Criticism, Theory, Practice: Drama and Visual Narratives

CRITICISM, THEORY, PRACTICE: DRAMA

HANDBOOK 2007-08

From your study of Literary Forms of Representation and Literature, Culture and Criticism at level one you will be familiar with the terms ‘realism’ and ‘modernism’.

CTP: Drama, a second level core course for English and English combination students, will revisit these terms in relation to drama. The course will focus initially on the theory and practice of naturalism (a special kind of realism) at the end of the nineteenth century, using plays by August Strindberg, Henrik Ibsen and Anton Chekhov. The second part of the course will consider why many theorists and playwrights in the twentieth century came to see naturalism as dramatically limiting; it will ask what was meant by modernism when applied to drama. Different manifestations of modernism over the course of the twentieth century will be studied using plays written by Federico Garcia Lorca, Bertolt Brecht, Theatre Workshop and Sarah Daniels, looking in particular at the way in which non-realistic theatrical strategies have been deployed as a means of making audiences engage with topics in new and interesting ways

The aims of the course are:

• To critically examine 20th century theories about the nature, form and function of theatre. These theories will be confined to naturalism and challenges to naturalism.
• To consider the impact of these theories on audience and production.
• To clarify and discuss key critical terms and concepts.
• To develop analytical and critical skills and an ability to present ideas in oral and written form.

The learning outcomes (i.e. what you should be able to do by the end of the course) are:

• To assess the relationship between theories about theatre and theatre practice
• To consider changes in theatre practice in relation to social and cultural context
• To analyse, interpret and comment critically on written and performance texts with questions such as audience and conditions of production in mind

Plays to be studied in the course

StrindbergMiss Julie (Nick Hern or Methuen Student Edition)

IbsenHedda Gabler (Nick Hern or Methuen Student Edition)

ChekhovThe Cherry Orchard (Nick Hern or Methuen Student Edition)

LorcaBlood Wedding (Methuen Student Edition)

BrechtMother Courage and her Children (Methuen Student Edition)

Theatre WorkshopOh What a Lovely War (Methuen Student Edition)

DanielsMasterpieces (Methuen Modern Plays or in Daniels: Plays One)

Theorists to whom we will refer in the course

Emile Zola (‘Naturalism in the Theatre’), August Strindberg (The Preface to Miss Julie), Constantin Stanislavski (An Actor Prepares), Bertolt Brecht (‘The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre’; ‘The Street Scene’).

Lecture and Seminar Programme 2007

WeekLecture Mon 9.00-11.00 L101Seminar Mon 11.00 or 12.00, L009, L105

Theatre and Naturalism

Wk 1 (Oct 1)Introduction: defining dramaIntroductory discussion

Wk 2 (Oct 8)Historical context andStrindberg’s Preface to Miss Julie;

introduction to NaturalismZola’s ‘Naturalism in the Theatre’

Wk 3 (Oct 15)Miss Julie: Class, Gender,Miss Julie (Nick Hern) or in

Psychology and EvolutionStrindberg: Plays One (Methuen)

Video: Miss Julie (Figgis)

Thursday 18th October at 7.30 pm: Pure Gold, Soho Theatre

Wk 4 (Oct 22)Hedda Gabler: FeminismHedda Gabler (Nick Hern or Methuen

and MelodramaStudent Edition)

Video: Hedda Gabler (Nunn)

Wk 5 (Oct 29)Chekhov and the Big PictureThe Cherry Orchard (Nick Hern or

Video: The Cherry OrchardMethuen Student Edition)

Wk 6 (Nov 5)Tutorial week

Theatre and the Modernist Challenge to Naturalism

Wk 7 (Nov 12)Introduction to the ModernistIntroductory discussion

Theatre

Wk 8 (Nov 19)Lorca and SymbolismBlood Wedding (Methuen Student ed.)

or in Lorca: Plays One (Methuen)

Wk 9 (Nov 26)Brecht and the Epic TheatreMother Courage and her Children

(Methuen Student Edition)

Wk 10 (Dec 3)The Epic Musical: TheatreOh What a Lovely War (Methuen

Workshop and Oh What aStudent Edition)

Lovely War

Wk 11 (Dec 10)Defamiliarising Patriarchy:Daniels, Masterpieces in Daniels:

Sarah Daniels vs. PornPlays One (Methuen)

ASSESSMENT

There are TWO forms of assessment for the Drama component of this course:

1.EITHER

(a)A critical review of a play seen as part of the course (1500 words)

Deadline: November 12th15%

OR

(b)A seminar presentation (12-15 minutes)

Deadline: The day on which your chosen topic is discussed in seminar15%

2.A 2,500 word essay.

