drama undergraduate study 2014 entry
Key information UCAS CODE
TYPICAL OFFER
Drama
W400
AAA-ABB; IB: 36-32
Drama with Study Abroad
W401
AAA-ABB; IB: 36-32
English and Drama
WQ34
AAA-AAB; IB: 36-34
English and Drama with Study Abroad
WQ35
AAA-AAB; IB: 36-34
Drama and Visual Culture
WW42
AAA-AAB; IB: 36-34
Drama and Visual Culture with Study Abroad
WW24
AAA-AAB; IB: 36-34
BA Single Honours
BA Combined Honours
For further details on all our entry requirements, please see our Drama pages at: www.exeter.ac.uk/undergraduate/degrees/drama Streatham Campus, Exeter
Website: www.exeter.ac.uk/drama Email: hums-ugadmissions@exeter.ac.uk Phone: +44 (0)1392 722427
The research and performance module was particularly good in both giving us an indication of how research can be implemented within our physical work and giving us a taster as to how hard working in the field of drama is. It gave us a chance to show how we had matured and moved on from A level in scheduling our own studio times, directing ourselves and delegating without argument. I also thoroughly enjoyed having an opportunity to get a taste of many different types of performance style. Undergraduate in Drama
Why study Drama at Exeter? Drama at Exeter offers you the time and space to explore and experiment with performance and performance making. Taught largely through studio sessions, the relationship between theory and practice is central to the discipline. Our academic staff teach a range of performance and specialist skills and all of our teaching grows out of our research interests, so you will be taught by people at the forefront of their field who are passionate about the subject. You’ll be able to research a broad array of theatre histories and critical theories as well as specialist practical modules which will prepare you for work in many areas of the cultural industries. You’ll obtain key transferable skills that can be taken into many professions. There’s plenty of contact time with staff, who will challenge you and support the development of your intellectual and creative skills. Your lecturers will be active researchers whose interests include areas such as the theory and practice of actor-training, nonwestern performance, twentieth-century theatre practitioners, dramaturgy and playwriting, new media, live art, site-specific performance, gender and performance, Shakespeare, music theatre, voice training, arts management, theatre and religion and the politics of culture. We provide a supportive environment, where collaborative work with fellow students allows you to take innovative new approaches. You will need a great deal of commitment, and demand the same from us in return, and this commitment will be rewarded with an outstanding experience and education.
1st in the National Student Survey (2012) 4th for Drama in The Times Good University Guide 2013 Ranked 9th in UK for world leading researcht Collaborative and practice-based approach including drama in the community Opportunities to specialise in areas such as directing, contemporary performance, music theatre, actor training, applied theatre, dramaturgy, theatre history and technical theatre crafts The study of Drama at Exeter dates back to 1927 and we have now offered a fulltime Drama programme for over 40 years. The department is one of the largest and best equipped in the UK. Over the last few years we have expanded and have excellent facilities which place Exeter at the top for teaching spaces and resources. We have invested £3.7 million in our industry standard drama facilities providing a superb environment for learning and research. Howard Barker, ‘Britain’s most important living playwright’ (The Times), contributes to the department’s research and teaching culture through his position as an AHRC funded creative fellow.
based on the average percentage of positive responses across all survey categories for full service universities RAE 2008 based on the percentage of research categorised as 4*
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Programme overview The programmes aim to develop an understanding of performance skills alongside a critical and imaginative engagement with the social, historical and cultural contexts of theatre. Interest and involvement in contemporary theatre are central. The programmes encourage this both as a subject of research and as a practical experience through performance and community-based activities. The studiobased work equips you with abilities to communicate effectively, to pursue creative analysis and to initiate and organise complex individual and group projects. Most teaching and learning is undertaken in studio exercises, rehearsals and training workshops. Other activities include seminar presentations, independent research projects, and public and restricted audience performances. All students have a personal tutor who is available for advice and support throughout their studies and a student mentor during the first year.
