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Playwriting & Dramaturgy (MA)

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Course Overview

Note: We are currently undergoing a process of restructuring our MA offerings in Drama for 2023–24 and this programme will now be offered as a designated pathway within the MA (Drama and Theatre Studies). Please contact the course director for further information.

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The MA in Playwriting and Dramaturgy cultivates the growth of the individual writer through an intensive one-year immersion in an ensemble-based learning environment. Based at the O’Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance, you will be immersed in a natural environment for creating and thinking about theatre practice. 

As a student, you will take modules on playwriting and other forms of theatre practice through which you will have the opportunity to specialise further, based on your own skills and interests. You will cultivate your skills as writers of dramatic texts (playwriting) but also increase your knowledge of a wide range of theatrical structures and forms (dramaturgy) to expand your range as artists. As a writer on this programme, you will hone your craft through intensive mentorship and a rigorous programme of modules, workshops and theatre trips that places your individual work in the context of the contemporary theatre industry and the history of theatre craft. The programme concludes with a playwriting dissertation advised by a professional writer and features a public reading of the your new work at the O’Donoghue Centre.

Why choose this course?

The course draws on University of Galway’s long track record of producing award-winning playwrights, theatre critics, academics and practitioners. The course facilitates the development of the your individual  playwriting craft by exposing you to a range of theatre practices within an ensemble-based learning environment. You are are based at the world-leading centre for study and research in Irish theatre and performance. Given University of  Galway’s rich tradition of student productions, you will also have ample opportunities to stage their plays. And with Galway’s vibrant creative scene, you can see world-class work throughout the academic year. 

University of Galway also has one of the world’s great Irish theatre archives. As a student on this course, you will be able learn from the best—consulting manuscripts and promptbooks by such writers as W.B. Yeats, J. M. Synge, Sean O’Casey, Tom Murphy, Brian Friel, Thomas Kilroy, Marina Carr, Enda Walsh, and many more.

Scholarships available
Find out about our Postgraduate Scholarships here.

Applications and Selections

Applications are made online via the University of Galway Postgraduate Applications System. 

Who Teaches this Course

  • Thomas Conway, Druid Director-in-Residence
  • Mary Elizabeth Burke Kennedy 
researcher
Prof Patrick Lonergan
BA., MA., PhD.,
Professor of Drama and Theatre Studies
T: +353 91 49 2623
View Profile
researcher
Dr Charlotte McIvor
BA, PhD.
LECTURER ABOVE THE BAR
Drama & Theatre Studies
O'Donoghue Centre for Drama, The
NUI Galway
View Profile
researcher
Dr Miriam Haughton
B.A, M.A, Ph.D
Lecturer
O'Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance, NUI Galway
Ireland
View Profile

Requirements and Assessment

Key Facts

Entry Requirements

At least a Second Class Honours, Grade 2 (H2.2 or GPA 3.0) undergraduate degree, a personal statement addressing their theatre experiences and aims, two letters of reference, and a writing sample (5–6 pages)—this can be an academic essay, creative writing or theatre reviews. Entry for candidates with significant relevant experience may be possible. Applicants who do not meet the minimum entry requirements may be admitted via a qualifying exam if they have relevant professional experience, or be admitted to the PDip.

Students who do not meet the Honours degree requirement but have a Level 7 (Merit 2) degree may be admitted to the PDip course, with the possibility of progressing to the MA if they receive a minimum of 60% in their course work during the year.


Additional Requirements

Duration

1 year, full-time

Next start date

NOT ON OFFER for entry 2023

A Level Grades ()

Average intake

15

QQI/FET FETAC Entry Routes

Closing Date

Please see extra detail on this course under COURSE OVERVIEW tab.

NFQ level

Mode of study

ECTS weighting

90

Award

CAO

Course code

MA-PWD (MA); PGD-PWD (PDip)

Course Outline

All students take core modules in playwriting and dramaturgy. Students then can choose optional modules that address a diverse range of specialised topics in the field of performance, directing, theatre business, applied theatre, theatre history, archival research and more. 

After classes conclude, students work on the completion of a new play or piece of writing for performance with a mentor in the profession. This work will receive a public staged reading in early summer at the O’Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance. 

A key aspect of the course is the preparation of candidates for success upon graduation: we provide advice on submitting plays for production, or other forms of writing for publication. Regular workshops with writers form a key part of the course.

