2008/09 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ENGL3347 Theatrical Performance and the Senses

20 creditsClass Size: 20

School of English

Module manager: Dr Helen Iball
Email: h.iball@hull.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2008/09

This module is not approved as an Elective

Objectives

On completion of this module, students should be able to:
Demonstrate a critical understanding of the sensorial-perceptual realms proposed within an illustrative range of play texts and expressed through a variety of modes of live art and performance;
Demonstrate a critical understanding of the ways in which these plays and performances relate to and comment on particular historical and political circumstances;
Discuss in seminars and in writing, and explore within a workshop environment, how these sensorial-perceptual realms might be activated by particular dramaturgical, scenographic and physical techniques.

Learning outcomes
Students will have developed:
the ability to use written and oral communication effectively;
the capacity to analyse and critically examine diverse forms of discourse;
the ability to manage quantities of complex information in a structured and systematic way;
the capacity for independent thought and judgement;
critical reasoning;
research skills, including the retrieval of information, the organisation of material and the evaluation of its importance;
IT skills;
efficient time management and organisation skills;
the ability to learn independently.

Skills outcomes
Skills for effective communication, oral and written.
Capacity to analyse and critically examine diverse forms of discourse.
Ability to acquire quantities of complex information of diverse kinds in a structured and systematic way.
Capacity for independent thought and judgement.
Critical reasoning.
Research skills, including information retrieval skills, the organisation of material, and the evaluation of its importance.
IT skills.
Time management and organisational skills.
Independent learning.Skills for effective communication, oral and written.
Capacity to analyse and critically examine diverse forms of discourse.
Ability to acquire quantities of complex information of diverse kinds in a structured and systematic way.
Capacity for independent thought and judgement.
Critical reasoning.
Research skills, including information retrieval skills, the organisation of material, and the evaluation of its importance.
IT skills.
Time management and organisational skills.
Independent learning.

Syllabus

This module investigates the 'liveness' of theatrical performance in terms of sensory perception - and, particularly, the permeable boundaries between performers and audience. Using a range of examples including Shakespeare, French Symbolist theatre, Sam Shepard, Peter Handke, Sarah Kane, Tennessee Williams, Caryl Churchill, and Samuel Beckett, it explores some of the ways in which the traditional demarcation between stage and auditorium has been transgressed. This notion of seepage can be related to the leaky (abject) state of the body as it has been annexed by live artists and the module takes a particular interest in those who have employed food, taste, and smell. With particular reference to the work of Bobby Baker and Karen Finley, it undertakes close analysis of the dynamic potential of the senses engaged for socio-political critique. The critical scope of the module encourages an evaluation of semiotic, phenomenological and psychoanalytic modes of analysis. It also introduces thinking around the aesthetics of the everyday and sensorial-perceptual anthropology, locating its choice of theatrical texts in relation to social ritual, media and film.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Workshop	5	1.00	5.00
Seminar	10	1.00	10.00
Private study hours			185.00
Total Contact hours			15.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

Reading; Essay Preparation; Practical Preparation

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Seminar Contribution; Rehearsal preparation; Contribution to practical work.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Practical	Presentation	40.00
Essay	2500 words	60.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 24/04/2008

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