How your degree is structured Degrees are divided into core and optional modules giving you the flexibility to structure your degree according to your specific interests. Individual modules are worth 30 credits each and full-time undergraduates need to take 120 credits in each year. Within Drama, in addition to the core modules, you can choose from an extensive range of options, a few examples of which are shown at the back of this brochure. For up-to-date details of our programme and modules, please check www.exeter.ac.uk/ drama
Single Honours BA Drama The degree is composed of a series of modules, most of which conclude with a presentation open to other Drama students and staff, to the University at large, or to the general public. In the early stages of the programme the emphasis is on group collaborative work. As you move through the degree this group work becomes the basis for the development of individual interests and skills. Throughout the programme all Drama students get equal opportunities and challenges to act, to direct and to write or otherwise create dramatic events. Year 1 In the first half of the year you will study a studio-based module called Acting and Not Acting, and a seminar-based module, Pre-texts and Contexts of Drama 1, which introduces you to theatre studies and performance analysis as disciplines of Drama. In the second half of the year your practical work will focus on a performance-orientated module rooted in research through practice entitled Research and Performance, and Theatrical Interpretation: Practitioners will introduce a selection of modern and contemporary practitioners in their context. Year 2 In your second year you study two core modules: Pre-texts and Contexts of Drama 2, which will extend and deepen your critical and theoretical vocabulary of theatre; and Staging the Text, which will introduce you to a range of methodologies applied to fields of Drama research. You will also choose two options from a range of modules. You may be able to study abroad for half a year and you can choose to integrate a work experience into your degree in the module Humanities and the Workplace.
Year 3 In your final year you can specialise in practical and research options such as Interpretative Acting, Approaches to Directing, Playwriting, Voice for the Actor. Your degree culminates in the Practical Essay, a piece of original performance that you will create with a small group of fellow students for an audience beyond the University, and Theatre Praxis, an in-depth independent study of a chosen area of theatre and performance.
Combined Honours Degrees BA English and Drama English and Drama at the University of Exeter is a challenging and flexible degree that builds on two internationally-renowned centres of excellence in research, teaching and theatre practice. Our teaching grows out of our wide-ranging, world-leading research interests and we provide a supportive and high-quality environment for learning. The programme provides you with a sense of the range and variety of literary works, introduces you to theoretical approaches that enable you to engage critically with texts understood in their historical and cultural contexts, and develops your critical, imaginative and practical engagement with the social, historical and cultural contexts of theatre. English modules are taught by staff with expertise in literature from the Middle Ages to the present, in cinema throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, and in creative writing practices in poetry, prose and screen-writing. Drama modules are taught by staff with expertise in theatre, drama and performance theory from the classical era to the present, and in practice fields including acting, directing, scriptwriting, voice, applied theatre, live art, digital theatre crafts, music theatre, puppetry, dance and intercultural performance training.
The programme covers a wide range of material allowing you to develop and follow your own interests with the provision of modules by active researchers who are at the forefront of their respective fields. Year 1 You’ll study five core modules which will give you a solid foundation in the skills, methods and principles involved in English and Drama: Beginnings: English Literature before 1800; Acting and Not Acting: the Dialectics of Performance; The Poem; and Shakespeare. You will also take a studiobased module designed specifically for our English and Drama students, Research, Text and Performance, in which you will engage theoretically and practically with a particular area of research and particular texts, and develop your own group performance from that exploration. Year 2 In this year you will build from the learning and skills developed in your first year through a range of option choices. You will choose two English option modules, which can include: Chaucer and his Contemporaries; Creative Writing; Introduction to American Literature; Desire and Power 1570-1640; Renaissance and Revolution; Satire and the City 1660-1750; Revolutions and Evolutions in 19th Century Literature; Shots in the Dark; Spectacular Attractions: Cinema and Sensation; and The Shock of the New 1900-1953. In Drama you will take a seminar-based module, Pre-texts and Contexts of Drama 2, which studies key theoretical approaches to analysing contemporary performance and the place of performance within culture; and one from a series of studio-based options which may include: Interpretative Acting; Applied Theatre; Dance: Choreography; Digital Theatrecrafts; Interdisciplinary Spatial Practices; Lecoq; Live Art; Dramaturgy; Experimental Music Theatre.