Curriculum Information

Curriculum information relates to the current academic year (in most cases).
Course and module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Glossary of Terms

Credits
You must earn a defined number of credits (aka ECTS) to complete each year of your course. You do this by taking all of its required modules as well as the correct number of optional modules to obtain that year's total number of credits.
Module
An examinable portion of a subject or course, for which you attend lectures and/or tutorials and carry out assignments. E.g. Algebra and Calculus could be modules within the subject Mathematics. Each module has a unique module code eg. MA140.
Optional
A module you may choose to study.
Required
A module that you must study if you choose this course (or subject).
Semester
Most courses have 2 semesters (aka terms) per year.

Year 1 (90 Credits)

Required DT6100: Dissertation


15 months long | Credits: 30

Students carry out a research project, through theatre practice and/or conventional library or archive-based research. They will produce a work of original research on any aspect of Drama, Theatre and/or live performance.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Carry out an independent research project on a topic in the area of drama, theatre, performance
  2. Access and analyse relevant research materials in print and digital format in libraries, public institutions, digital resources, and/or archives
  3. Make use of research conventions in relation to citation and bibliography, in line with best international practice.
  4. write an extended work of up to 15,000 words on an original topic.
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
The above information outlines module DT6100: "Dissertation" and is valid from 2018 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Required DT6130: Critical Methods in Drama, Theatre and Performance


Semester 1 | Credits: 10

This course aims to develop students’ critical approaches to writing about theatre and performance. Different modes of ‘seeing’, analysing and writing on performance from semiotics to reception theory will be introduced and examined. Students will confront in class discussion and in essays issues related to writing on theatre such as the role of the critic, gender, globalisation and technology as well as the theoretical perspectives of postmodernism, psychoanalysis and theatre historiography. There will be visits to the theatre regularly (tickets will be provided) and students will be asked to write reviews and performance analysis of these productions. The course is ideally suited to those who wish to develop their writing and research skills, or to people who wish to develop careers in theatre criticism or research.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Survey approaches to analytical writing in the field of theatre and performance studies.
  2. Develop skills of literary and theoretical close-reading working with texts and performances in the field of theatre and performance studies.
  3. Experiment with a range of modes of analytical writing in the field of theatre and performance studies.
  4. Confront through class discussion and essay assignments the role of the critic, gender, globalisation and technology as well as the theoretical perspectives of postmodernism, psychoanalysis and theatre historiography.
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "The Cambridge Introduction to Theatre Studies" by Christopher B. Balme
    ISBN: 0521672236.
    Publisher: Cambridge University Press
  2. "Theatre Audiences" by Susan Bennett
    ISBN: 0415157234.
    Publisher: Psychology Press
  3. "The Transformative Power of Performance" by Erika Fischer-Lichte
    ISBN: 0415458560.
The above information outlines module DT6130: "Critical Methods in Drama, Theatre and Performance" and is valid from 2019 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Required DT6123: Playwright's Workshop I


Semester 1 | Credits: 10

A weekly writer’s workshop in which students will explore fundamental dramaturgical playwriting strategies and structures through analysis of plays from different genres and in-class writing tasks.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Analyse and identify dramaturgical structures as well as particular genre specific theatrical devises
  2. Develop prompts for starting and completing written work
  3. Plan, structure and complete original short play
  4. Critically reflect on writing and situate it within established genres
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "The Secret Life of Plays" by Steve Waters
    Publisher: Nick Hern Books
  2. "How Plays Work" by David Edgar
    Publisher: Nick Hern
  3. "Playwriting a Practical guide" by Noel Greig
    Publisher: Routledge
The above information outlines module DT6123: "Playwright's Workshop I" and is valid from 2020 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Required DT6135: Playwright's Workshop II: Dramaturgical Approaches to Craft


Semester 2 | Credits: 10

This workshop based module explores special topics in playwriting strategies and dramaturgical approaches which may include but are not limited to adaptation, documentary/verbatim theatre, and dramatic writing for the radio. By working through the challenges of different genres and writing processes, playwrights will stretch their skills in a collaborative group format. Students should be prepared to read work aloud in class and will learn to critique each other’s work.

