
Applied Theatre in action as a participant observer of a group or project led by an
experienced practitioner and then evaluate these experiences within the context
of a developed knowledge and understanding of the field.
Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this module students should be able to:



document, analyse and evaluate practice as observed in the field;
research and compare particular aspects of Applied Theatre practice in
order to contextualise their placement;
write a reflective portfolio on of their experiences.
Working Methods:
The module centres on a placement, to be negotiated by the student, in which
the student observes the work of an experienced drama/theatre facilitator. As a
participant-observer the student may be invited to assist the project leader or to
simply participate as a member of the group.
Fieldwork, small-group discussion and reflective journaling form the core
teaching and learning strategies.
(Note: approval for the placement must be given by the course tutor in advance
of it taking place.)
Assessment:
Written (40%):
The portfolio as a reflective document, including the use of appropriate
contextual material
Practical (60%):
Placement
(Evidence, demonstrated through the portfolio, group reflection and
individual tutorials of: engagement, participation and commitment with
regard to their placement together with an understanding of Applied
Theatre/Drama practice relevant to their particular placement)
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Pre-requisite:
Successful completion of DR3419 Principles of Drama and Community with a
grade of 2:1 or higher.
Acceptance for the placement (Applied) is dependent on having a Garda
Clearance certificate specifically for this module. This is now a legal requirement
for all placements which involve students having access to young people or
vulnerable populations. The Admissions Office deal with student applications for
Garda vetting. Any student notified of a provisional place on the module should
immediately contact the TCD Admissions Office for the relevant application form.
In the case of a placement or project not involving young people or vulnerable
populations the student should contact the module co-ordinator directly to seek
approval.
For one-semester study abroad students it may be possible to take this module if
there is evidence of previous study and experience at this level in the field of
Applied Drama. In addition a written assignment may be set as part of this
alternative entry process.
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Module Code:
Module Title:
ECTS Allocation:
Module Coordinator:
Teaching Staff:
Semester:
DR3499
Documentary Theatre
5
Chrissie Poulter
Chrissie Poulter
2
Aims:
This module is designed as an exploration of the field of documentary theatre
and the associated practices of creating performances based on and/or
incorporating ‘the real’ in various forms such as ‘actuality’, historical documents,
interview transcripts and more. This includes such forms as verbatim theatre,
theatre-of-witness, tribunal plays, reminiscence theatre, living newspaper,
community plays and interview theatre. The module aims to enable the student to
discover and pursue an area of personal interest within the field.
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
 Research an aspect of Documentary Theatre and demonstrate an
awareness of historical and theoretical frames of reference relating to the
field.
 Apply a critical awareness and understanding of practical, legal and ethical
considerations when undertaking research and presentation which
incorporates actuality and historical documents;
 Collaborate in the creation and presentation of a short theatre piece which
incorporates actuality and historical documents
 Demonstrating a facility to participate constructively and productively in
group-work.
 Demonstrate an understanding and ability to utilise appropriate theatremaking and performance techniques
 Document, analyse and contextualize their own experience, with particular
reference to the activities which form a part of the module.
Working Methods:
 The module will be taught through seminars, some of which will include
practical engagement in active workshops for the purpose of exploring and
analysing different elements of Documentary Theatre practice.
 Students will construct and present a short piece of documentary theatre
utilising material generated from their own research.
Assessment:
Class Participation (20%)
Active participation in and preparation for weekly exercises and discussion
as directed by the course tutor.
Group performance (30%)
The main focus will be on the content, form and style of the piece as
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opposed to the performance abilities of the participants.
Written assignment (50%)
Combined Essay 1500 words + 1500 word reflective report
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Module Code:
Module title:
ECTS allocation:
Module coordinator:
Teaching staff:
Semester:
DR3476
Theatre and Ireland 1
5
Dr Melissa Sihra
Dr Melissa Sihra
1
Aims:
This module introduces a range of Irish plays and practices from the Melodrama
of Dion Boucicault up to the mid-twentieth century. The module explores the
founding of the Irish Literary Theatre (ILT) at the turn of the twentieth century and
plays by Lady Gregory, W.B. Yeats, J.M. Synge, G.B. Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Sean
O’Casey, Teresa Deevy and Mairead Ni Ghrada. The module considers the plays
in the light of cultural, political and historical and literary contexts relating to
gender, sexuality, class, nation, colonialism and post-colonialism.
Working Methods:
The module is composed of a series of weekly one-hour lectures and seminars.
A number of plays are covered each week with prescribed critical readings.
Lectures explore the plays as well as the socio-political and cultural climates of
the time. Weekly seminars allow for discussion of the plays and the themes and
issues that they raise.
