FT3PD-Performance & Design: Site, Scenography and Installation

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: 2023/4

Module Convenor: Dr Matt McFrederick
Email: m.mcfrederick@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

Performance & Design will explore the scope and potential of theatre and performance design by investigating historical and contemporary approaches to scenography. In a mixture of practical and critical workshops, you will study the creative application of the visual, aural and spatial elements of design through a rich array of performance environments and a dynamic range of innovative and international performance practices, from digital experiments to site-specific performances. The module will support you in analysing the practice of pioneering designers (such as Jocelyn Herbert and Josef Svoboda), facilitate collaborations with the National Theatre Archive, and enable masterclasses on contemporary approaches to design with visiting designers and/or scholars. 

Aims:

The module aims to offer students a critical and practical exploration of theatre and performance design by engaging with historical and contemporary scenographic practices. For decades, designers have been often overlooked in favour of playwrights or directors, but this module will promote the role designers have played in shaping and reimagining the world of theatre and performance. Students will engage with the latest scholarship in the thriving field of scenography, where they will become informed researchers and practitioners in terms of topics such as expanded scenography, eco-scenography, and digital scenography, for example. The aim of the module is to advance the ways students read, see and encounter the visual, aural, spatial, material and technological elements of design through these topics and the module will support their understanding and approaches through relevant critical reading and discussions on a diverse range of international designers, methods and performance environments (E.g. from proscenium arch productions to installations). Students will have the opportunity to communicate their critical understanding of theatre and performance design through in-class discussions and practical workshops, but they will also articulate their learning through the written component of the module’s assessment. Performance & Design will allow students to situate the module in terms of professional contexts through visits to archives (such as the National Theatre Archive) and through talks or masterclasses from visiting designers and/or scholars. 

Assessable learning outcomes:

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

• Understand key critical concepts and terminology in relation to the field of theatre and performance design. 


• Identify and independently research key designers who have transformed practical, aesthetic and experiential possibilities in theatre, performance and other art forms. 


• Evidence advanced practical approaches (in material and virtual model box making, set and costume drawing, sound and projection editing and design, sustainable practice, for example) towards designing for performance through workshops and a portfolio/practical project.  


• Demonstrate sophisticated critical approaches for analysing scenography in theatre, performance and other art forms.  


• Recognise the role of the archive in reading and documenting past performances by leading theatre designers. 


• Examine the practical and critical relationship of design in theatre, performance and other art forms, including for material, digital and ecological scenographies, and its application in professional practice. 

Additional outcomes:

The portfolio/practical work and written components are the assessed outcomes. Additional outcomes arising from the processes of creative practice and written critical reflections include:  

Critical written reflection: appropriate deployment of research using printed and electronic resources, critical analysis and coherent argument; presentation of written work using IT; self-evaluation and self-critical analysis. 

Creative production/practical work: practical planning and time management; successful management of the individuals and resources involved in production, within the constraints and policies of the Department; the development of IT and technical skills appropriate to the given project (e.g. virtual model drawing; projection design). 

Outline content:

Students will work independently or in small groups to develop a collectively designed, critically ambitious portfolio/practical project that responds to a brief and focuses on a topic covered on the module: for example, archives and materiality, digital scenography, expanded scenography or eco-scenography. The project should build on research they have completed and skills they have acquired throughout their degree programme – expanding upon the practical skills and critical frameworks they have explored on the module. The portfolio/practical project should be carefully researched and supported by a critically informed project proposal prior to embarking on the task. The portfolio/practical project should be guided by a series of relevant research questions and students will be able to advance their ideas through technical support and through supervisory meetings with module tutors. Students will be asked to regularly respond to the practical and critical ideas in their weekly workshop with a written component (E.g. Learning Journal) that captures their in-class analysis and experiments, as well as their reflections on the history and contemporary models of practice and emerging research in the field of scenography. This module supports work on FT3APT.  

Global context:

Students will encounter the practice of international performance designers and are encouraged to research designers working in local, national and global contexts. Subject to tutor approval, students can choose to develop a portfolio/practical project that engages with a full range of cultural forms and performance design practices from across the globe. 

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Students will learn through weekly workshops which will include critical and practical approaches to performance design. The workshops will focus on specific topics across the term, such as expanded scenography, eco-scenography, and digital scenography. Teaching and learning methods will include in-class staff and student lectures/presentations, seminar-style discussion groups, technician-led practical workshops, portfolio/practical project supervision, theatre and archive visits, and visitin g talks or masterclasses from designers and/or scholars. Some of these teaching and learning sessions may be delivered through blended learning.  Students will have the chance to reflect on their learning through the module’s written component and they can demonstrate their practical development through the realisation of their final portfolio/practical project.  

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Seminars		18
Project Supervision		2
Practicals classes and workshops		8
Supervised time in studio/workshop		8
External visits		6
Guided independent study:
Wider reading (independent)		28
Wider reading (directed)		10
Peer assisted learning		20
Revision and preparation		60
Essay preparation		40
Total hours by term	0	200	0
Total hours for module	200

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written assignment including essay	40
Portfolio	60

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

1 x Portfolio/Practical Project (60%) 

1 x Written Component (40%) 

Formative assessment methods:

Formative feedback will be provided in class. 

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: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/cqsd-old-site-documents/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:

40% overall

Reassessment arrangements:

Submission of additional 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: £50 *subject to travel guidance

Last updated: 30 March 2023