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Curricular information is subject to change
Students will examine key developments in new writing and performance for contemporary Irish theatre, and will reflect on and critique the Irish theatre and performance sector in a cultural context. Students will be invited to analyse the work of key writers and selected performance case studies through assessment of formal innovation, modes of representation in contemporary work, including uses of dramatic language, and to distinguish present-day performance aesthetics, and consider the impact of social conditions on theatrical representation.
On completion of the course students should be familiar with a range of contemporary Irish plays and performance. They should be capable of researching current sources in the field, and of presenting their findings in oral and written forms. They should be critically aware of issues of representation, convention and innovation in contemporary Irish theatre, and be able critically to discuss, and write about contemporary theatre practice in Ireland.
List of Seminars:
Week 1 (20/09): Issues in Contemporary Irish Drama and Performance - Narrative, Gender, History, Pastoral, Myth, Metatheatre, Space, Identity, Interculturalism (EJ)
Week 2 (27/09): Tom Murphy’s A Whistle in the Dark (EJ)
Week 3 (04/10): Marina Carr’s The Mai (SH)
Week 4 (11/10): Stacy Gregg’s Override (AT)
Week 5 (18/10): Paula Meehan’s Mrs Sweeney (EJ)
(Discussion on Reviewing also during this session)
Week 6 (25/10): Emma Donoghue’s I know my Own Heart by (SH)
Review (750 words) Due Friday 26/10 2pm
Week 7 (08/11): Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer (EJ)
Week 8 (15/11): Anne Devlin’s After Easter (EJ)
Week 9 (22/11): Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman (EJ)
Week 10 (29/11): Enda Walsh’s The Walworth Farce and Conclusion (EJ)
Dates and texts may still change depending on what is on in the theatre.
Required Readings:
Carr, Marina, By the Bog of Cats in Plays 1 (London: Faber, 1999)
Devlin, Anne, After Easter (London: Faber, 1996)
Donoghue, Emma, I know my Own Heart is published in Emma Donoghue: Selected Plays (London: Oberon Books, 2015) and in Seen and Heard: Six New Plays by Irish Women, ed. by Cathy Leeney (Dublin: Carysfort Press, 2001).
Gregg, Stacy, Override (London: Nick Hern Books, 2013)
Meehan, Paula, Mrs Sweeney in Rough Magic: First Plays, edited by Siobhán Bourke (Dublin, London & Mount Kuring-Gai: New Island Books, Methuen & Peribo, 1999) ,
McDonagh, Martin, The Pillowman (London: Faber and Faber, 2003)
McPherson, Conor, The Seafarer (London: Nick Hern Books, 2006)
Murphy, Tom, A Whistle in the Dark (Methuen)
Walsh, Enda, The Walworth Farce (London, Nick Hern Books, 2007)
Student Effort Type | Hours |
---|---|
Seminar (or Webinar) | 24 |
Field Trip/External Visits | 20 |
Specified Learning Activities | 125 |
Autonomous Student Learning | 60 |
Total | 229 |
Not applicable to this module.
Description | Timing | Component Scale | % of Final Grade | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Project: Theatre Review | Week 7 | n/a | Graded | No | 15 |
Continuous Assessment: Contributions to seminar, including bullet point submissions. | Varies over the Trimester | n/a | Graded | No | 15 |
Essay: Essay 3.5 k words | Coursework (End of Trimester) | n/a | Graded | No | 70 |
Resit In | Terminal Exam |
---|---|
Autumn | No |
• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
Feedback is offered after the examination window closes on the essay. Feedback on the review is available prior to this stage.
Name | Role |
---|---|
Dr Emma Bennett | Lecturer / Co-Lecturer |
Ms Fiona Charleton | Lecturer / Co-Lecturer |
Dr Paul Halferty | Lecturer / Co-Lecturer |
Dr Shonagh Hill | Lecturer / Co-Lecturer |
Ms Clara Mallon | Lecturer / Co-Lecturer |
Dr Ashley Taggart | Lecturer / Co-Lecturer |