Module: DRA6008-20 Writing and Directing for Performance 2

Level: 6

Credit Value: 20

Module Tutor: Sita Calvert-Ennals

Module Tutor Contact Details: s.calvert-ennals@bathspa.ac.uk

Please note that in order to take this module you must have studied DRA6007-20 Writing and Directing for Performance 1.

1. Brief description and aims of module:

This is a collaborative module run between creative writing and drama, giving you the opportunity to collaborate on developing a piece of new writing for performance. The module introduces you to the fundamentals of writing/ staging/ directing new writing for live performance. It is based on an industry model of the director / writer partnership.

This module aims to provide you with:

• An appreciation of the wider dramaturgical issues intrinsic to the directing and writing of new work and a practical understanding of the collaborative process between writer and director in the shaping of a new play or performance text, and the ability to utilise those when developing your own work.

• A deeper knowledge of the artists and writers who are currently shaping British drama.

• The opportunity for writers to work with a director from the inception of a new play and a chance for students to develop your own directing skills for live performance in response to a new script.

• An increased understanding of industry led approaches to developing new work and a chance to collaborate with other disciplines.

2. Outline syllabus:

Writing and Directing runs across two modules. The first module examines and explores contemporary dramaturgy and performance forms through workshops, seminars and lectures and leads to the writing of a script. The second module is structured to provide a platform for writer/director partnerships to develop and stage a new piece of work.

Writing and Directing for Performance 2

You will be taught directing principles and be introduced to a range of specific directing/ dramaturgical approaches utilised when staging a new script. These principles will then be practically applied using an assigned script written in Writing and Directing 1. You will be given another student’s work to stage. This will provide you with the opportunity to work as director on someone else’s script as well as collaborating on your own work being staged.

Text study, practical workshopping, seminars and discussion groups will lead to the staging of sections of the script at the end of the module.

3. Teaching and learning activities:

Practical workshops build on the ideas introduced in the lectures, seminars and critical readings and give you an opportunity to explore your directing and writing and develop your staging of a text. A sequence of smaller directing and writing tasks related to the development of your short plays will be set over the course of the module. These will be evaluated through practical workshops, individual tutorials, and mediated group discussion and feedback.

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: CW

• Description: Performance

• % Weighting: 60%

Assessment Item 2:

• Assessment Type: CW

• Description: Portfolio

• % Weighting: 40%