CONTACT CSU

No offerings have been identified for this subject in 2015

ACT224 Classic Theatre (16)

Abstract

This subject introduces selections of The Classical Theatre from Ancient Greece to Elizabethan and Jacobean England, and the theatre of Moliere. Plays are examined as texts written for specific staging and production demands. Students develop and apply a variety of the physical skills required for period-sensitive staging of choral mimetic gesture and speech, mask, and physical performance, especially where these are co-ordinated with the dynamics of theatricalised sound and movement. The historical use of the mask is examined to discern approaches to modelling techniques for staging purposes and its use as a focus for theatrically enacted meta-communication.

+ Subject Availability Modes and Location

Continuing students should consult the SAL for current offering details prior to contacting their course coordinator: ACT224
Where differences exist between the handbook and the SAL, the SAL should be taken as containing the correct subject offering details.

Subject information

Duration Grading System School:
Two sessionHD/FLSchool of Communication and Creative Industries

Enrolment restrictions

Bachelor of Arts (Communication - Theatre/Media)

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:
- be able to explain the different characteristics of research conducted by dramaturg and by actors.
- be able to articulate and demonstrate practical, working knowledge of theatrical forms and performance traditions: from classical Athens in the Fifth Century BCE; European medieval morality and mystery plays, carnival, The Commedia Dell'arte, the Shakespearean stage and the theatre of Moliere.
- be able to demonstrate sophisticated understanding of theatre aesthetics in their historical context by applying different theoretical perspectives to those performance contexts.
- be able to use Laban's "qualities of effort" and LeCoq's concept of "la desponible" to demonstrate evaluative intellectual and kinesthetic understandings of physical expression as they may be developed through role-based performance.

- be able to articulate and demonstrate a basic grounding in expressive physical gesture associated with satyric, choric, and other performance conventions of verse drama.
- be able to critically evaluate the performative implications of theatre texts from a production-based point of view.

Syllabus

The subject will cover the following topics:
- Major developments in the history of European theatre from Ancient Greek comedy and tragedy, through the medieval period of Western Europe, to the rise of professional companies of actors with the commedia dell'arte, Shakespeeare, and Moliere. - Exercises in basic stagecraft exploring satyric, choric and versa performance. - A performative exploration of the history of how the Western theatre tradition has used mask: metaphysical, animal, neutral, Basel, larval masks and as well as characters masks, noses and commedia dell'arte half-masks. -Scenario, scripted and improvisational work is rehearsed for studio research performances.

Back

The information contained in the 2015 CSU Handbook was accurate at the date of publication: 01 October 2015. The University reserves the right to vary the information at any time without notice.