Course Description

TA101: Theatre Arts 1 (Performance) (semester 1). Prerequisite: None. Assessment: 100% continuous assessment

As an overview to the art form itself, the course will consider theatre from a number of perspectives: the nature of the medium, the process of theatre production and the relationship between dramatic texts and their performances. Within the course, the students will discuss how to read a play, to see its potential for theatrical interpretation, and to put that potential into practice through performance.

Our approach will emphasize the practical rather than the theoretical aspects of performance. As such, we will look at some of the actor’s tools, of which voice is perhaps the most important. In addition, some time will be spent on improvisation, developing pieces for individual as well as for group exercises. Much of the enjoyment of theatre comes from actual performance. Therefore, both the group exercises and the final production will be performed in front of an invited audience.

It is expected that at the end of the course students will have gained a better understanding of the production process and the nature of theatre as a performance medium. They will learn both to develop their own individual talent and also to work effectively and creatively in collaboration with others. Perhaps one of the best rewards of this course is gaining confidence and growth in personal development.

Note: This course is one of the compulsory selective study options for the BED Secondary program.

TA110: Theatre for Development (semester 2). Prerequisite: TA101 and/ or permission of instructor

Building on the final project of TA101 which introduces the student to the concept of Theatre for Development, this course will explore the use of theatre as a tool for addressing and raising awareness on selected social issues. The approach to the subject will be both practical and theoretical, the latter providing the foundation for achieving effective utilisation of various media—theatre, radio, and video—in the dissemination of knowledge and the modification of attitudes toward social problems such as environment, health, STDs, domestic violence, good governance and other issues.

The students will work in groups to generate pieces for public presentation in the community using a variety of media. They will learn how to generate scripts through improvisation, generate useful workshops and how to conduct effective post performance discussions and debates. More generally, they will learn theoretical principles and practical techniques on how drama and theatre can be used in education.

TA201: Theatre Arts 2 (Production) (semester 2). Prerequisites: TA101 and/or permission of instructor. Assessment: 100% continuous assessment

The course is a continuation of TA101, which is offered in the first semester and which presents an introduction to the medium as a whole with a particular emphasis on production. The primary aim of the present course is to develop performance and production skills by generating theatre pieces for public presentation. The process of mounting a production will prepare students for later practical work in theatre.

This will be especially beneficial for those who are (or who intend to be) teachers within the primary and secondary educational systems and who might have responsibility for instruction in expressive arts. Because it also serves as an alternate to LL206: An Introduction to Dramatic Literature, a required course for the major in Literature and Language, the course also attempts to provide literature students with a theoretical and historical context for drama and its theatrical expression.

As the foundation for theatre, we will look at drama, itself, through a number of plays, considering them from both a literary and theatrical perspective. We will employ a specific play text as the foundation for the course, utilizing it as a model for both theoretical analysis and practical application. The text will be determined later, based on course enrolments. Using a combination of lectures and studio sessions focused on this work, we will explore playwriting, performance, set, costume and lighting design, and production management, with a view to mounting the play toward the end of the semester.

LL206: An Introduction to Dramatic Literature (semester 2). Prerequisite: LL102. Assessment: 60% continuous assessment, 40% final examination

This course is intended to provide an overview of the nature and variety of dramatic forms that have developed in several cultures over the past two and a half millennia. The range of works to be studied begins in ancient Greece and concludes with contemporary Fiji. The material will be approached generically (tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy) and stylistically (poetic drama, naturalism, epic theatre, absurdism) in order to demonstrate the development and interrelationships of traditions and conventions.

Throughout, emphasis will be placed on drama not as a purely literary artifact but as work intended for a performance medium. The influences of philosophical and social forces will also be traced.

TA220: Acting for the Camera (semester 1). Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Assessment: 100% continuous assessment

Acting for the Camera will compare the techniques of live stage performance explored in their previous theatre arts courses and performance transmitted through audio–visual technology, with a view to developing student skills in screen acting. The method of procedure will be project-based and practical, with the students exploring through hands-on exercises, various concepts such as the semiotics of film language, the camera as audience, the impact of frame size on emotional projection and gesture, reaction shots, blocking and business, and vocal levels. Students will generate an end of semester video/television project for public presentation.

TA301: Theatre Arts 3 (Directing) (semester 1). Prerequisites: TA201 and/or permission of instructor. Assessment: 100% continuous assessment

As a continuation of the work introduced in TA 101 and TA 201, this course develops the student’s exploration of the medium with an emphasis on producing, directing, designing and management. There will be some theoretical material, but the primary method of procedure will be weighted toward practical application of theory, with the students functioning as group leaders, animators, acting coaches and directors for the TA 101 and TA220 courses.

By the end of the course the students will have experience in producing and managing public theatre performances and directing for video performance. Through animating and leading junior students in performance, helping the latter to develop their creative potential, the TA 301 students will have learned important aspects of the pedagogy of theatre arts. This will be of particular value to those who are, or intend to be, teachers.

TA321: Video Production (semester 2). Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Assessment: 100% continuous assessment

This course will provide an opportunity for students to develop their theoretical knowledge of film, television and video language and their ability to engage in critical analysis of productions in these media. From a practical perspective, students will work on a number of exercises such as visual composition, narrative sequencing, story boarding, shooting and editing.

In addition to exploring artistic expression through the video medium, it is expected that the students will work with junior student performers enrolled in the TA110 Theatre for Development course, generating video productions on educational and community concerns. These short videos will address social problems such as environment issues, domestic violence, AIDS awareness, and good governance.

Students will explore a wide range of theoretical principles and learn practical techniques associated with the video medium. They will enhance their critical understanding of film and television and be able to articulate a critical response to artistic and documentary productions in these media. On a s spractical level, they will learn camera operation, script development, the logistics of video production, working with performers, and video editing.

LL331: Creative Writing 2 (semester 1 or 2). Prerequisites: LL231 or permission of instructor. Assessment: 100% continuous assessment

The course continues the work introduced in LL231. It is intended to allow the student to concentrate on those areas of creative writing that he/she has found most engaging. Students will concentrate on writing one major work. They may specialise in any creative writing form and must produce: a collection of stories, or a collection of poems, or a full length play, or a novella or any other extended work.

For purposes of inclusion in the Theatre Arts Major, the work produced should be adaptable to performance in any medium.