DRA2092 - Modernist Drama in Contemporary Theatre
2022/3 Module description
| Staff | Dr Adrian Curtin - Convenor |
|---|---|
| Credit Value | 30 |
| ECTS Value | 15 |
| NQF Level | 6 |
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Co-requisites | None |
| Duration of Module | Term 2: 11 weeks; |
Module description
This module explores how innovative and provocative drama from the international modernist movement (circa the late nineteenth to the mid twentieth century) is reimagined and restaged in contemporary theatre. In returning to these plays, dramatists and theatre-makers can make them newly relevant by adapting them and using them as inspiration for the creation of new work. In doing so they help us to understand these plays in a new light, expanding upon their artistic potential and allowing us to reconsider our relationship to the past and to re-evaluate the present.
In this module you will read a variety of modernist plays by diverse playwrights from around the world. You will historicise and theorise these plays and analyse contemporary re-workings, using play-texts and recordings of theatre productions available online. As part of the module you will collaborate with others to develop a hypothetical re-working of a modernist play.
If you are interested in learning about modern theatre history, in reading and analysing plays, and in imagining how plays can be transformed and re-presented, then this module will have much to offer you.
Module aims
This module aims:
- to introduce you to modernism in general, and to modernist drama, in particular
- to help you to situate modernist plays in their historical contexts
- to examine how and why contemporary dramatists and theatre-makers re-present modernist plays
- to enable you to use scholarly writing to interpret dramatic texts and theatrical performances
ILO: Module-specific skills
- 1. Identify and explain salient features of modernist drama and contemporary re-workings thereof
- 2. Outline a hypothetical re-working of a modernist play that is artistically nuanced, socially conscious, and historically mindful
- 3. Analyse, in written form, a contemporary re-working of a modernist play, using critical theory and historiography
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
- 4. Contribute research to small groups in effective presentations, to evaluate evidence and analyse, critique and manipulate complex material
- 5. Apply library and IT skills in independent additional research
ILO: Personal and key skills
- 6. Develop personal research skills using personal initiative; to set personal objectives and to identify and evaluate personal learning strategies
- 7. Develop group cooperation skills, including the ability to give and receive constructive critical feedback and to improve communication skills and analytic abilities in discussions
Syllabus plan
Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:
- modernism
- theatrical modernism
- theories of adaptation, particularly as they relate to drama and theatre
- critical theory and its application to the analysis of drama and theatre
- modernist drama
- contemporary theatre
- postmodernism
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 33 | 267 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 33 | Seminar activities and tutorials |
| Guided independent study | 99 | Preparation for seminars |
| Guided independent study | 11 | Working on a personal blog that documents learning |
| Guided independent study | 57 | Preparation for presentation |
| Guided independent study | 100 | Essay preparation and writing |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presentation plan | 1000 words | 1,2,4,5,7 | written and oral |
| Essay plan | 1000 words | 1,3,5,6 | written and oral |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continuous assessment | 20 | Engagement in seminars over the course of the term and contribution to a personal blog (approx. 250 words per week or equivalent) | 1-6 | Written |
| Group presentation | 30 | 15 minutes per student | 1,2,4,5,7 | Written |
| Essay | 50 | 3000 words | 1,3,5,6 | written |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Continuous assessment | Re[peat study/mitigation | 1-6 | N/a |
| Group presentation | Individual presentation | 1,2,5,6 | Referral/Deferral period |
| Essay | Essay | 1,2,5,6 | Referral/Deferral period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Basic reading:
- Babbage, Frances. Adaptation in Contemporary Theatre: Performing Literature. London: Bloomsbury, 2017.
- Berghaus, Günter. Theatre, Performance, and the Historical Avant-Garde. New York: Palgrave, 2010.
- Brodie, Geraldine, and Emma Cole. Adapting Translation for the Stage. London: Taylor & Francis, 2017.
- Brooker, Peter et al., eds. The Oxford Handbook of Modernisms. Oxford University Press, 2010.
- Friedman, Susan Stanford. Planetary Modernisms: Provocations on Modernity across Time. Columbia University Press, 2015.
- Gale, Maggie B., and John F. Deeney, eds. The Routledge Drama Anthology and Sourcebook: From Modernism to Contemporary Performance. London: Routledge, 2012.
- Johnston, Kirsty. Disability Theatre and Modern Drama: Recasting Modernism. London: Bloomsbury, 2016.
- Laera, Margherita, ed. Theatre and Adaptation: Return, Rewrite, Repeat. London: Bloomsbury, 2014.
- Lindgren, Allana, and Stephen Ross, eds. The Modernist World. London: Routledge, 2015.
- Puchner, Martin. Stage Fright: Modernism, Anti-Theatricality, and Drama. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2002.
- Reilly, Kara, ed. Contemporary Approaches to Adaptation in Theatre. London: Palgrave, 2018.
- Shepherd-Barr, Kirsten. Modern Drama: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.
- Warden, Claire. Modernist and Avant-Garde Performance: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2015.
- Wollaeger, Mark, and Matt Eatough, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Global Modernisms. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
- Worthen, William B. Print and the Poetics of Modern Drama. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
- Zinman, Toby. Replay: Classic Modern Drama Reimagined. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014.
Module has an active ELE page?
Yes
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
- ELE:
Available as distance learning?
No
Origin date
19/02/2021
Last revision date
19/02/2021
Key words search
Modernism, drama, contemporary theatre, adaptation
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