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:



demonstrate knowledge of Irish playwrights and related historical, cultural
and creative contexts through the mid-twentieth century;
demonstrate knowledge of themes, traits and tropes emerging in Irish
theatre during the period;
analyse and interrogate notions of ‘Irishness’ and cultural identity as
represented in Irish theatre
Syllabus:
Plays include The Colleen Bawn, The Shaughran, Dion Boucicault; The Pot of
Broth, Spreading the News, Kathleen ni Houlihan, Lady Gregory; At the Hawk’s
Well, Purgatory W.B. Yeats; Riders to the Sea, When the Moon has Set, The
Playboy of the Western World, The Shadow of the Glen, J.M. Synge; John Bull’s
Other Island, G.B. Shaw; The Importance of Being Earnest, Salome, Oscar
Wilde; Juno and the Paycock, Sean O’Casey; Katie Roche, The King of Spain’s
Daughter, Teresa Deevy; On Trial, Mairead Ni Ghrada.
Assessment:
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One 3,000-word essay (60%); class participation including a presentation (40%).
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Module Code:
Module title:
ECTS allocation:
Module coordinator:
Teaching Staff:
Semester:
DR3477
Theatre and Ireland 2
5
Dr Melissa Sihra
Dr Melissa Sihra
2
Aims:
This module introduces students to the major playwrights of Irish theatre from
Samuel Beckett to Marina Carr. Students will study the work of Samuel Beckett,
Brian Friel, Tom Murphy, Frank McGuinness, Anne Devlin, Christina Reid, Mark
O’Rowe, Martin McDonagh, Marina Carr, Nancy Harris, Amy Conroy, Ian
Watkins, Gerry Stembridge and Grace Dyas. The module will consider key works
within socio-cultural contexts as well as their histories of production and
reception.
Working Methods:
The module is composed of a series of lectures and seminars. A number of plays
are covered each week with prescribed critical readings. Lectures explore the
plays in depth as well as the socio-political and cultural contexts of the time.
Seminars allow for discussion of the plays and the themes and issues that they
raise. In class students will view DVD and VTR interview and film footage
throughout the semester.
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
 demonstrate knowledge of Irish playwrights and related historical and
cultural contexts from the latter twentieth century through the
contemporary moment;
 demonstrate knowledge of themes, traits and tropes emerging in Irish
theatre during the period;
 analyse and interrogate notions of ‘Irishness’ and cultural identity as
represented in Irish theatre, with regard to a range approaches.
Syllabus: Plays include Waiting for Godot, Endgame, Krapp’s Last Tape, Not I,
Samuel Beckett; Faith Healer, Translations, Dancing at Lughnasa, Brian Friel;
Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, Baglady, Frank
McGuinness; Bailegangaire, Tom Murphy; Ourselves Alone, Anne Devlin; The
Belle of Belfast City, Christina Reid; Made in China, Terminus, Mark O’Rowe;
The Mai, Portia Coughlan, On Raftery’s Hill, Marina Carr; The Year of Magical
Wanking, Ian Watkins; The Gay Detective, Gerry Stembridge; I heart Alice heart
I, Amy Conroy; No Romance, Nancy Harris, HEROIN, Grace Dyas.
Assessment:
One 3,000-word essay (60%); class participation including a presentation (40%).
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Module code:
Course Title:
ECTS Allocation:
Course Co-ordinator:
Teaching Staff:
Term:
DR3445
Studies in Samuel Beckett
5
Dr. Nicholas Johnson
Dr. Nicholas Johnson
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Aims:
This course will survey the work of Samuel Beckett with an emphasis on
performance strategies. A broad spectrum of texts will be considered, including
examples of Beckett’s drama, prose, poetry, and works for screen and radio.
Critical readings will emphasise Beckett’s contribution to drama and to world
literature, introducing many of the philosophical and political dimensions
articulated or suggested by the works. Students will participate in the creation of
performances for the end of term, taking any role they wish (director, dramaturge,
designer, or actor) to work on a piece by Beckett in performance.
Working Methods:
Weekly reading assignments will be required, and will ground the theoretical and
practical explorations. Seminar-style discussion will be used in combination with
practical experimentation. Students will be required to participate in
presentations, both academically and theatrically, as part of this course. Ongoing
contributions in class will be assessed formally as part of the final mark, as well
as short assessments in the form of response papers.
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module, students should be able to
demonstrate:
 Awareness of content and context of key texts by Samuel Beckett,
particularly the drama;
 Articulation of historical and contemporary performance practices in
Beckett;
 Familiarity with critical traditions associated with contemporary “Beckett
Studies”;
 Analysis of ethical, political, and aesthetic issues at stake in Beckett;
 Preparation skills for presentations and seminar discussions in class, as
well as participation in a performance of a Beckett text.