Year 3 In the final year of your degree you will have the opportunity to focus your studies on particular areas of individual interest. You will take four modules from a wide range of options in both English and Drama. In addition you will write a Dissertation in the areas of either English or Creative Writing or Drama, giving you a chance to explore a passion of yours in real depth, with guidance from an academic supervisor. However your final year must be equally weighted between English and Drama. For full details of the English modules, please see www.exeter.ac.uk/english
BA Drama and Visual Culture Visual culture is an exciting area of study which incorporates a number of established subject-areas, including art history and cultural studies. It will be of particular appeal if your interests are in fine and modern art, the history of art, cinema, literature, cultural history, philosophy, sociology or modern languages. By studying visual culture, you will learn how to interpret visual images in order to understand contemporary and past societies, and also how these images are a reflection of a society itself and the belief systems to which it adheres. For example, you might explore the emergence of a ‘society of the spectacle’ alongside the rise of reality TV and social media in everyday life, or the idea of ‘virtual war’. During your second and third years you will be able to follow your interests through a wide range of optional modules: you can choose to study art and material culture in ancient societies; look in detail at the way art history works; or focus on visual culture within a specific society or time period right up to the modern day.
Our visual culture programme builds on Exeter’s fine art collections, a sculpture walk and one of Britain’s largest public collections of books, prints, artefacts and ephemera relating to the history and prehistory of cinema. Year 1 You’ll study four core modules, half of which will be in Visual Culture and half in Drama. This will give you a solid foundation in the skills, methods and principles involved in both subjects. The modules include Introducing Visual Cultures; Acting and Not Acting; and Contemporary Visual Practices. Year 2 In this year you will build from the learning and skills developed in your first year through a range of option choices. You will take one core module, Visual Media, in which you will be introduced to ways in which different media construct contrasting visual worlds. You will also take optional modules from a range of modules including Humanities in the Workplace; Spectacular Attractions: Cinema and Sensation; and Video – Installation – Performance. In Drama you will take a seminar-based module, Pre-texts and Contexts of Drama 2, which studies key theoretical approaches to analysing contemporary performance and the place of performance within culture; and one from a series of studio-based options. Year 3 In the final year of your degree you will have the opportunity to focus your studies on particular areas of individual interest. You will take four modules from a wide range of options in both Visual Culture and Drama. In addition you will write a Dissertation in the areas of either Visual Culture or Drama, giving you a chance to explore a passion of yours in real depth, with guidance from an academic supervisor. For full details of the Visual Culture modules, please see www.exeter.ac.uk/ arthistory
Learning and teaching We teach mainly through studio sessions, which means that you will practise the subject at the same time as you learn about it. At the start of the programme the emphasis is on group collaborative work which becomes the basis for the development of your individual interests and skills later on. Practical class sizes are limited to around 20. Each week you’ll have on average six to nine scheduled hours per module and will need to allow for additional hours of private study per module. You should expect your total workload to average about 40 hours per week during term time. As well as attending sessions and writing essays and assignments, you’ll be expected to make presentations from time to time. We encourage your presentation work because it involves you actively in the teaching and learning process as well as developing important life skills such as good verbal and visual communication and effective interaction with other people.
studios fully equipped for stage lighting and sound, ten other studios and seminar rooms, two sound studios, a video and multimedia studio, state-of-the-art computer facilities for lighting and sound design, and workshops for set construction, costume and prop-making. To find out more, please see www.exeter.ac.uk/humanities/drama/ facilities
Research-inspired teaching Teaching that is inspired by research ensures lectures are up-to-date and relevant and you will benefit from access to the latest thinking, equipment and resources. All staff teach second and third year options which are linked to their own interests which include areas such as theories of actor-training, non-western performance, 20th century theatre practitioners, new media, site-specific performance, gender and performance in the 17th century, music theatre, arts management and the politics of culture.