Learning Outcomes
  1. Chart and adapt dramaturgical structures across a range of different styles of theatre
  2. Complete a short play( 20 minutes in duration) and a longer play (at least 40 minutes in duration).
  3. Critically reflect on their playwriting practice
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "The Secret Life of Plays" by Steve Waters
  2. "How do Plays Work" by David Edgar
  3. "The Writers Journey" by Christopher Volger
The above information outlines module DT6135: "Playwright's Workshop II: Dramaturgical Approaches to Craft" and is valid from 2022 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Optional DT6131: Curation 1


Semester 1 | Credits: 10

This module involves a practical interaction with the universities collection of archives and art collection and an exploration of key case studies from around the world. There will be visits to key cultural venues.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Identify a range of roles and professional areas in the field of curation.
  2. Exhibit knowledge of the scope and interrelationship of major organisations in the field of curatorial arts practice in and outside of Ireland.
  3. Create and implement a plan for individual professional development in the fields of curation in the field of creative arts.
  4. Critically reflect on a site visit with an organization in the field of curatorial arts practice.
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "Ways of Curating" by Hans-Ulrich Obrist,Asad Raz̤ā
    ISBN: 0241950961.
  2. "Cultures of the Curatorial" by Bismarck, Beatrice von, Jörn Schafaff and Thomas Weski (eds),
    ISBN: 978193410597.
    Publisher: Sternberg Press
The above information outlines module DT6131: "Curation 1" and is valid from 2019 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Optional EN6118: Digital Literature, Arts, and Creative Practice


Semester 1 | Credits: 10

Postgraduate introduction to digital creative practice in literature and other arts. The course will explore the ways in which new technologies have been used in the creation of born-digital works of literature and other arts, and the wider cultural impact of these developments.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Describe how new media technologies have been used in the processes of literary and other creative practices.
  2. Articulate a comprehensive picture of the expanding field of born-digital creative work
  3. Analyse and critique a range of aesthetic practices associated with digital arts and literature.
  4. Describe the theoretical and methodological implications of digital creative practice.
  5. Employ a selection of digital tools and platforms as a form of creative and critical inquiry.
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "Cybertext" by Espen J. Aarseth
    ISBN: 0801855799.
    Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
  2. "Writing space" by Jay David Bolter
    ISBN: 0805829199.
    Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
  3. "Prehistoric digital poetry" by C. T. Funkhouser
    ISBN: 0817354220.
    Publisher: University of Alabama Press
  4. "Digital Art and Meaning: Reading Kinetic Poetry, Text Machines, Mapping Art, and Interactive Installations" by Roberto Simanowski
    ISBN: 0816667381.
    Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press
The above information outlines module EN6118: "Digital Literature, Arts, and Creative Practice" and is valid from 2020 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Optional DT6112: Advanced Theatre Production Practicum


12 months long | Credits: 10

This module integrates MA students into key theatrical production roles on productions staged with BA students in collaboration with staff or guest artist directors. Students contribute centrally to performance responsibilities related to acting, direction, dramaturgy, design and/or management that necessitate peer management and the creation of original content (including material for performance or performance/rehearsal management plans).
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Execute key responsibilities involved in specialized theatre roles such as stage manager, actor, designer.
  2. Administer one or more defined leadership roles within a live theatrical production from rehearsal through public performance as measured by key factors including management of peers, size of role, and independence of design process and execution as possible.
  3. Lead and organise innovative solutions to production problems.
  4. Supervise the delegation of responsibility for solving production problems to peers in consultation with team members and staff in artistic roles.
  5. Analyse theatre techniques and design materials including light, sound and costume in relationship to a complex and developed understanding of theatre history through engagement with independent research relevant to the production in final research essay.
  6. Articulate and probe the relationship between practical experience learned from previous production experiences with challenges and successes experienced during this process.
  7. Track and analyse the evolution of their individual and independently developed production concept such as original design, staging of a scene or movement sequence, or execution of a large acting role with demonstrable originality over the course of the entire process.
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "The director's craft" by Katie Mitchell
    ISBN: 0415404398.
    Publisher: Routledge
  2. "The Empty Space" by Peter Brook
    ISBN: 0141189223.
    Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (UK)
  3. "Stage management" by Gail Pallin
    ISBN: 1848420145.
    Publisher: Nick Hern
  4. "The Cambridge introduction to scenography" by Joslin McKinney, Philip Butterworth
    ISBN: 0521612322.
    Publisher: Cambridge, UK ; Cambridge University Press, 2009.
  5. "The Routledge companion to theatre and performance" by Paul Allain and Jen Harvie
    ISBN: 0415257212.
    Publisher: London ; Routledge, 2006.
The above information outlines module DT6112: "Advanced Theatre Production Practicum" and is valid from 2020 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Optional DT6113: Applied Dramaturgy