Deadline: January 7th35%

The 2 hour exam at the end of the year for CTP: Drama and Visual Narratives will refer to the Visual Narratives part of the course only.

Please note that you may not use the same plays or theoretical extracts in more than one form of assessment.

Further information on the assessment

1.Review or presentation

You will need to decide at the beginning of the course whether you wish to write a critical review of a play seen for the course OR to give a seminar presentation. Here is some guidance on how to approach each task.

(a)The review

The assessed review must be written about a production approved by the course tutors. The play selected this year is a piece of contemporary naturalism, Pure Gold by Michael Bhim, playing at the Soho Theatre between September 27th and October 20th. You may attend any performance that is convenient to you, but we will have tickets for the performance on Thursday October 18th at 7.30 which we will make available at the lecture in Week One. Obviously, you will not be able to write the review if you haven’t seen the performance.

There is no simple formula for writing a review but the following might be considered as you try to record critically what happened to you as a member of the audience.

Bear in mind that you should write the review with reference to what you have learned about Naturalism. Consider the convention being used and, where appropriate, make reference to relevant theory. Ask yourself whether what you are seeing fulfils the Naturalistic ideal as treasured by Zola, Strindberg and Ibsen. If it does not, think about the ways in which it is not Naturalistic. Is this intentional? Does it enhance or detract from the performance in your view? Why do you think the play has been staged in the way that it has?

You should also think about the following:

• The suitability of the theatre for the play being performed
• The composition of the audience and impact of the seating arrangements
• The nature of the setting and how it functions or is used in relation to the action

• The director’s interpretation of the play, as far as this may be gauged through the setting, staging and acting. What themes are emphasised? What is the dominant tone?
• The interpretation of particular roles by individual performers
• The contribution of costume, lighting and props to your understanding of the play’s meaning(s)

Although this is a piece of academic writing and not journalism, you might want to read some theatre reviews to see how a reviewer includes all the information necessary to the reader to understand what kind of a play this is, what it’s about and what the experience of seeing it was like. Bear in mind how many words you have to write and use them economically. Balance description and analysis.

Make sure you observe the performance in a detailed way and that you keep good notes on which to draw when you write your review. Aim to take notes and draw sketches before the play starts, during the interval and after the end. Write your review before the play fades from your memory.

(b)The Seminar Presentation

Seminar presentations will be scheduled in Week One and will be given as part of the seminar in which your chosen topic is to be discussed. Presentations may take a variety of forms, but they should not exceed 12-15 minutes each. The purpose is to demonstrate your critical understanding and to stimulate group discussion. You should begin by identifying your particular topic or area, and explaining what you want to do and why.

Your presentation should not simply consist of a series of facts about that week’s topic. We don’t want to know where the author was born or how many brothers and sisters he or she had. What we want to see is that you have read the play, or the theory, and thought about it. The presentation is your chance to articulate your response to the text. You can do this through close analysis of a given passage or through a more wide-ranging discussion of text and/or context. If you want to include some performance as part of the presentation, that would certainly liven things up! We do recommend that you use visual aids of some kind, though be aware that PowerPoint facilities cannot always be relied upon. Try to avoid reading a prepared script. Instead record your ideas on a series of cards, and talk the group through them.

Please note that, although you will be assessed entirely on the basis of the presentation itself, you must submit your notes to Humanities Reception with the appropriate header sheet. Your grade and comment will be entered on this material.

Assessment for the seminar presentation takes account of:

• Thoroughness of preparation
• Ability to present material/ideas and to argue clearly and in an interesting fashion
• Ability to discuss and offer a plausible/possible interpretation of a part in the play
• Ability to stimulate discussion subsequently, defend your point of view and handle questions

2.The Essay

The questions from which you may choose for the essay (2,500 words) are below. Make sure you read all the guidance provided in this handbook.

You should answer the questions with reference to plays studied on this course. If you have seen a play in production as part of the course (for instance Pure Gold) but not written a review of it, you may refer to this if you wish. If you choose a question that deals with theory it is essential that you read and refer to the theorist in question – see the Reading List for where to start.

It is very important that you make every effort to set your work out properly, with a full page reference for every quotation and a Bibliography at the end. Full guidance on the presentation of written work and advice on quoting from drama are given in this handbook. Please read both carefully. Make sure you acknowledge all quotations and ideas, including anything you have taken from the Internet. Remember that plagiarism is a very serious offence.