We’re committed to enhancing and developing your key personal and transferable skills. You’ll develop a range of professional skills, for example, time management and team-working. You’ll gain valuable critical, analytical and communication skills. Technical skills will include accurate note taking from presentations, research and IT skills and you’ll also learn a wide range of Dramaspecific skills appropriate to your module choices.
Academic support
Facilities
Studying at Exeter offers you the exciting possibility of spending up to one year abroad. Last year almost 500 Exeter students studied at one of our partner universities, which are in more than 40 countries around the world. You could learn a new language and experience different cultures, become more self-confident and widen your circle
Drama is based on two sites on the Streatham Campus. All of the practical spaces we use are for use only by Drama students, giving us a high degree of flexibility. Our facilities include two digital media suites and upgraded technical facilities. We have six
All students have a personal tutor who is available for advice and support throughout your studies. There are also a number of services on campus where you can get advice and information, including the Students’ Guild Advice Unit. You can find further information about all the services in the University’s undergraduate prospectus or online at www.exeter.ac.uk/undergraduate
Study abroad
of friends. You could also specialise in areas that aren’t available at Exeter, and when it comes to a career, your skills and knowledge of another country will prove invaluable to many employers. This of course applies equally to overseas students coming to study abroad at Exeter. The Drama Department has exchange links with Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia; Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia; Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey; Iceland Academy of the Arts, Reykjavik, Iceland; University College Utrecht, the Netherlands; and University of Hildesheim, Germany. For further details of our study abroad options, please check our website at www.exeter.ac.uk/humanities/drama/ undergraduate/studyabroad
Assessment Modules include continuous assessment of practical and written work. Other modes of assessment are chosen to suit the work you are doing. These might include portfolios, essays, interview/viva, performance, presentations, etc. There are no written, timed examinations for Drama modules. You must pass your first year assessment in order to progress to the second year, but the results do not count towards your degree classification. The assessments in the second and third years all contribute to your final degree classification. For full details of the assessment criteria for each module, check the undergraduate section of our website at www.exeter.ac.uk/ drama
Careers A degree in Drama from Exeter will provide you with a wide range of skills, which will be useful in your future study or employment. Our students develop skills in researching, analysing and assessing sources, written and verbal communication, managing and interpreting information and developing ideas and arguments. Many students from the department take part in the Exeter Award and the Exeter Leaders Award. These schemes encourage you to participate in employability related workshops, skills events, volunteering and employment which will contribute to your career decision-making skills and success in the employment market. For further information about what the Employability Service offers at Exeter visit www.exeter.ac.uk/employability There is a wide range of career options open to you, for instance:
Perform
Teach
Each year a significant number of our students go on to further training at LeCoq, RADA, Guildhall, Central and so on. Many others become actors without further training and you see them regularly on your TV screens. Many graduates are working in theatre companies such as the RSC, or touring with national companies such as Out of Joint, The Terrible Infants and The Oxford Stage Company.
Each year a significant number of our students go on to teach at all levels of the education system, from Primary to Higher Education. Graduates also work as education officers connected to theatre companies including the Royal National Theatre, Sheffield Crucible and Complicite.
Direct Many graduates of the department work as theatre directors both with touring companies, as well as theatres such as the Lyric Hammersmith, Bristol Old Vic, Lincoln Theatre Royal, the Exeter Northcott Theatre, Stadttheater Linz (Austria), Orange Tree (Richmond) and the Royal National Theatre Studio. Many graduates of the department have also gone on to work in the film and television industries as directors and producers.