Semester 2 | Credits: 10

This module introduces students to dramaturgy as a discipline with varied historical roots and as a practice that is diverse, sophisticated, and vital to contemporary theatre. It aims to equip students with the theoretical underpinnings and the intellectual tools with which to contribute confidently and effectively as dramaturgs in a rehearsal process (whether it be on a classic or modernist play, or in a devised production). Students complete the module by partnering with students mounting live performance projects for the module "Performance Lab."
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Investigate the range of roles and functions required of a dramaturge in both historical and contemporary contexts.
  2. Analyse the role and function of a dramaturge on a range of theatre and performance projects arising out of a variety of institutional contexts and aesthetic approaches.
  3. Articulate the difference between structural, production and institutional dramaturgy.
  4. Evaluate the practice of dramaturgy as applicable to other roles in the theatre including director, playwright, designer and actor among others.
  5. Execute a variety of dramaturgical roles and functions through class exercises, assignments and projects (including engagement with student projects from the module 'Performance Lab').
  6. Negotiate the risks and demands of collaborative work through the execution of dramaturgical work on assigned student peer performance projects.
  7. Critically assess your personal practice as a dramaturge in terms of historical and theoretical fluency, skills at collaborating with other artists and your use and manipulation of supporting resources in engaging with your assigned student peer performance project.
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "The Routledge Companion to Dramaturgy" by Magda Romanska, ed.
  2. "New dramaturgy" by edited by Katalin Trencsényi and Bernadette Cochrane.
    ISBN: 1408177080.
    Publisher: London; Bloomsbury
  3. "Dramaturgy and Performance" by Cathy Turner, Synne Behrndt
    ISBN: 1403996563.
    Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
  4. "Dramaturgy: A Revolution in Theatre" by Mary Luckhurst
    ISBN: 0521081882.
    Publisher: Cambridge University Press
  5. "Process of Dramaturgy" by Scott R. Irelan, Anne Fletcher, Julie Felise Dubiner
    ISBN: 1585103322.
    Publisher: Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Co.
The above information outlines module DT6113: "Applied Dramaturgy" and is valid from 2019 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Optional DT6132: Advanced Producing and Curation


Semester 2 | Credits: 10

In this module students will explore further evolving definitions and policies of multifaceted curatorial and producing activity across art forms. Students will develop a practice based producing and/or curatorial project, demonstrating advanced skills regarding thinking, developing, and implementing artistic activities in association with a range of partners including the Arts in Action University programme and GIAF and the university’s unique digital arts archives and exhibitions programme.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Apply curatorial and / or producing knowledge through directed class project
  2. Explain key creative arts policies and implementation.
  3. Critically reflect on practical approaches and processes of curation and producing.
  4. Work in group and to take leadership within specific roles.
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "Culture of Curating and the Curating of Culture(s)" by Paul O'Neill
    ISBN: 9780262529747.
    Publisher: Mit Press
  2. "Waarom Zijn Kunstenaars Arm?" by Hans Abbing
    ISBN: 9053565655.
    Publisher: Leiden University Press
  3. "How to Do Things With Art: What Performativity Means in Art" by Von Hantelmann
    Publisher: JRP Ringier and Les Presses du Réel
The above information outlines module DT6132: "Advanced Producing and Curation" and is valid from 2020 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Optional DT6129: Producing and Curation Ideas Lab


Semester 2 | Credits: 10

In this module, students work through phases of developing a project that will aim to find innovative solutions to key problems in the creative arts. Established methodologies for working through a project from an idea to its realization are explored through weekly seminars and practical sessions. While the module involves the development of key skills (structuring workshops, pitching for a project) and critical thinking it will also place strong emphasis on learning through doing. There will be a presentation of the project at the end of the semester. The project developed will form the basis for the larger project explored in the practice as research dissertation.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Develop a critical understanding and engagement with key theoretical frameworks and methodologies.
  2. Application of methodologies and theories in the field of creative arts in the development of an idea to its realisation.
  3. Develop a pitch presentation that persuasively communicates ideas with a foundation in implementation strategy.
  4. Write a research plan for larger practice as research project.
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (50%)
  • Oral, Audio Visual or Practical Assessment (50%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "New Media in the White Cube and Beyond" by Christiane Paul
    ISBN: 9780520243972.
  2. "Why are artists poor?: The Exceptional Economy of the Arts" by Hans Abbing
    ISBN: 9053565655.
    Publisher: Leiden University Press
  3. "Performance Theory" by Richard Schechner
    Publisher: Routledge
  4. "Art and its Institutions: Current Conflicts, Critique and Collaborations" by Nina Montmann
    Publisher: Black Dog Publishing
The above information outlines module DT6129: "Producing and Curation Ideas Lab " and is valid from 2019 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Optional DT6102: Irish Drama and Theatre from Wilde to O'Casey


