TH206-6-AU-CO:
Interactive Performance-making: Shaping Audience Participation

The details
2023/24
Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 6
Current
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 15 December 2023
15
13 March 2023

 

Requisites for this module
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Key module for

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Module description

This module for third-year undergraduate students enables BA Drama/BA Drama and Literature students to explore contemporary trends in British/international interactive performance-making and their historical precursors. Students will develop an understanding of a range of participatory performance forms through an examination and discussion of the recent work of contemporary practitioners, and through practical workshopping to explore key emerging approaches and concerns.

Themes for exploration will include examining the ethics of participation and the face-to-face encounter, engagement with technologies that prompt interaction, interrogating techniques of the invitation to the audience and analysing different descriptors/conceptualisations of the theatre spectator and the value judgements that they imply (e.g. 'audience', 'spectator', 'spect-actor', 'beholder, 'voyeur', 'witness', 're-enactor', 'player', 'immersant', 'mob' etc.).

Adjacent to an exploration of these themes in practice, this module will cultivate a theoretical awareness of the politics of audience participation, agency and labour. This interdisciplinary area of enquiry will overlap with key debates that have emerged in the fields of fine art, art history, phenomenology, psychology, philosophy and performance studies etc. The eclectic case studies examined will range from installations and gallery-based 'relational aesthetics' (concerning the shaping of live experiences that are completed by the involvement of unrehearsed participants) to forms of activism and immersive theatre.

The module is divided into two main parts: in the first half of term, the students will examine different case studies, relevant concepts that might by applied to these exemplars of practice (both to analyse extant work and inform the creation of new creative work) and encounter a range of approaches to interactive theatre-making. In the second half of term, students will continue this exploration but through an initiation of their own focused and in-depth devising process – students will be expected to develop their own company or solo piece, working independently but with supervision and support to create a short 10-minute performance 'fragment' (an indicative 'moment' of a larger performance piece, with an articulation of how it might develop further in the critical writing component), inspired by their research and performed for a university-wide audience. Where possible, the module will involve at least one field trip.

Module aims

The aims of the module are:

1. To acquire knowledge of a range of creative and critical methods and approaches to interactive performance-making.
2. To develop an understanding of relevant theories concerning the politics, agency, and ethics of participatory spectatorship.
3. To gain an understanding of the relationships between process and ‘product’ in different performance works.
4. To develop organisational, improvisational, workshop and group skills.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students will have had opportunities to gain…

1. The ability to appreciate, engage critically, and develop work creatively, in a variety of theatre and performance modes, forms, and genres.
2. Experience an understanding of different processes by which participatory performances are created.
3. An understanding of how different participatory forms engage with theory in audience reception, spectatorship and performance-making.
4. Experience of engaging in performance-making, based on an acquisition and understanding of appropriate creative vocabularies, skills, structures, and working methods.
5. Ability to work collaboratively, sharing responsibility, delegating, and where appropriate leading teams.
6. Skills in project management.

Module information

No additional information available.

Learning and teaching methods

Anticipated teaching delivery: Weekly 3-hour seminars/practical workshops, including practical experimentation, seminar presentations and group discussions/debates. Supporting secondary readings will be made available each week on the TH206 Moodle site (though some texts will need to be purchased for the module in advance).

Bibliography

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam Description Deadline Coursework weighting
Coursework   Participation mark    5% 
Coursework   20 min group performance & creative portfolio (15-20 slides).    95% 

Exam format definitions

  • Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
  • In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%

Reassessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Liam Jarvis, email: ljarvis@essex.ac.uk.

 

Availability
No
No
Yes

External examiner

Dr Christina Papagiannouli
University of South Wales
Research Fellow
Resources
Available via Moodle
Of 41 hours, 0 (0%) hours available to students:
34 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
7 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.

 

Further information
Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies

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