Research Owing to the calibre of our undergraduate cohort, each year many of our students go on to further postgraduate study or research in Drama and related subjects at universities worldwide and become researchers and teachers in Higher Education. There is a fast growing network of Exeter graduates at leading universities across the world.
Write The department has produced several writers who have had work produced for The Royal Court, the Royal National Theatre (Olivier Stage), the Lyceum Theatre in the West End and the Donmar Theatre and worked with companies such as Frantic Assembly. Other graduates have written for EastEnders and had one-off dramas produced for television and film (including The Hour and The Iron Lady) and radio (Radio 4).
Form new theatre companies The synthesis of practice and theory on the course means that many graduates set up innovative theatre companies. Long-standing groups that grew from Exeter students include Punchdrunk, Theatre Alibi, Foursight Theatre and Forced Entertainment, who are all internationally renowned.
Work in arts industries The broad skills set that our students gain with us means that lots of our graduates are working in a range of exciting arts-related fields. We have DJs on BBC Radio, stand-up comedians and programme producers in television and radio, arts administrators for
companies and the Arts Council England, musical directors for the atrs, opera companies and films, musical composers, casting directors, TV presenters and theatrical agents.
Draw on transferable skills to work outside drama Owing to the range of key transferable skills gained in a humanities degree, our graduates are highly sought after in a number of other varied careers. Graduates of our course are employed across diverse fields including: aviation, the Civil Service, local government, management, website design, press relations, magazine editing, copywriting, accountancy, national health services, events management, law and journalism.
Work with Drama in a social context Some graduates go on to take further training as drama therapists and many go on to take up employment possibilities within community and applied drama, Theatre-InEducation and work in prisons and with mental health service users.
Work in technical areas Students have become stage managers at venues such as The Royal Court, company managers for companies such as The Reduced Shakespeare Company, as well as lighting designers and television floor managers in a wide range of prestigious venues.
Entry requirements and applying You can find a summary of our typical entry requirements on the inside front cover of this brochure. The full and most up-to-date information about Drama is on the undergraduate website at www.exeter.ac.uk/undergraduate/ degrees/drama and we strongly advise that you check this before attending an open day or making your application. Some programmes require prior study of specific subjects and may also have minimum grade requirements at GCSE or equivalent, particularly in English Language and/or Mathematics. We make every effort to ensure that the entry requirements are as up-to-date as possible in our printed literature. However, since this is printed well in advance of the start of the admissions cycle, in some cases our entry requirements and offers will change.
If you are an international student you should consult our general and subjectspecific entry requirements information for A levels and the International Baccalaureate, but the University also recognises a wide range of international qualifications. You can find further information about academic and English language entry requirements at www.exeter.ac.uk/undergraduate/ international For information on the application, decision, offer and confirmation process, please visit www.exeter.ac.uk/undergraduate/ applications
Our admissions process We endeavour to see as many applicants as possible before making an offer. Around half of applicants are invited to two days of workshops and an interview. A short interview with an individual member of staff is combined with staff-led and separate, student-led studio sessions. Working and talking with each other and with present students are important features of this experience. For most applicants this involves an overnight stay in Exeter. Usually, most admissions workshops are held in the first week of February, but we hold a small one-day workshop in December for early applicants. Applicants for deferred entry need to be available for interview in the final year at school/college. We are not allowed to make offers directly to candidates, but once a decision has been made and processed, you will be able to view the decision via the online UCAS Track service within 48 hours.
Module details
KEY C = Core O=O ptional
For up-to-date details of all our programmes and modules, please check www.exeter.ac.uk/drama Year 1 Modules Module Name
Drama
Acting and Not Acting
C
English and Drama
Drama and Visual Culture
C
C
C
Beginnings: English Literature before 1800 Contemporary Visual Practices
C
Introducing Visual Cultures
C
Pre-texts and Contexts of Drama 1
C
Research and Performance
C
C
Research, Text and Performance
C
Shakespeare
C
The Poem
C
Theatrical Interpretations: Practitioners
Module Name Theatre Practice Dance/Choreography
Year 2 Modules Drama and Visual Culture
English and Drama
Drama and Visual Culture
O
O
O
Two English modules: one must fall into the period before 1800, one into 1800 to the present.
