DRAM20210 Theatre, Speech and Politics

Academic Year 2022/2023

What does it mean to speak in public? To stand up, before others, and say things? The act of public speaking has, for centuries, been a focal point for political struggle. It has also been the means by which power has operated in its official forms: the law, the church, the state. This module engages theories and histories of public speaking to ask: what kind of speaking can theatre do? How have theatre- and performance-makers intervened, through their speech acts, in public debates? And, in turn, how have public speakers sought to win power through the adoption of theatrical techniques?
In seminars that combine theoretical analysis with practical experiments, students will explore questions of identity, representation, authority, authenticity, and truth.


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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

- Students will have drawn upon their understanding of theatre to examine the ethics and politics of speech in the public sphere.
- Students will have engaged in focused analysis of the way spoken address functions in a range of theatre and performance examples.
- Students will be conversant in key concepts in speech act theory, performative theory and rhetorical theory.
- Students will have developed their skills in academic writing.



Indicative Module Content:

Week 1: Introduction - what makes a speech 'great'?

Week 2: How do politicians use theatricality to legitimate their power?

Week 3: How does theatre question the legitimacy of political rhetoric? Julius Caesar

Week 4: What is theatrical about the law? Courtroom drama and tribunal plays

Week 5: What does it mean to ‘give your word’? Oaths and promises

Week 6: Can 'non-serious' utterances have real consequences? Spells, curses, and superstition

Week 7: Can jokes perform violence?

Week 8: Can words heal injury? Testimony, commemoration, apology

Week 9: How does a crowd speak? Riots, protests, shouting, chanting

Week 10: How do ‘involuntary’ utterances challenge norms and expectations of speech?

Week 11: Why are some forms of eloquence valued over others? Vernacular forms

Week 12: Module review and essay prep

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

12

Autonomous Student Learning

88

Total

100

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Lectures, debates, case-based learning, active/task-based learning and critical writing 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Assignment: Performance Analysis: Students will attend a live performance and write an analysis of this performance based in and using ideas and vocabulary acquired in the module Unspecified n/a Graded No

30

Continuous Assessment: Students will engage in short weekly question and answer writing assignments based on readings and in-class discussion. Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

10

Essay: Students will be offered a choice of three short theoretical texts, one of which they will apply analytically to an example (of a play, performance work or public speech) they have studied on the modu Week 12 n/a Graded No

60


Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Students will received written feedback post assessments.

Name Role
Samantha Cade Lecturer / Co-Lecturer