DRAMA 718

Playwriting

Please note: this is archived course information from 2020 for DRAMA 718.

Description

The course aims to introduce a number of the “building blocks” of writing for live performance through the study of examples (the texts) and the presentation and critique of exercises.

There is no intention to write a complete play as such, though sometimes a student’s exercise scene is equivalent to a very short play in itself; and the final exercise of the three linked scenes can be the basis for a whole. In other instances individual scenes have been the beginning of full-length theatre works that students have moved on to write and stage, both as part of their study, and also on the professional stage.

Some insight into the way plays are made is valuable for actors, directors and designers as well as, naturally, for aspiring playwrights. We should always remember that the word in English is playwright (not “play-writer”). Because the course does not aim towards writing a complete play, you are free to explore different dimensions of writing for performance.

Throughout the course I am interested in sustaining a conversation about what writing for performance means in 2020, including consideration of the role of writing in the mediums of dance and performance art, as well as the relationship between writing and technology.

Assessment

Coursework only

Availability 2020

Semester 2

Lecturer(s)

Coordinator(s) Dr Emma Willis

Reading/Texts

TBA

Points

DRAMA 718: 30 points

Restrictions

DRAMA 714