C
Visual Culture options
O
Visual Media
C
Year 3 Modules Module Name
C
Drama
Drama
English and Drama
Drama and Visual Culture
Acting Shakespeare
O
O
O
After Auschwitz: Memory, Trauma and Representation
O
O
O
Applied Drama – Practices and Perspectives
O
O
O
Approaches to Directing
O
O
O
Module Name
Drama
English and Drama
Acting Greek Tragedy
O
O
O
Applied Drama: Interactive Theatre
O
O
O
Digital Theatrecrafts
O
O
O
Humanities and the Workplace
O
O
O
Interdisciplinary Spatial Practices: Site and Journey in Performance and the Contemporary Arts
O
O
O
Intermedial Performance Practice
O
O
O
Intercultural Performer Training
O
O
O
Lecoq: Theatre of Movement and Gesture
O
O
O
Interpretative Acting
O
O
O
Live Art
O
O
O
Playwriting
O
O
O
Performance and Interpretation
C
C
Practical Essay
C
Performing Objects: Automata, Puppets, Robots
O
O
O
Pre-texts and Contexts of Drama 2
C
C
Thatcher and After: Political Playwriting Since 1979
O
O
O
Staging Songs
O
O
O
O
O
O
Staging the Text
C
The Actor’s Body: Intercultural Theories and Practices
Theatre in Extremis: Performing (for) Survival
O
O
O
Theatre Practice I: Applied Drama
O
O
O
Theatre Practice: Interpretative Acting
O
O
O
Theatre Practice II: Directing
O
O
O
Theatre Praxis
C
Arts Management
O
O
O
Contemporary European Theatre Directors
O
O
O
Creative Industries Management
O
O
O
Disordered: Madness and Representation
O
O
O
Dissertation
O
C
C
O
English options Experimental Music Theatre
O
O
O
Versioning Shakespeare
O
O
O
Voice for the Actor
O
O
O
Visual Culture options
O
Drama modules Please note that availability of all modules is subject to timetabling constraints and that not all modules are available every year. For a full list and details of the individual modules, please check the undergraduate section of our website at www.exeter.ac.uk/drama
Year 1 Acting and Not Acting
This module introduces drama as a process through both group practice and individual practice and to acting as a craft. You’ll explore some of the uses, ideas, theoretical material and training strategies that relate to both of these activities.
Pre-texts and Contexts of Drama 1
This module explores ways of reading performance, examines the nature and place of performance within culture and introduces the key theoretical and analytical approaches to performance.
Research and Performance
This module is an exciting studio-based module that culminates in a festival of performances from each tutor group. The idea of the module is that you theoretically and practically engage with a particular area of research and develop your own group performance from that exploration. This means that you are not staging a performance for ‘the sake of it’; rather you learn to develop a performance that is critically, creatively and thoughtfully developed from a particular area of research.
Theatrical Interpretations: Practitioners
Year 2
This module introduces you to a representative selection of modern and contemporary theatrical practitioners in their context, and to their role as interpreters of texts, furthering your own sense of theatrical method and possibility.
Performance and Interpretation
This module introduces a variety of approaches to defining performances and art-forms and the analysis and interpretation of their significance. By its reliance on cutting-edge research by a selection of staff, it will also introduce you to the concept of research in the performing arts.
Pre-texts and Contexts of Drama 2
This module expands and deepens your critical vocabulary for interpreting and analysing theatre and performance through a number of theoretical lenses and frameworks such as feminism, phenomenology, (post-) structuralism or cultural materialism.