Semester 1 | Credits: 10

This course explores the history of Irish drama and theatre from 1890 to 1930
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Identify, describe and analyse key moments in Irish theatre history from 1890 to 1930, with special focus on the Irish literary revival.
  2. produce a substantial research paper that deploys the skills of archival research, textual analysis and performance analysis.
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "Modern and contemporary Irish drama" by edited by John P. Harrington
    ISBN: 0393932435.
    Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.
  2. "The Irish Dramatic Revival: 1899-1939" by n/a
    ISBN: 978-140817528.
The above information outlines module DT6102: "Irish Drama and Theatre from Wilde to O'Casey" and is valid from 2016 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Optional DT6127: Producing 1


Semester 1 | Credits: 10

This module builds understanding of the role of the producer and the practical skills needed to fulfil that role. It covers such areas as understanding how to set up a company, engaging in strategic planning and development, financial planning, project management, while also focussing on key case studies from the Irish arts sector.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Engage with the role of the Creative Producer as creative, financial, administrative, technical and promotional lead of an artistic project or event.
  2. Understand the steps of successful Project management from concepts and contracts, to monitoring and evaluation
  3. Write a strategic plan for an organisation or collective, that is both costed and viable.
  4. Understand the steps of setting up an artistic company or collective through researching case studies and business models.
  5. Plan and cost a 'season' of artistic events.
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "So You Want to be a Theatre Producer?" by James Seabright
    ISBN: 9781854595379.
  2. "Introduction to Arts Management" by Bloomsbury
    ISBN: 978147423979.
    Publisher: Bloomsbury
The above information outlines module DT6127: "Producing 1" and is valid from 2020 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Optional EN6136: Thinking about Books/Thinking about Theatre


Semester 1 | Credits: 10

This is a bipartite module. Students spend the first six weeks focusing on the medium of the book and the second six weeks focusing on the medium of theatre. Particular topics and areas of focus may vary from year to year.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Discourse knowledgeably about the medium of the book.
  2. Discourse knowledgeably about the medium of theatre.
  3. Conduct sophisticated oral and/or written analyses of primary texts.
  4. Critically engage with appropriate secondary sources.
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Module Director
Reading List
  1. "MLA Handbook" by Modern Language Association of America
    ISBN: 9781603292627.
The above information outlines module EN6136: "Thinking about Books/Thinking about Theatre" and is valid from 2020 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Optional DT6108: Exploring Michael Chekhov Technique


Semester 1 | Credits: 10

This is a course for actors and directors exploring Chekhov technique through practice, journal and essay. Following a thorough practical introduction to certain key concepts of Qualities, Psychological Gesture, Centres and Atmosphere, the student will move on to working on scenes and speeches. The experiential component will be backed up by discussion of various chapters of ‘To The Actor’ by Michael Chekhov, and analysis of the training DVDs of the Michael Chekhov Association.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Demonstrate theoretical knowledge of the theory of Chekhov's work academically and its placement in the the history of actor training.
  2. Have some ability in the practise of the technique, in particular, but not exclusively, Qualities, Radiating and Receiving, Centres, General and Personal Atmosphere, Psychological Gesture and Composition.
  3. Select and apply at least two of Chekhov's concepts to a scene from a given play.
  4. Execute written self assessment response of the practical work.
  5. Practically apply the techniques to directing theatre.
  6. Assess the technique by comparing it to at least one other practical performance technique they know about or of which they have experience.
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (55%)
  • Department-based Assessment (45%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "To the Actor" by Michael Chekhov
  2. "On the Technique of Acting" by Michael Chekhov
  3. "Lessons for the Professional Actor" by Michael Chekhov
  4. "Three Sisters" by Anton Chekhov (trans. Michael Frayn)
The above information outlines module DT6108: "Exploring Michael Chekhov Technique" and is valid from 2021 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Optional DT6120: Ensemble Acting and Devising


