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Undergraduate courses

Course Information

Applied and Socially Engaged Drama

Module summary

Module code: DRAM1166
Level: 5
Credits: 15
School: Liberal Arts and Sciences
Department: Stage and Screen
Module Coordinator(s): Natasha Oxley

Specification

Aims

- To introduce students to key principles, practices, and theories within the field of applied and socially engaged drama.
- To provide the opportunity to study and analyse the work of selected practitioners associated with identified strands within the field.
- To enable students to build on their existing skills in creating performances and to engage with additional methods such as forum theatre, devising from objects, and performing the archive.
- To offer students the opportunity to perform their own work in an appropriate setting.
- To equip students with skills and knowledge that could be developed at Level 6, including in Theatre for Young Audiences, Solo Performance, Theatre Company, and Research Project.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module a student will be able to:
1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the key principles, practices, and boundaries within the field of applied and socially engaged drama. (DDP benchmarks 4.2 i, ii, iv, v; 4.3 ii; 5.4 i).
2. Analyse and reflect on the work of selected practitioners, demonstrating an awareness of the field within which their own current or future practice could be situated (DDP 4.2 i, ii, iv, v, vi, vii; 4.3 ii, iv, viii, 5.4 i, iii).
3. Create short pieces of drama using a greater range of techniques and practices for a specific social context. (DDP 4.2 iii, vii, viii, x; 4.3 i, iii, v, vi, vii, x; 5.2 i, iii, iv, v, viii; 5.4 ii, iii; 5.6 i, ii; 5.8 i-v).
4. Formally analyse and reflect on their own practice, including in relation to relevant theory (DDP 4.2 iv; 4.3 i, 5.4 i, iii).
5. Work effectively in a wide range of group situations, demonstrating an openness to cultural diversity and an awareness of inclusivity. (DDP 4.3 vii, x; 5.2 v, viii; 5.4 i).
6. Engage with relevant information and knowledge from different disciplines, such as oral history and social policy (DDP 4.3 x).

Indicative content

- Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed: newspaper theatre, image theatre, invisible theatre and its ethics, forum theatre.
- Drama for social justice and for making people heard (to include examples from Cardboard Citizens and The Verbatim Formula).
- Drama and the criminal justice system (to include examples from Clean Break, Geese Theatre, London Shakespeare Workout).
- Playwriting as an applied practice (to include examples from Class Act and Theatre of Displaced People).
- Issue-based drama for young people (to include examples from Tramshed and The Good Lad Initiative).
- Inclusive theatre (to include examples from Chickenshed and Oily Cart).
- Museum drama and bringing the past to life (including devising from objects).
- Drama and health (to include examples of issue-based drama (GLYPT and asthma), arts and dementia, and drama for recovery (Fallen Angels).
- Reminiscence theatre (including examples from Age Exchange and the Reminiscence Theatre Archive).

Teaching and learning activity

The module will be taught in weekly three-hour sessions during term one, involving lectures and practical activities. The module will include guest sessions from experts in the field, as well as viewings of relevant practice, either live or recorded. Students will research selected companies in class as case studies and they will conduct guided independent study. Practical workshops will encourage embodied understanding of a variety of approaches and techniques. Students will be supported in class to create group practical work in class in response to lectures.

Assessment

Group Performance (to be assessed in class; performance for an audience will take place as an extension if appropriate): 60% weighting, 40% pass mark.
Learning Outcomes: 1, 3, 5, 6.
Outline Details: Students will work in groups to create a piece of drama for a specific socially-engaged setting. Students will receive individual grades, which will take into account the content and aims of the piece as well as the performance standard.

Contextual Essay: 40% weighting, 40% pass mark.
Learning Outcomes: 1, 2, 4, 6.
Outline Details: Students will keep reflective journals throughout the module, and they will draw on these reflections in order to write up a reflective essay on selected point. Students will situate their reflections in relation to relevant professional practice and theory. The reflective piece will also demonstrate the ways in which the efficacy of the piece could be measured. 2000 words.

Formative Assessment:
- Short group presentations in class will enable students to demonstrate their understanding of class work, including in relation to the aims and practices of selected companies.
- Work-in-progress extracts of performance work will be shown in class for tutor feedback.