Staging the Text
This module gives you a great opportunity to reflect on and creatively work on the transformation of a dramatic text onto the stage. You will be working in small groups and will work on a selection from the works of a particular playwright or group of playwrights with a view to interpreting, rehearsing, staging and performing this text. You will also undertake workshops that simulate the process of staging your text material you embark on and compare different results and consequences from a wide range of possibilities to play (with) your text.
Acting Greek Tragedy
You’ll examine practically the implications for performance found in ancient Greek tragic scripts and explore the methods appropriate to their realisation by actors, working in monologue, dialogue, or three-performer scenes. The exploration of appropriate methods will also include the study of acting with objects used as properties, of acting techniques associated with masks and of interaction of individual actors with the choric group.
Applied Drama: Interactive Theatre
The key focus of this module is on Interactive Theatre which is one form of applied theatre. Within this form there are a range of dramatic approaches and structures used and you’ll look at ways of employing these within an educational setting. We will focus on Theatre in Education (TIE) and Drama in Education (DIE) and the distinctions between them.
Digital Theatrecrafts
This module offers you an exploration of the technologies which support performance, focusing on lighting, sound, video and stage management. Its constant aim is to test your understanding of theory through practice.
Humanities and the Workplace (Independent Work Experience)
You will take part on one or two subject-related placements, totalling at least 80 hours. Benefits include: understanding how drama is applicable to the workplace, develop work-based skills and knowledge including technologies and applications and practical experience.
Interdisciplinary Spatial Practices
In this module you’ll interrogate ‘site’ and ‘journey’ as they stand in contemporary performance and various spatial discourses and examine potential relationships between artist, spectator and non-arts space.
Live Art
This module explores a range of live art practices including performance art, body art and biological art. Moving beyond a fixed definition of live art, the term ‘live’ will be interrogated in relation to the specificities of the live event of performance as well as the different kinds of life (human, animal, and biological life) that have been incorporated in contemporary art and experimental performance practices.
Staging Songs
You’ll investigate the dramaturgical functions and performative styles and approaches to songs on stage. You’ll look at a range of genres through case studies and practical exploration. While no prior musical knowledge or ability is required, you will get more out of this module if you are musically interested.
Year 3 Practical Essay
This module allows you to draw together the experience of theatre-making gained through the degree programme and to work in a group through the complex logistics of mounting a culminating presentation, that is likely to take the form of a performance.
Theatre Praxis
In this module you’ll use your practical work as a jumping off point for an in-depth independent study of a chosen area of theatre and performance. By reflecting in critical prose on an area of performance practice, you’ll further your dynamic understanding of the interrelationship between theory and practice, between thinking and doing.
Acting Shakespeare
This module introduces you to contemporary approaches to acting Shakespeare through the practical exploration of a range of his plays. The module weaves theory and practice throughout a series of seminar/laboratory/workshop sessions where we interrogate current scholarship about how to perform Shakespeare and test it out in practice.
Applied Drama – Practices and Perspectives
This module will enable you to gain an overview of a number of different applied contexts, for example theatre in education, theatre and prisons, theatre in sites of war, theatre and special needs, theatre and development/empowerment (eg, in Africa). There will be input in the seminars and lectures from practitioners in the field.
Approaches to Directing
This module offers you in-depth study of a range of approaches to directing and the changing role of the director. It explores specific directors and productions focusing mainly on the 20th and 21st centuries.
Arts Management
This module offers you an insight into the practical management of the arts in addition to developing your professional and employment related skills. It introduces you to the project and time management skills required for delivering an arts event which you will then hone and develop through the research, creation and realisation of your own performance brand.
Dissertation
This module allows you to undertake an extended piece of research into an area of performance history or theory. You’ll structure an independent exploration of an area of particular interest linked to the general syllabus and develop research skills, utilising the research facilities offered by the department and the University.