Syllabus: Plays will include Waiting for Godot, Endgame, Not I, Play, and a
number of other “shorts,” as well as some of Beckett’s prose, criticism, film
scripts and radio plays. Students should purchase the Faber edition of Beckett’s
Complete Dramatic Works. Key critical authors (to be read in parallel with
Beckett texts) will include James Knowlson, Jonathan Kalb, Ruby Cohn, Enoch
Brater, H. Porter Abbott, and Andrew Gibson, among others.
Assessment:
One 2,500-word Essay (70%)
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Ongoing Assessment (30%): 10% short response papers, 10% in-class
presentation, 10% participation mark
Non-assessed requirements: participation in final practical performances,
abstract submission for final essay at end of term
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Module Code:
Course title:
ECTS allocation:
Teaching staff:
Term:
DR3492
American Drama
5
Dr. Nicholas Johnson
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Aims:
This is a one-term course in Hilary Term that focuses on the canonical work of
some of the major figures in American playwriting in the twentieth century. The
focus of the course will be on the ways that these playwrights have represented
aspects of national and cultural identity, particularly from the cultural materialist
perspective of understanding US economic, political, cultural, and demographic
backgrounds. In a student-led mixed presentation/discussion format, we will read
and discuss numerous playtexts (usually two per week) and will consult
supplementary readings for context and criticism.
Working Methods:
This course runs for 12 weeks in Hilary Term with weekly two-hour seminar
classes moving through course content in approximately chronological order.
Readings for each week will include one to two plays (frequently in dialogue with
one another) in addition to historical, theoretical, and/or critical selections.
Classes will include presentations on theatrical movements, playwrights, etc.
followed by guided discussion of the themes and issues involved in each week’s
readings. Students will be expected to prepare occasional one- to two-page
typed responses to readings, as well as to prepare one class presentation on a
chosen topic during the semester.
Learning Outcomes:
On completion of this module, students should be able to demonstrate:
 Awareness of historical, geographic, economic, and political conditions
affecting American Drama
 Contextual awareness of major playwrights, critical tradition, and aesthetic
theories of the 20th and early 21st centuries in the US
 Ability to analyze and contextualize dramatic texts from the US
 Expanded awareness of complexity of identity representation, particularly
in the US context
 Preparation for an in-class academic presentation on a text as well as
regular and effective in-class participation.
Syllabus:
Sample of possible texts (slight variation year-to-year): Susan Glaspell Trifles,
Zora Neale Hurston Color Struck, Clifford Odets Awake and Sing!, Eugene
O’Neill The Emperor Jones, Langston Hughes Mulatto, Arthur Miller Death of a
Salesman, Tennessee Williams Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Edward Albee Who’s
Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Lorraine Hansberry Raisin in the Sun, Sam Shepard
True West, David Mamet American Buffalo, Suzan-Lori Parks The America Play,
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Anna Deavere Smith Twilight: Los Angeles, Tony Kushner Angels in America,
August Wilson Fences, and Tracy Letts August: Osage County.
Assessment:
One 3,000-word Essay — topic to be approved in consultation (70%)
On-going Assessment — 10% response papers, 10% in-class presentation, 10%
participation (30%)
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Module Code:
Module Title:
ECTS Allocation:
Module Co-ordinator:
Teaching Staff:
Semester:
DR3412
Comedy and the Comic
5
Dr Eric Weitz
Dr Eric Weitz
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Aims:
This module serves as a follow-on exploration from the JF module ‘Comedy: The
Basics’. The focus from the start will be on ‘comedy and the comic’ – in dramatic
texts and in film, television, stand-up and online contexts – in its various guises,
as it infiltrates and inflects other generic territories, and as it takes on ‘serious’
projects. The module throughout will engage with issues of comedy and the
comic with regard to performance, context and political implications.
Working methods:
The module will quickly revise some of the basics of comic form and humour
theory, though on a more advanced level than in first year. It will then move on to
explore a range of critical readings and texts from all the above performance
modes, looking also at areas of comedy studies including farce, satire, ‘cringe
comedy’ and other kinds of laughter-related interrogation in live and recorded
performance.
Learning Outcomes:
Students should be able to:
 demonstrate a grasp of humour mechanisms and comic forms as they
relate to text and performance, as well as the ways in which their
operations differ amongs performance modes (e.g., stage v film);
 demonstrate insight into the play, texture and discursive powers of genre
with regard to comedy and the comic in a range of contexts;
 demonstrate an increased awareness of the potential vectors at work in
and between the lines of comic text, humour and performance;
 identify common comic strategies and how they have been and can be
reconfigured in actual performance contexts and to what effects;
 engage in thoughtful critical analysis of the manners in which
contemporary stage, film, television, video, stand-up and non-dramatic
performance have appropiated and exploited comic practices and to what
ends.
