Explore UCD

UCD Home >

DRAM30340

Academic Year 2026/2027

Site-Based & Immersive Theatre (DRAM30340)

Subject:
Drama Studies
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
English, Drama & Film
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Dr Emma Bennett
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module offers a creative introduction to site-specific and immersive theatre, forms which have become increasingly popular over the past two decades. Spearheaded by the innovations of theatre companies like Punchdrunk, ANU, and dreamthinkspeak, the principles of immersion and site-specificity also inform the curation and management of a wide range of outdoor public events: from concerts to protest actions, parades to 'Secret Cinema' events. Promises of empowerment, freedom, inclusivity, and excitement often accompany this kind of performance. Is it all hype? Or is there real value to be found in performance that happens outside traditional theatre buildings, breaking down boundaries between performances and spectators?

In this module, you will work with professional director and theatre artist Andrea Scott, an expert in site-based projects. In weekly 2 hour workshops, you will discover diverse methods for the creation of performance in and for unusual spaces. You will examine the history and politics of site-specificity, and the dynamics of audience engagement. Working collaboratively, sometimes outside, you will develop original works of site-specific and immersive theatre. Learning from the working methods of well-established companies, you will also discover the longer histories of performance outside the theatre building including folk performances, street theatre, avant-garde experiments including occupations of empty warehouses and abandoned factories, Happenings, flash mobs, and more. Throughout the module, we will ask what these forms have to offer in the present, and the future, by engaging questions about human geography, architecture, land ownership, inclusivity and access, and ecology.

**NOTE: Students may wish to take the practical and creative work of this module further by enrolling in DRAM30350 Performance Festival in Spring, a collaborative production module focusing on professional skills in theatre practice, production and audience engagement, and culminating in a public showcase of student work.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of the module, students should be able to:
1. Understand and apply key strategies for the creation of site-specific and immersive theatre through engagement with examples of professional practice.
2. Demonstrate awareness of key practical, artistic, and ethical issues in the staging of site-specific and immersive theatrical works.
3. Develop new critical understandings of their own immediate environment through creative exploration of its performative potential.
4. Develop, present, and discuss an original work of site-specific and/or immersive theatre.

Indicative Module Content:

Students will encounter and explore questions and themes such as:
What is site responsive theatre?
Dramatic texts & site – which comes first?
The dramaturgy of space
Audience performer encounters
Physicality and proxemics
Theatre, site, and ecology
Designing non theatre spaces
The logistics of off-site work

The United Nations identified seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as core to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and UCD contributes in general to SDG 4 Quality Education. Further SDGs explored within this module if relevant are listed below. A scale of 1 - 5 indicates the extent to which the SDG is covered.


 

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Practical

22
Specified Learning Activities

20
Autonomous Student Learning

78
Total

120

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
In weekly workshops and preparation tasks, students will encounter a range of approaches to staging site-specific, immersive, environmental and outdoor theatre in the work of key contemporary directors and companies.
Students will be supported to work collaboratively, and to explore the potential of communal working as a means of testing out the potential for nontraditional approaches to creating theatre that is participatory, inclusive, and accessible.
Throughout the module, each student will keep a notebook/journal recording individual responses to a selected range of theatrical works and tracking their creative engagement with the practical, aesthetic and logistical challenges of staging work beyond traditional theatre spaces.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Group Work Assignment: Students perform and/or discuss an original collaborate site-specific and/or immersive theatre work. Week 11, Week 12 Graded No
20
 No
Individual Project: Students present a work-in-progress performance and submit a short written reflection (500-700 words) on their ideas, process and future aims/dreams for the work. Week 7 Graded No
20
 No
Participation in Learning Activities: Three informal notes / bullet points per week summarising the topic covered and/or key learnings. Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11 Graded No
20
 No
Portfolio: The portfolio is a version of a "director's notebook", comprising a record of the performance and the work leading up to it. Week 14 Graded No
40
 No

Carry forward of passed components
No
 

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
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Students will receive individual written feedback on components submitted via Brightspace. Written feedback for collaborative practical work will also be provided via Brightspace. Throughout the module, formative feedback will be offered in class and via supportive peer learning.

Alston, Adam. Beyond Immersive Theatre: Aesthetics, Politics and Productive Participation. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.

Angelaki, Vicky. Theatre & Environment. Bloomsbury, 2019.

Birch, Anna and Joanne Tompkins. Performing Site-Specific Theatre: Politics, Place, Practice. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

Frieze, James. Reframing Immersive Theatre: The Politics and Pragmatics of Participatory Performance. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.

Hunter, Victoria and Cathy Turner. The Routledge Companion to Site-Specific Performance. Routledge, 2025.

McMahon, Josephine. Immersive Theatres: Intimacy and Immediacy in Contemporary Performance. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.

Pearson, Mike. Site-Specific Performance. Red Globe Press. 2010.

Webb, Tim. Sensory Theatre: How to Make Interactive, Inclusive, Immersive Theatre for Diverse Audiences. Routledge, 2022.


Name Role
Ms Andrea Scott Lecturer / Co-Lecturer

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Practical Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Tues 15:00 - 16:50
Print this page
Fill in the following details:
Enter the body of your query here.

From time to time UCD would like to send you further information that we feel, based on your enquiry, would be of interest to you.