Semester 1 | Credits: 10

A practical and theoretical introduction to twentieth-century acting and performance techniques with special emphasis on Artaud, Grotowski, and Peter Brook.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Engage in practical ensemble-based activities for devising theatre practice.
  2. Describe and put into practice modern and contemporary theories of ensemble
  3. Describe and put into practice the ideas of key practitioners, such as Boal, Brook and Chekhov.
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "The Empty Space" by Peter Brook
  2. "Towards a Poor Theatre" by Jerzy Grotowski
The above information outlines module DT6120: "Ensemble Acting and Devising" and is valid from 2021 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Optional DT6134: Creative Arts Ideas Lab


Semester 1 | Credits: 10

In this module, students work through phases of developing a project that will aim to find innovative solutions to key problems in the creative arts. Established methodologies for working through a project from an idea to its realization are explored through weekly seminars and practical sessions. While the module involves the development of key skills (structuring workshops, pitching for a project) and critical thinking, it will also place strong emphasis on learning through doing. There will be a presentation of the project at the end of the semester. The project developed will form the basis for the larger project explored in the practice as research dissertation.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Develop a critical understanding and engagement with key theoretical frameworks and methodologies.
  2. Application of methodologies and theories in the field of creative arts in the development of an idea to its realisation.
  3. Develop a pitch presentation that persuasively communicates ideas with a foundation in implementation strategy.
  4. Write a research plan for larger practice as research project.
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (50%)
  • Oral, Audio Visual or Practical Assessment (50%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "New Media in the White Cube and Beyond" by Christiane Paul
    ISBN: 9780520243972.
  2. "Why are artists poor?: The Exceptional Economy of the Arts" by Hans Abbing
    ISBN: 9053565655.
    Publisher: Leiden University Press
  3. "Performance Theory" by Richard Schechner
    Publisher: Routledge
  4. "Art and its Institutions: Current Conflicts, Critique and Collaborations" by Nina Montmann
    Publisher: Black Dog Publishing
The above information outlines module DT6134: "Creative Arts Ideas Lab " and is valid from 2022 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Optional DT6121: Fieldwork And Theatre Business


Semester 2 | Credits: 10

This module is focussed on professionalisation strategies and processes in the field of drama and theatre at large. Topics including long-range professional career planning in a variety of theatre and performance disciplines, producing, project preparation, grant writing, tax law for artists and more will be covered through interactive workshops.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Identify a range of roles and professional areas in the field of theatre and performing arts.
  2. Exhibit knowledge of the scope and interrelationship of major organisations in the field of theatre and performing arts in Ireland.
  3. Create and implement a plan for individual professional development in the field of theatre and performing arts.
  4. Critically reflect on a work experience with an organisation in the field of theatre and performing arts.
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "So You Want To Be A Theatre Producer?" by James Seabright
    ISBN: 978185459537.
  2. "How To Start Your Own Theatre Company" by Reginald Nelson
    ISBN: 978155652813.
The above information outlines module DT6121: "Fieldwork And Theatre Business" and is valid from 2017 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Optional DT6122: Performance Lab


Semester 2 | Credits: 10

This course explores the relationship between theory and practice in a laboratory format that combines making and staging work with critical investigation. The purpose of this course is to provide students with a critical vocabulary for approaching practice as research that will result in the creation of new devised or staged work guided by student's shared intellectual and artistic interests. The first part of the semester will be focused on a survey of divergent approaches to the creative process in contemporary performance practice by way of artist accounts, film viewings and performance outings, and engagement with critical theory focused in theatre and performance studies. In the second half of the semester, students will work in groups with instructor supervision to create or stage a collective work that engages a research problem or question resulting in public performance of these works. Students will also complete a final research paper locating their performance project and its desired interventions in genealogies of theatre and performance practice. Assessment: Weekly written assignments, practical classroom exercises, group performance project and final research paper.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Compare and contrast varying methods of contemporary theatre making
  2. Experiment actively with contemporary physical theatre and devising techniques in a collaborative workshop format
  3. Create an original performance or stage an original interpretation of a piece for performance
  4. Demonstrate advanced skills of group collaboration
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "Frantic Assembly Book of Devising Theatre" by Frantic Assembly
    ISBN: 978-113877701.
  2. "A Director Prepares" by Anne Bogart
    ISBN: 978-041523832.
  3. "Postdramatic theatre" by Hans-Thies Lehmann; translated and with an introduction by Karen J?urs-Munby
    ISBN: 0415268133.
    Publisher: London ; Routledge, 2006.
The above information outlines module DT6122: "Performance Lab" and is valid from 2019 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Optional DT6101: Irish Drama and Theatre from Beckett to the Present