Working Methods: Classes meet once a week for two hours, and will be
comprised of theoretical exploration, close readings of dramatic and recorded
texts and seminar discussion. All students will have to make a presentation on
the assigned reading and/or text for a given week. Ongoing contribution to class
discussion constitutes a formal part of the Ongoing Assessment component, as
does submission of two response papers.
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Assessment:
Essay – 50%
Presentation plus ongoing assessment, including response papers – 50%
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Module Code:
DR3413
Module Title:
A Cultural History of the Blues (elective module)
ECTS Allocation: 5
Module Co-ordinator: Dr Matthew Causey
Teaching Staff:
Dr Matthew Causey
Semester:
1
Aims and Learning Outcomes:
The Blues, born out of the African diaspora in America, has proven to be a
remarkably resilient form which continues to dominate much popular music and
maintains its unique representations and celebrations of life. ‘A Cultural History of
the Blues’ will trace the musical form of the Blues and its cultural conditions from
its origins in the African-American spirituals and field hollers of the Mississippi
Delta of the 19th century (Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton) through to the PostWar electrified Blues of Chicago (Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf) and the birth of
rock n’ roll (Elvis Presley), Louisiana Blues (Professor Longhair, Guitar Slim)
through to its psychedelic and rock resurgence in the 1960s (Captain Beefheart,
Cream, Doors, AllmanBrothers), later punk appropriations (Clash, Gun Club) to
the contemporary (Tom Waits, White Stripes, Black Keys). The origins of
American country music and jazz share a similar historical time and place and
the cross-pollination of early country (Jimmie Rodgers, Carter Family), jazz
(Louis Armstrong) and the Blues will be addressed.
The focus of the lectures will be the music positioned against a concern for the
social circumstances and historical specificity (slavery, share-cropping, poverty,
rebellion, style) which shaped the music. The module will draw on various
models of performance studies and ethnomusicology to analyze the staging,
playing and transmission of the Blues. Students will be encouraged to partake as
players or spectators in occasional but optional jam sessions exploring the form
and performance of the Blues.
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
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recognize and analyze the basics of the blues form in its various styles;
demonstrate a grasp of the cultural issues which gave rise to the early
examples of blues music;
identify and analyze the repeated recurrences of the Blues in Western
popular music;
demonstrate a knowledge of the contemporary artists working in the field
and their unique contributions;
analyze the staging and playing of the Blues using various performance
studies models;
articulate the cultural conditions of the Blues using basic strategies of
ethnomusicology.
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Working Methods:
Lectures, Seminars, Listening Assignments, Historical and Theoretical Readings,
Weekly Writing Assignments, Jam Sessions.
Assessment:
Essay (3-4,000 words): 70%
Weekly Writing Assignments: 30%
Sample Bibliography:
Davis, Francis, The History of the Blues: the roots, the music, the people. (Da
Capo Press, 1995).
Lomax, Alan, The Land Where the Blues Began. (1993, The New Press).
McGinley, Paige, Staging the Blues from Tent Shows to Tourism (Forthcoming,
Duke University Press).
Wald, Elijah, Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of
the Blues (Amistad, 2004).
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Module Code:
DR3456
Module Title:
Tragedy and the Tragic
ECTS Allocation:
5
Module Co-coordinator: Dr Matthew Causey
Teaching Staff:
Dr Matthew Causey
Semester:
1
Aims:
The course will begin with an examination of the dramaturgy, theatre practices,
and theory of the tragic genre in western theatre. The seminars will examine the
manners in which tragedy and the tragic are constructed in culture through ritual,
violence and the sacred, individual agency and community responsibility, and
finally, within the metaphysics and psychology of identity. The reading list will
include examples of Greek and early modern tragedy and the
modernist/postmodernist challenging of the form. Readings will include canonical
dramatic texts such as Aeschylus’ Oresteia trilogy, Sophocles’ Oedipus,
Euripides’ The Bacchae, Seneca’s Thyestes, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Racine’s
Phèdre, and modernist reconfigurations of the form such as works from Büchner,
Synge and Beckett. Theoretical readings will include essays from Plato, Aristotle,
Nietzsche, Freud, Lukács, Adorno, Steiner, Barthes and Girard.
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
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articulate the primary theoretical and philosophical questions regarding the
tragic form in western theatre practice.
demonstrate knowledge of many of the canonical works of western tragic
dramaturgy.
demonstrate an understanding of the various cultural conditions giving rise
to the tragic form.
engage in thoughtful critical analysis of the manners in which modernist
and postmodernist performance practices have appropriated and altered
the tragic form.
Working Methods:
Readings, lectures and seminars, writing assignments, classroom presentations.
Assessment:
Seminar Participation:
Weekly Writing Assignments:
Seminar Presentation(s):
Final Essay (4,000 words):
20%
20%
10%
50%
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