| Unit name | Performing the Archive: Re-use, Re-enactment and Adaptation |
|---|---|
| Unit code | DRAM23129 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Kate Elswit |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Theatre |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Archival documents, drawn from the Theatre Collection, and play texts are used by researchers as evidence of the past, for the writing of histories. This unit will explore the relationship of documents and texts to the future, and how students can use them as the inspiration for making new work. A range of ways of working with documents and texts in performance will be introduced, of doing historiography practically. Students will explore strategies for re-using documents and texts, re-making and re-enacting past events or performances, translating and adapting archival materials or texts for contemporary performance contexts. The unit will investigate the relationship between performance, documentation and documentary, between the archive and history, including oral histories, memory and the embodied repertoire. Students will work collaboratively towards the presentation of performance re-enactments, re-makes or staged adaptations, and/ or the analytical presentation of documents or texts.
Aims
Plus as appropriate to the mode of teaching, that is, the combination of seminar and practice-based workshop and/or presentations:
Seminars, workshops, screenings, as appropriate
Optional units may be taught according one of three models, depending on student numbers choosing the option and resource matters. Unit convenors will decide on teaching mode in consultation with HoE and with students in advance of advertising option year-on-year. Contact hours and assessment details will be mapped to teaching mode, as detailed below.
Model A is a seminar-based unit
Model B combines seminars with workshops encompassing an average 30-hour production period
Model C is taught through workshops encompassing an intensive 60-hour production period
Teachers will assign assessments according to the teaching mode employed.
Model A:
3,000-word essay (50%) + student presentation (25%) + 1,500-word write-up (25%), or equivalent.
OR
Model B:
Essay [1,500 words] (33%) +
Workfile (22%): containing evidence to demonstrate student contribution to workshops / practical exercises; contribution to seminars Presentation/performance (22%) Critical analysis [1,500 words] (22%)
OR
Model C:
Workfile (33%): containing evidence to demonstrate student contribution to workshops / practical exercises; contribution to seminars, preparation & execution of technical production role Presentation/performance (33%) Critical analysis [1,500 words] (33%)