Semester 2 | Credits: 10

This course explores the history of Irish theatre from 1950 to the present, placing emphasis on the importance of Beckett for an understanding of Irish drama.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Identify key moments in Irish theatre history since 1950
  2. Describe and analyse the importance of social, cultural and economic factors in the development of Irish theatre history since 1950
  3. Produce a written research essay that deploys the skills of archival research, textual analysis, and performance analysis.
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "Modern and Contemporary Irish Drama" by John Harrington
  2. "Contemporary Irish Plays." by Patrick Lonergan
The above information outlines module DT6101: "Irish Drama and Theatre from Beckett to the Present" and is valid from 2021 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Optional DT6109: Applied Theatre


Semester 2 | Credits: 10

This course introduces students to core concepts and practices in the field of applied theatre techniques which includes but is not limited to educational theatre, Theatre for Social Change, community arts/theatre,Theatre of the Oppressed and other Boalian techniques, theatre for development, and prison theatre.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Identify key working methods and genres in the practice of applied theatre.
  2. Distinguish between different working methodologies and genres within the larger field of applied theatre.
  3. Analyse key debates over ethics and collaboration in this field of practice.
  4. Building on our practical classroom exercises, lead basic exercises from each major genre of applied theatre discussed in class.
  5. Interrogate the role of the faciliator in applied theatre work.
  6. Propose a framework for their own independent applied theatre project.
  7. Demonstrate knowledge of a more advanced repertoire of activities and techinques from one targeted area of specialisation in applied theatre.
Assessments

This module's usual assessment procedures, outlined below, may be affected by COVID-19 countermeasures. Current students should check Blackboard for up-to-date assessment information.

  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Module Director
Lecturers / Tutors
Reading List
  1. "The Applied Theatre Reader" by Sheila Preston and Tim Prentki
  2. "Theatre of Good Intentions: Challenges and Hopes for Theatre and Social Change" by Dani Snyder-Young
  3. "Games for Actors and Non-Actors" by Augusto Boal
  4. "Community Performance: An Introduction" by Petra Kuppers
  5. "Local Acts: Community-Based Performance in the United States" by Jan Cohen-Cruz
The above information outlines module DT6109: "Applied Theatre" and is valid from 2021 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Why Choose This Course?

Career Opportunities

Graduates of University of Galway writing programmes have gone on to doctoral programmes in the humanities, to teaching, to employment in journalism, magazine editing, travel writing, technical writing, and public relations as well as publishing anthologies and books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. In the field of theatre, our graduates have gone on to write for such theatres as the Abbey (Ireland) and the Traverse (Scotland), while many have also staged their own works at Festivals in Dublin, Galway, Edinburgh and elsewhere.

Who’s Suited to This Course

Learning Outcomes

Transferable Skills Employers Value

Work Placement

Study Abroad

Related Student Organisations

Course Fees

Fees: EU

€Not on offer 2023/24

Fees: Tuition

€N/A

Fees: Student levy

€N/A

Fees: Non EU

€Not on offer 2023/24

 
Postgraduate students in receipt of a SUSI grant—please note an F4 grant is where SUSI will pay €4,000 towards your tuition (2023/24).  You will be liable for the remainder of the total fee.  An F5 grant is where SUSI will pay tuition up to a maximum of €6,270. SUSI will not cover the student levy of €140.

Postgraduate fee breakdown = Tuition (EU or NON EU) + student levy as outlined above.

Note to non-EU students: learn about the 24-month Stayback Visa here. 

Find out More

For more information about the course, please contact:

Dr Miriam Haughton
Director of Postgraduate Studies in Drama, Theatre and Performance
T: +353 91 494 485
E: miriam.haughton@universityofgalway.ie

Quick Links

Downloads

  • Postgraduate Prospectus 2023

    Postgraduate Prospectus 2023 PDF (20.6MB)