Intercultural Performer Training
This module develops a strong foundation in preperformative, psycho-physiological, body-mind practices applied to acting and performance through Asian martial and meditation arts.
Interpretative Acting
This module furthers your understanding of the theories and practices of performance and encourages a flexible and exploratory approach towards processes for preparing texts for performance.
Playwriting
This module is designed for students with an active and committed interest in developing their writing skills for live and recorded performance through: practical, progressive writing tasks to develop an understanding of the writer’s craft; discussion of the writer’s role in contemporary theatre; writing for different contexts and spaces; and input from professional directors, dramaturgs and designers.
Voice for the Actor
Vocal Practice provides an experiential foundation in practical voice, speech and body skills and the application of these to the oral interpretation of a range of written texts. The method of voice training will primarily focus on techniques developed by Kristin Linklater, Cecily Berry and Patsy Rodenburg.
Academic excellence • The University of Exeter has been named as The Sunday Times University of the Year and is also ranked 7th in the UK in its University Guide 2013 • We are also in the top one per cent of universities in the world, and a regular fixture in the top 10 league tables in The Guardian and The Times • University of Exeter students are among the most satisfied in the UK: we are ranked 6th in the UK in the National Student Survey 2012 amongst traditional universities and 3rd for the quality of our teaching • O ur teaching is inspired by our research, nearly 90 per cent of which was ranked as internationally recognised by the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise • We attract the best qualified students in the country; we’re in the top 10 for the number of students graduating with a first or 2:1 and for entry standards (students achieving AAB at A level and above)
A vibrant community • O ur students are the most engaged in the country, smashing participation records in student elections for the last two years running
• The Students’ Guild offers an unrivalled selection of societies, from sport to culture to community volunteering groups – 8,000 students take part in 165 societies • We are a top 10 UK university for sport and provide excellent facilities and support whether you want to compete at the highest level or just for fun • We work with our students to continually improve the education on offer, via initiatives which put students at the heart of our decision making process • We’re a truly international community, with students from over 130 countries and staff of 50 different nationalities
Ambition for the future • We equip you with the skills employers need via business placements, study abroad schemes, volunteering opportunities, careers advice from successful alumni and much more • Despite tough economic times, we’ve improved our employment record yearon-year: more than 90 per cent of students get a job or further study place within six months of graduating • We’ve invested over £350 million in our three campuses, from new accommodation and research labs to state-of-the-art lecture theatres and library spaces
Explore the possibilities Open Days Come and visit our beautiful campuses. We hold Open Days twice a year in June and September. Campus Tours We run Campus Tours at the Streatham Campus each weekday during term time. You’ll be shown round by a current student, who’ll give you a first-hand account of what it’s like to live and study at Exeter. For full details and to book your place, contact us on: Website: www.exeter.ac.uk/opendays Phone: +44 (0)1392 724043 Email: visitus@exeter.ac.uk Offer-Holder Visit Days Once you receive confirmation of an offer we’ll contact you with an invitation to visit us on an Offer-Holder Visit Day, which will give you the chance to find out more about your programme and department and decide whether to accept our offer. While this opportunity to visit includes a campus tour and formal introduction to the department, much emphasis is placed on a more informal period for questions and answers. A number of our current students also take part on these days, leading tours and giving you the opportunity to ask them what studying at Exeter is really like! Offer-Holder Visit Days take place during the period January to April.
www.exeter.ac.uk/drama This document forms part of the University’s Undergraduate Prospectus. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in the Prospectus is correct at the time of going to print. The University will endeavour to deliver programmes and other services in accordance with the descriptions provided on the website and in this prospectus. The University reserves the right to make variations to programme content, entry requirements and methods of delivery and to discontinue, merge or combine programmes, both before and after a student’s admission to the University. Full terms and conditions can be found at www.exeter.ac.uk/undergraduate/applications/disclaimer Find us on Facebook and Twitter: www.facebook.com/exeteruni www.twitter.com/uniofexeter
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