PERF321 - Plays That Shook the World

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

10 cp from 200-level units in Drama or English

Unit rationale, description and aim

An awareness of the transformative power of drama and the impact of key canonical works is a core competency for professionals working in theatre and theatre research.
This unit will engage students in the study of polemical texts that have challenged society and extended the practice of theatre. Students will learn to recognise how theatre can make use of political rhetoric by demonstrating an advanced understanding of the texts and the academic criticism that accompanies them.
The aim of this unit is to enable students to examine and reflect on key issues in controversial plays, allowing them to explore the theoretical concerns relating to the study of theatre and performance.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Demonstrate knowledge of polemical texts that have challenged society and extended the practice of theatre (GA5, GA10)

LO2 - Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of critical theory as it relates to the performance event (GA4, GA5)

LO3 - Identify and evaluate key social and theatrical issues in polemical theatre texts (GA5, GA8, GA10)

LO4 - Apply knowledge of Drama theory to critique the social, political, and cultural impact of performances that have challenged society(GA3, GA4, GA5, GA10).

Graduate attributes

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

Content

Topics may include:

• Contemporary theory and practice  
• Theatre / Performance Studies
• Contemporary World Theatre
• Socio-cultural performance trends 
• Polemical texts that have shaped or challenged the practice of theatre
• Play texts that have had a significant social, political, and cultural impact 
• Suggested World Theatre texts include:
• Victor Hugo, Hernani (1830)
• Henrick Ibsen, A Doll’s House (1879)
• Alfred Jarry, Ubu (1896)
• Frank Wedekind, Spring’s Awakening (Written in 1891 but not performed until 1906)
• Eugene O'Neill, The Emperor Jones (1920)
• Lillian Hellman, The Children’s Hour (1934)
• Arthur Miller, Death of A Salesman (1949), A View from the Bridge (1956)
• Samuel Beckett, Waiting For Godot (1953)
• Eugène Ionesco, Rhinoceros (1959)
• Edward Albee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962)
• Peter Schaffer, Equus (1973)
• Martin Sherman, Bent (1979)
• Gao Xingjian, The Other Shore (1986)
• Tony Kushner, Angels in America (1993)
• Sarah Kane, Blasted (1995)
• Eve Ensler, The Vagina Monologues (1996)
• David Hare, The Blue Room (1998) - Adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's La Ronde (1897)
• Terrence McNally, Corpus Christie (1998)
• David Henry Hwang, M Butterfly (1998)
• Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Behtzi (2004)
• Suggested Australian Theatre texts include:
• Patrick White, The Ham Funeral (1965)
• Alex Buzo, Norm and Ahmed (1968)
• Kevin Gilbert, The Cherry Pickers (1968)
• Dorothy Hewett, Bon Bons and Roses for Dolly (1976)
• Jimmy Chi Bran Nue Dae (1990)
•  Leah Purcell Box the Pony (1997).
• Suggested Musicals That Shook the World include:
• Hair (1967) - Lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot 
• Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Todd (1979), Into the Woods (1986)
• Jonathan Larson,  Rent (1994)
• Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx,  Avenue Q (2003)
• Avenue-Q (2003) music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and book by Jeff Whitty
• Steven Sater, Spring’s Awakening (2006)  - Rock musical adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s play)
• Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton (2016).

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

As a 300-level unit within the field of Drama, this unit allows students to demonstrate their expertise in the discipline. It provides opportunities to demonstrate skills and knowledge of the practices, languages, forms, materials, technologies and techniques in Drama. This unit engages students in active learning activities, such as reading, writing, discussion and problem-solving to promote analysis, synthesis and evaluation of class content. Students will have the opportunity to extend and polish the discipline knowledge that they you acquired during their 200-level study of drama.

