Module: PM7037-30 Production 2: Directing a Company

Level: 7

Credit Value: 30

Module Tutor: Roger Apfelbaum

Module Tutor Contact Details: r.apfelbaum@bathspa.ac.uk

1.Brief description and aims of module

This module is one of 4 interconnected modules (PM7036, PM7037, PM7038 and PM7039) that draw together companies of creative practitioners to collaborate in the production of short pieces of live production. The focus is on this being a research and development project that could be a precursor to ideas that you could develop in your Major Project. It requires you to consider how your work as a director.

This module aims to:

● Provide a research and development environment for the direction of a short original performance piece

● Foster a company ethos by bringing together actors, directors and producers

● Promote collaborative approaches to the creation of live performance

2.Outline syllabus

The module continues to draw together actors, directors and producers requiring you to extend your work in module PM7010. You work on a short, but complete, performance piece (this might be a one-act piece, an edited text or a Research and Development phase of a production).

As Directors, you will develop a production concept and engage with actors and creative producers. Here you must engage with the producer and demonstrate an understanding of the hierarchy of theatre management, and how to articulate a vison within those systems.

This is first attempt at uniting the key elements of creating a live performance event and acts as a precursor to the Trimester 3 Major Project. The aim is to establish companies of creatives

who can collaborate in future projects.

The produced work can serve as a piece of research and development for a further, but significantly developed, iteration of the same project in the Major Project module. Equally, it can be a standalone work that explores the collaborative potential of a group of creative practitioners. You can draw your work from either you colleague on the masters programmes,

or from undergraduate work, or other sources.

The expectation is that this is a small-scale project for performance in a low-cost fringe environment. This reduces the risk for the director ensuring a safe learning environment.

3.Teaching and learning activities

This project is a development for students on the Production 1: Directing Actors module. It is also a preparation for the trimester 3 Major Project module, where you are likely to form your own production company and independently direct work. The focus of this module is for the learning to emphasise increasing autonomy. In that respect, teaching focusses on providing support, rather than leading the process.

Formative assessment therefore considers your production concept and its ability to work within the resources defined by the creative producer and an analysis of your relationship with the actors (such as casting or rehearsal room dynamics). It will also consider your production concept from a design perspective and how, with the producer, you “cut your cloth” to the production budget.

Summative assessment is a performance project. This combines the performance event and a viva voce after the project. This enables tutors to determine if any tensions restricted the creative process, where preparations succeeded or failed, where systems enabled or disrupted the production. The two assessment events work in tandem and serve to inform the tutors’ unified overview of the company's collaborative engagement with the creative process.

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: Course Work
• Description: Performance Project ( 7,500 words equivalent)
• % Weighting: 100%