FT3PIA-Performance, Intervention and Activism

Module Provider: Film, Theatre and TV
Number of credits: 20 [10 ECTS credits]
Level:6
Terms in which taught: Spring term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2021/2

Module Convenor: Dr Sarah Bartley
Email: s.e.bartley@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

You will explore activist and interventionist performance practices and examine how performance has been deployed in within and alongside social, ecological and political movements. Through a case study approach, you will explore a cluster of critical writing and experiment with a range of performance forms, which may include street theatre, community performance, immersive theatre, live art, protest performance and installation. Practical workshops will allow you to experiment with performance strategies, exploring the interplay of theory and practice. 

Aims:

This module aims to give students an overview of performance, with a particular emphasis on interventionist and activist practices that have emerged as significant in contemporary theatre and our wider culture. Students will address key questions at the intersection of contemporary performance and social, political, economic, and ecological ideas by considering current societal challenges and how performance can intervene with creative, imaginative and innovative responses. Through performance case studies, students will engage with the current debates within the UK, as well as gain an understanding of global contexts. This module connects performance analysis with timely economic, ecological, social and political issues and related theoretical approaches. 

Assessable learning outcomes:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the key critical debates in interventionist, activist, and contemporary performance; 


• Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of a range of ways that performance makers have explored political, social, economic, and ecological ideas in performance as a formal, stylistic and thematic concern; 


• Analyse and evaluate individual performances informed by relevant critical and theoretical perspectives; 


• Extend students’ skills of performance and contextual analysis; 


• Relate their understanding of contemporary performance to a range of other concepts introduced by the course, including identity, alternative forms, authorship and political theatre. 

Additional outcomes:

This module contributes to the development of other skills and competencies which are central to the course, including: 

• Oral communication and argument in group situations; 


• Deployment of research using printed and electronic resources; 


• Critical analysis and coherent argument; 


• Undertaking self-directed, independent work; 


• Identifying and addressing problems in the analysis of theatre and performance; 


• Observe the shifting status and forms of contemporary storytelling in relation to environmental, political and social issues. 

Outline content:

Through multidisciplinary approaches, students will research existing practice from the UK, North America, Europe and beyond. Students will cover a range of practices, such as collective action and interventions, aesthetics and ethics, social works, dramaturgy, scenography, activism, and live art. Each week we will focus on a specific performance, practitioner or company and a contemporary issue. Through international artistic case studies, we will explore how performance and arts practices h ave been used to highlight or intervene in contemporary politics.  

Global context:

This module is international in scope, including global examples of performance and relevant geopolitical issues. 

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Within the two hour class a range of teaching styles will be used and vary from week to week. Short lectures may be used where appropriate to introduce contextual or critical issues for discussion. The primary teaching methods will be seminar-based discussion and interactive performance workshops around prepared reading of theoretical approaches, performance-making methods, and play texts. Critical analysis of both live and recorded performances will inform discussions of approaches and pract ices. Short presentations, performance experiments, and creative activities may be involved, prepared by individuals or small groups. Creative projects that engage with performative elements may also be involved. There may also be one theatre trip, to London, Reading or surrounding area, or attendance at a digital performance event. 

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Lectures		3
Seminars		18
Tutorials		3
External visits		5
Guided independent study:
Wider reading (independent)		30
Wider reading (directed)		55
Preparation for presentations		6
Preparation for seminars		20
Preparation for performance		20
Completion of formative assessment tasks		10
Essay preparation		25
Reflection		5
Total hours by term	0	200	0
Total hours for module	200

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written assignment including essay	50
Oral assessment and presentation	50

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

1. Written Task: Individual blog of written tasks throughout the course of the module. 40% 


2. Oral Assessment and Presentation: A performance demonstration OR an alternative written task. 60%  

Formative assessment methods:

Penalties for late submission:

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/qualitysupport/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

An overall mark of at least 40%.

Reassessment arrangements:

Resubmission of coursework.

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1. Required text books: None


2. Specialist equipment or materials: None


3. Specialist clothing, footwear or headgear: None


4. Printing and binding: None


5. Computers and devices with a particular specification: None


6. Travel, accommodation and subsistence: £25 theatre trip

Last updated: 8 April 2021