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ENG32590

Academic Year 2025/2026

Memory and Testimony in Performance (ENG32590)

Subject:
English
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
English, Drama & Film
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Professor Emilie Pine
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This is a creative & critical module - reading plays together as a class, and using creative and critical strategies to respond. In-semester assessments are designed to be active and student-led; the final assignment allows students to choose between writing a play and critical reflection or a critical essay.

What are the stories we tell ourselves? And others? How do you tell the story of a painful past? How can we stand as a witness to those who have been through pain?

This module gives students the opportunity to study the different ways that theatre makers take the past and put it on stage, enabling voices to be heard, and audiences to perform as witnesses. The module includes fiction and non-fiction plays, both Irish and international, asking important questions about how we talk about - and listen to - difficult things.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this module, students will have:
- written about a range of concepts including traumatic memory and witnessing
- engaged creatively with the idea of voice and narrative
- considered the ethical implications of giving testimony about painful pasts
- written an extended critical essay or a short play and critical reflection (both options = 3000 words)

Indicative Module Content:

This module will ask students to focus in depth on a limited number of primary texts and to consider these texts in light of core critical readings. Both primary and secondary reading are important and students must come to class prepared.

Plays may include (to be confirmed, please note I try to vary it!):
No Escape, by Mary Raftery, a documentary play based on the Ryan Report on child abuse in Ireland
Ubu and the Truth Commission by Jane Taylor, a fictional play about the South African truth commission
Twilight, Los Angeles, by Anna Deavere Smith, a one-woman verbatim play about the riots following the LA police beating of Rodney King
Haunted by Tara Flynn, a one-woman play about activism and the Repeal referendum
Krapp's Last Tape by Samuel Beckett, a one-man play about narrating the self
How to Tell a Secret by Shaun Dunne, a documentary film based on a play about HIV/AIDS disclosure
Nirbhaya by Yael Farber with ensemble, a verbatim play about the rape and murder of Jyothi Singh Pandey
I Heart Alice Heart I by Alice Conroy, a comedy about two women giving testimony about their shared life histories

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Seminar (or Webinar)

24
Specified Learning Activities

76
Autonomous Student Learning

100
Total

200

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
My approach as a teacher is to learn alongside students and to listen to students' voices

Read.
Think.
Ask questions.
Listen.
Allow for creativity.
Rest.

Those are our guiding principles.

Oh, and one other thing: Be Kind.

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
Assignment(Including Essay): For your end of term assignment you can write EITHER a 3000 word essay on two plays on the module, OR you can do a creative assignment to write a 2000 word play + 1000 word analysis. Week 14 Graded No
60
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): 400-word analysis of one set scene from a play on the module Week 6 Graded No
15
 No
Participation in Learning Activities: Each week students will contribute one discussion question for the second half of class Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10 Graded No
10
 No
Reflective Assignment: An in-class presentation reflecting on your view of one critical reading on the module - sign up in week 1. Week 6 Graded No
15
 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

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

For all continuous-assessment and end-of-trimester assignments posted on Brightspace (writing exercises, essay plans etc) students will receive feedback in the Brightspace comments function. Students can also use my office hours for follow-up discussion.

Name Role
Ms Phoebe O'Leary Lecturer / Co-Lecturer

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Seminar Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Thurs 11:00 - 12:50
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