| Unit name | Site-Specific and Immersive Performance |
|---|---|
| Unit code | THTR30006 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Paul Clarke |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
THTR10002 Production for Design and Performance OR DRAM10028 Production Skills for Performance I (or equivalent Health and Safety training) |
| Co-requisites |
none |
| School/department | Department of Theatre |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Site-specific and immersive performance strategies are increasingly prevalent in contemporary theatre. In this unit students will encounter forms of site-specific performance, such as environmental responses to landscape; community-focused urban interventions; and the staging of existing plays within found spaces. Students will develop an understanding of the role of space and place with regard to performance, which will inform their engagement with site-specific and immersive performance practices beyond traditional indoors theatre venues. These can range from medieval theatres in the round and heritage sites to contemporary installations and flash mobs. Students will further consider the ways in which bodies, in solo and group forms, can produce new meanings from sites. In this unit, site-specificity will be addressed through a combination of historical, theoretical, and practical approaches, such as ecofeminist criticism and heritage interpretation.
On successful completion of this course, students will have:
1) developed in-depth knowledge and critical understanding of place, body, and space and how these inform site-specific and immersive performance
2) developed detailed understanding of the key theoretical and theatrical concerns in both current and contemporaneous criticism of performance environments
3) applied and evaluated a range of approaches to the viewing and interpreting of site-specific and immersive events, and explored their practical implications in public
4) acquired advanced knowledge of a range of site-specific and immersive performative techniques and understanding of their practical application
5) demonstrated the advanced ability to analyse and evaluate site-specific and immersive performance both in terms of their own practice and the practice of others
6) conceptualised and performed a collaborative group project in response to understanding of a site or set of immersive principles
Weekly 2-hour Seminars; Weekly 3-hour Workshops; a 30-hour intensive period culminating in a performance
One 2500 word essay (40%) ILO 1 - 3
Group performance of no more than 20 minutes, for an individual mark, which may be grouped if appropriate (40%) ILO 3, 4, 6
Individual viva interrogating the performance activity (20%) ILO 3 – 6
Mike Pearson & Michael Shanks (2001) Theatre/Archaeology. New York: Routledge
Susan Bennett & Mary Polito, eds. (2014) Performing Environments: Site Specificity in Medieval and Early Modern English Drama. London: Palgrave
Guillermo Gomez-Peña & Roberto Sifuentes (2011) Exercises for Rebel Artists: Radical Performance Pedagogy. New York: Routledge
Fiona Wilkie (2002) “Mapping the Terrain: A Survey of Site-Specific Performance.” New Theatre Quarterly 18.2: 140-160
Andrea Olsen (2002) Body and Earth: An Experiential Guide. Middlebury: Middlebury Books
Michel De Certeau (1984) The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California Press
Henri Lefebvre (1992) The Production of Space. London: Wiley-Blackwell