Online

In the online mode, learning in this unit does not require any physical campus attendance. Digital technologies will be used to deliver learning and assessment components, to allow learning for students across multiple campuses. The unit will use online communication and collaboration tools to achieve integration among students, and with the lecturer, on a regular basis. Students will participate in weekly online e-tivities to enhance online student learning and scaffold the content of the unit. The unit outline; notices/announcements; assessment information, submission, marking and return of assessments, will be accessible online to students. Learning resources and activities will include web links, videos, readings, lecture notes/slides, and audio. 

Multi-Mode

In multi-mode, this unit would involve recorded or live (Adobe Connect / Video Conference) lectures with face-to-face workshops occurring on each campus. This allows for LICs on more than one campus to teach into the unit, thus providing the students with a more varied approach to the texts studied. Face-to-face workshops will take the place of online e-tivities.

This is a 10-credit point unit and has been designed to ensure that the time needed to complete the required volume of learning to the requisite standard is approximately 150 hours in total across the semester. To achieve a passing standard in this unit, students will find it helpful to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments utilised in this unit, as described in the learning and teaching strategy and the assessment strategy. 

Assessment strategy and rationale

The assessments have been designed to provide a variety of tasks to develop and measure the different learning outcomes of the unit. They have been structured to ensure that students are developing advanced knowledge and skills in the academic study of performance. Each drama unit extends their knowledge and skills in the discipline through the study of different genres, texts, theatrical periods and practitioners. Assessment tasks have been designed so that they use a variety of tasks to measure the different learning outcomes of the unit.

This is a 300-level drama unit and students are expected to demonstrate the capacity for self-motivated and independent learning in researching, critically analysing and communicating key issues in historical and contemporary drama and theatre.  

Online

1. Students will participate in online interactive tasks to enhance student learning and scaffold the content of the unit. These can include collaborative online discussions, personal reflective critiques, reading responses, short quizzes and interactive activities. 

2. The theoretical task will allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of key theoretical terms and apply these to specific texts that are studied throughout the unit.

3. The research essay will allow students to conduct careful, critical research into the historical significance of a specific, polemical play or plays and engage with the relevant scholarship.

Multi-Mode

1. Students will keep a journal of weekly activities to enhance student learning and scaffold the content of the unit. These can include reports of tutorial discussions, personal reflective critiques, reading responses, short quizzes and responses to other interactive activities. The journal is used to enhance student engagement with the course material.

2. The theoretical  task will allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of key theoretical terms and apply these to specific texts that are studied throughout the unit.

3. The research essay will allow students to conduct careful, critical research into the historical significance of a specific, polemical play or plays and engage with the relevant scholarship.

Overview of assessments

OVERVIEW OF ASSESSMENTS (ONLINE);

OVERVIEW OF ASSESSMENTS (MULTIMODE)

Auslander, Philip. Theory for Performance Studies: A Student's Guide. Routledge, 2008.

Barba, Eugenio., Nicola Savarese, and International School of Theatre Anthropology. A Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology: The Secret Art of the Performer. Centre for Performance Research by Routledge, 2017.

Bial, Henry. The Performance Studies Reader. Routledge, 2016. 

Davis, Tracy C. The Cambridge Companion to Performance Studies. Cambridge, 2012. 

Fischer-Lichte, Erika., Ramona Mosse, and Minou Arjomand. The Routledge Introduction to Theatre and Performance Studies. Routledge, 2014.

Phelan, Peggy. Unmarked The Politics of Performance. Taylor and Francis, 2012.

Rubin, Don., Ghassan. Maleh, Farouk. Ohan, Samir. Sarhan, and Ahmed. Zaki. World Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Theatre Volume 4. Taylor and Francis, 2013.

Schechner, Richard, and Sara Brady. Performance Studies: An Introduction. Routledge, 2013. 

Spencer, Jenny. Political and Protest Theatre after 9/11 Patriotic Dissent. Taylor and Francis, 2011.

Swinkin, J. Performative Analysis: Reimagining music theory for performance. University of Rochester Press, 2016.