DRAM30260 Talking to the Audience

Academic Year 2020/2021

Direct audience address has long been associated with political theatre and avant-garde performance, a way of ‘breaking the fourth wall’ to forge new relations between stage and spectator. This module combines theory and practice to explore the significance of direct address in a media age. Moving beyond dramatic monologue, we will consider the ways leading performance makers have adopted the formal conventions of speeches, announcements, declarations, apologies, confessions, sermons, lectures, and other forms of public address. Examining footage of public address alongside works by leading performance and theatre artists, students are asked to reflect: how does it feel to be addressed, directly? How does power operate in such moments? What about vulnerability, humour, solidarity, and beauty? How 'direct' can a socially-distanced address be?
Through practical workshops, students will be introduced to a variety of artistic forms and strategies for devising performance, working towards the creation of a short solo performance. Note: performances that deploy direct audience address often blur boundaries between truth and fiction, author and character. However, it is not essential that students work with autobiographical material in this module.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of the module, students will have encountered and critically analysed selected works by leading contemporary performance makers, and engaged in practice-based research into the effects and impacts of direct audience address.
Students will be able to:
Interpret and critically analyse selected examples of performance.
Develop and sustain a creative enquiry culminating in an original work of performance.
Contextualise creative performance practice within relevant socio-cultural and artistic contexts.

Indicative Module Content:

The module will centre on a repertoire of creative examples: clips and full-length videos of key works by leading contemporary performance makers, likely including (but not limited to) the Wooster Group, Young Jean Lee, Forced Entertainment, Oisín McKenna, Malaprop, Travis Alabanza, Ivana Müller, Jérôme Bel, Hannah Gadsby, Demi Nandhra, Rachel Mars and Tanja Ostojić.

Examples will be discussed, analysed and workshopped according to weekly themes:
1. Performance context: acknowledging the situation
2. Distanced intimacy: dramaturgies of the microphone
3. Subverting ‘official’ formats: announcements, hearings, lectures, presentations
4. (De)constructing identities: "I", "you", "we"
5. Dirty laundry?: the personal and the political
6. Spokesperson/ mouthpiece: performer as stand-in
7. Prepared improvisation: games, tasks, lists
8. Rhythm and duration: shaping the performance
9. Assessed performances
10. Final discussion and essay preparation


Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Seminar (or Webinar)

10
Practical

10
Specified Learning Activities

20
Autonomous Student Learning

160
Total

200
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module will be taught via weekly classes combining lecture/seminar and practical workshop activities. Activities have been adapted for delivery online, and the limitations and possibilities of this situation will be incorporated into discussions and practical work.
Some face-to-face classes may be conducted in a performance studio setting, but this depends on the needs and capacities of the group. Where face-to-face classes take do place, online alternatives will be offered to those who are unable to attend. Students who register for the module will be invited to a Zoom meeting prior to the start of teaching in order to discuss their technical and practical needs.
In addition to weekly scheduled activities, students will be assigned practical tasks to be completed independently. In addition, students will be asked to engage with selected readings and video excepts prior to each class. All module materials will be accessible via Brightspace, or via free online video platforms.
To support the development of their final project, students will be offered a one-on-one tutorial to discuss their plans and receive formative feedback. Each student will be supported to devise a short solo performance that can be delivered either via Zoom, video or audio recording, or a studio setting. Final performances will be recorded for assessment purposes. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Assignment: Mid-Term Assignment
Written critical analysis of an example of direct address in performance.		 Week 6 n/a Graded No

20
Continuous Assessment: Contribution to weekly seminar and workshop activities alongside the submission of a minimum of four brief (c. 200 word) reflective responses on the module Discussion Forum. Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

20
Essay: Critical reflective essay. Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

30
Project: Performance
Presentation of a short solo performance, and submission of a textual document of the performance (e.g. a script, transcript, score, brief description, or blueprint).		 Week 9 n/a Graded No

30

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Individual written feedback will be provided to students within two weeks of the submission of the Mid-Term assignment. Students will receive formative oral feedback on the practical work they are developing - informally, during weekly workshops, and in a one-on-one tutorial with the module tutor in Week 7 or 8. Students will receive formative oral feedback on an essay plan in Week 10. Individual written feedback on the Final Performance and end-of-term Essay will be provided post-assessment.