This module concentrates on the core dramaturgical activity of production research and development, investigating input in the planning and rehearsal process, both within text-based theatre and devised performance, dance, and other theatre genres. The module will begin with a strong practical element allowing Dramaturgy students to work closely and collaboratively with the Directing students on a number of tasks culminating in the Autumn Showcase performances. Following this, the course will assume a more theoretical focus in order to trace contemporary practices within the history of the profession from Lessing to Brecht, all the way to postdramatic theatre and performance. This will be complemented by a study of current productions from a range of genres, facilitating discussion, investigation and critique from a dramaturgical perspective. You will also examine how these productions are accompanied by publicity material, such as programme notes, and educational material and activities, in order to communicate their artistic ideas. Accordingly, you will learn to frame, understand, and support creative ideas and concepts and to translate and communicate these appropriately to a variety of targeted audiences by creating and developing informative and competent publication texts, brochures, education material, as well as audience events. Throughout the module, you may have contact with professionals, guest lectures and specialist workshops; you may also have the opportunity to meet artists and lead post-performance discussions at the University's Gulbenkian Theatre. Your acquired skills-set will then be tested from Week 17 by working on and contributing to a student-lead project with students from other M-Level specialisms, which will culminate in public performance at the end of spring term, where you will take on the role of the production dramaturg.

Participating fully and with commitment, you will develop:

        * comprehensive understanding of the historical development, the role, working methods and practices of dramaturgy,

        * enhanced creativity and proficient research skills in order to develop innovative and original ideas as part of the creation of new theatre performance, aided by familiarity with the repertory of texts for theatre and other stimulus material, and thus contributing successfully to the creation of theatre performance,

        * sophisticated ability to analyse, evaluate and assess dramaturgical concepts, both their own and those of others, and to implement and supervise their realisation,

        * advanced competence in communicating creative artistic ideas and performance contexts both to collaborators in rehearsal, and to an audience by means of production publicity, research packs, educational events and activities, and in other appropriate formats, anticipating and evaluating problems, and inviting feedback and response, and

        * ability to apply effectively dramaturgical skills within a production process to professional level.

In addition to these specialist skills, you will also gain some generic professional skills. Participating fully in this module enables you to develop

        * skills of creative and imaginative thinking, displaying artistic originality and critical sensitivity,

        * team-working skills and the ability to contribute to common targets in a professional context,

        * proficiency in the autonomous development and efficient self-management within an extended project phase,

        * critical reflective skills aiding the competent evaluation and assessment of work practices and improving problem solving and constructive engagement,

        * skills in information retrieval, synthesis, evaluation, and application supported by an efficient use of information technology and other knowledge resources, and

        * an advanced efficiency in communicating complex issues effectively and in appropriate styles towards target audiences in a variety of oral, written, and visual media.

Assessment & Deadlines

This module is assessed 100% on continuous assessment by coursework:

        30 % In-depth Dramaturgical Analysis of one production in the form of a critical report of 2,500 words. Deadline: Friday Week 20.

         20 % Group Project Presentation to an Expert Panel, testing summaritively the Learning Outcomes defined above as applied in your project work with the Producing students. This will take place on Tuesday Week 13.

        20 % Project Management and Constructive Involvement in creative group-work. This includes your contribution to one of the two Workshop days in Spring Term (see below), your involvement in the Autumn directing showcases, the Gulbenkian post-performance talks you will lead, and the workshops and seminar sessions.

         30 % Dramaturgical Project, including Production Concept, Brief, and texts for publication and education (for Programme Booklets, Educational Packs, Press Releases, etc.), as well as reflective analysis of the project, totalling 4,500-5,000 words, testing the above Learning Outcomes. This will document and assess your actual contribution and involvement with one of the Spring Performance Season productions, where you will act as production dramaturg. Deadline: This portfolio must be submitted within two  weeks of the final performance of 'your' project. (Please note that this due date may be within the Spring Vacation, and the Opening Hours of the Drama Office may be restricted during Vacation times. Please check before you submit.)          

The Dramaturgy Workshops

In the last two taught Friday sessions in early February, you will lead two workshop days:

        on Hans-Thies Lehmann's Postdramatic Theatre (4 dramaturgs)

        on Brecht's Messingkauf Dialogues (4 dramaturgs)

Both books are, of course, familiar to you as set reading for the course!

Your task is to create a workshop which will present, but also try out and experiment with the ideas of Postdramatic and Epic Theatre. Probably there will be short lectures (but please do not read out from a piece of paper!) to give information and stimulate discussion, handouts, discussion opportunities and practical exercises. Plan your timing realistically, so allow enough time for every point in your programme!

The best way to approach this task is to picture the situation of yourselves giving a workshop to directors and theatre-makers about Postdramatic/Epic Theatre. The target is thus to communicate the essential 'academic' ideas, and give the participants a sense of what they may do with them in practice. So it's less about 'How to do Brecht', but 'what's in it for us', with our individual approaches.

You may ask the participants to do some preparation, both of selected sections from the books you have prepared, or from a specific playtext you select to work from in the exercises. I can photocopy stuff, but please allow some realistic time to get it done!

The Dramaturgical Analysis

For your critical dramaturgical analysis of a total of 2,500 words, select one of the following productions:

Tbc

Tbc

Tbc

Your submission will then comprise of two parts:

1.)   In a reflective essay of approx. 2,000 words, analyse the dramaturgy of the production, assessing and evaluating dramaturgical choices made. You should support your analysis by detailed references to aspects of the production, and by extensive use of further research, both on aspects and practices of dramaturgy and on the play and its context. You may also make your own recommendations as to how problems you identify could have been solved. Doing so, you cannot, however, propose an entirely different production of the piece, but must work within the parameters of this specific production, ie. its venue, cast, and the basic directorial approach. The best way to approach this task is to plan to see the show at least two, ideally three times, while writing in-between these theatre visits and checking your analysis and writing against your own inevitably changing experience on different occasions. It is also recommended to contact the venue (the education departments have been very helpful re: tickets and further material, some have even asked to read the essays in the past)… In structuring your essay, think about the points you would want to raise as a dramaturg in discussion with the director, if what you saw had been a rehearsal, for example. So it's not a long theatre review, but should engage with the dramaturgical heart of the production. As such, there is no intention to be 'complete' in your analysis: select as few or as many different points (but arguing why these and not others), while never forgetting the appropriate depth and complexity of your discussion. The key thing is quality, not quantity.

2.)   Based on your research around the piece and production, write an approx. 500-700 word dramaturgical mini-essay that could be published in the programme brochure for the production. The task here is to communicate dramaturgical scholarship in the very limited space of production publicity, thus challenging you to be ultra-concise, clear, and accessible to a wider public, while not becoming superficial. Your manuscript must still conform to the usual Style Sheet as published in the Drama & Theatre Student Handbook, including referencing.

Dramaturgical Project: Documentation and Analysis         

      Note: This deadline may fall into the Spring Vacation period. It is your responsibility to inform yourselves in time about the Opening Times of the Drama Office during that period, and any failure to do so cannot be accepted as grounds for late submission.

Submit a Project Portfolio on the Festival Project you have been involved with. This will include various materials as appropriate, such as a Production Concept; Script/Edit; Research Summaries or other material created for the director/designer/actors…; Press Releases; Programme Booklets; Educational Material, and other.

In addition to this material you have created, you will offer an evaluative and analytical critical essay on the Festival project, the creative process and the performance itself. This essay will, in approx. 2,000 words, offer a thorough critical assessment of the achievements and problems of the project, the decisions taken, your involvement, and offer potential solutions and alternatives.

The full submission should total approx. 4,500-5,000 words.