Essay questions

a)‘Everything is interdependent in the theatre. Lifelike costumes look wrong if the sets, the diction, the plays themselves are not lifelike’ (Zola). Relate this statement to the kind of theatre that Ibsen, Strindberg or Chekhov were trying to create and discuss how it might be put into practice in a production of Miss Julie, Hedda Gabler or The Cherry Orchard.

b)‘Each character has his own language, and to create living people you must give them to the public… with their individual ways of thinking and expressing themselves’ (Zola). With reference to two naturalistic plays, assess how well each dramatist has created individual modes of speech for his characters, and discuss what an audience can learn from the way in which particular characters speak.

c)‘Male dramatists were often deeply ambivalent towards women and the versions of womanhood they created for the theatre are correspondingly ambiguous’ (Gail Finney). Making sure that you understand this comment and each of the terms used, explore how far what Finney says is true of Miss Julie and Hedda Gabler.

d)‘To play truly means to be right, logical, coherent, to think, strive, feel and act in unison with your role’ (Stanislavski). Describe the aims behind Stanislavski’s teachings on acting, and consider how his techniques might be applied by an actor preparing to play one of the parts in Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard.

e)Discuss the ways in which two plays, chosen from Blood Wedding, Mother Courage and her Children, Oh What a Lovely War or Masterpieces, depart from Naturalism. Make sure that you define Naturalism, and make it clear why naturalism wasn’t considered adequate or appropriate for the purposes of your chosen plays.

f)Blood Wedding and Mother Courage and her Children, while both are reactions against naturalism, are very different plays. Discuss their differences in terms of both form and content, and how each reflects the aims of its author.

h)What is the aim of Epic Theatre and how helpful is Brecht’s theory in understanding the dramatic techniques employed in one of the following: Mother Courage and her Children, Oh What a Lovely War, Masterpieces?

i)Compare and contrast Masterpieces with one other play we have studied with reference to the issues raised and the way in which those issues are explored.

Guidance on the presentation of written work

These pages are designed to help you to avoid some of the most common errors in the layout of written work. Credit is given for written work that is clearly set out and follows academic conventions, so it is in your interests to study these guidelines and try to follow them as closely as you can. If you have time, it would be a good idea to re-read them just before you print your essay off ready to hand in, in order to make sure that you have set it out correctly. Some of what follows you should remember as general rules from level one, and some particularly applies to writing about theatre.

First, it’s a good idea to write out the essay question in full at the start of your essay. Not only will this make sure that the reader knows what the task is to which you are responding, it will concentrate your mind on exactly what you are being asked to do. Your first priority in any essay should be to make sure that you answer the question, and this may not be as straightforward as you initially think it is.

The titles of plays should always be given in italics, e.g. Miss Julie. This also applies to the titles of novels, books of criticism and films. The titles of articles and poems (except very long poems) are given in inverted commas, e.g. ‘Naturalism in the Theatre’.

Essays should be written in paragraphs. Paragraphs contain a number of related sentences that combine to make a particular point, just as a number of paragraphs combine to convey the overall argument of your essay. Every essay should have an introductory and a concluding paragraph, and no paragraph should ever consist of just one sentence. Paragraphs should be separated from one another by a blank line, and the first line of each paragraph should be indented using the tab key.

All essays should be double-spaced so that your tutor has room to make detailed comments on your work. In Microsoft Word a passage can be double-spaced by selecting it, then clicking on ‘Format’ on your toolbar, then ‘Paragraph’ and then, on the ‘Indents and spacing’ window, selecting ‘double’ or ‘1.5 lines’ as your ‘Line spacing’.

Every essay must include a bibliography, in which all the books and/or articles that you have consulted are listed alphabetically by author. Information on the translator (where applicable), place of publication, name of publisher and year of publication should be given as in the following example (n.b. you don’t have to put it in a box!):

Sometimes you may want to list a collection of essays. In this case the work is listed by its editor, as in:

Alternatively, if you only refer to one essay in a collection, you can choose to list that essay in your bibliography by its author, like this:

If you quote from the internet in your essay, your bibliography must include the author and title of the work as well as the URL (the full web address) and the date on which you accessed that site. Internet citations should look like this:

Often authors and even titles are missing from internet articles, and this may well be a sign that the piece is not an authoritative one and is therefore of little use to you. Our advice is to use the internet selectively if you use it at all. The bulk of the material available online is not of degree-level standard and much of it is unreliable. No-one is impressed by a quote from Wikipedia or Sparknotes.

Full guidance on quoting from plays appears overleaf. You will note that, in all cases, a page reference must be given. This allows the reader of your essay to look up the passage that you have quoted for him or herself. Page references can seem confusing but there is always a way to present the information clearly:

• Quotes from your primary text need only be accompanied by the page number in brackets, e.g. (p. 12) or (pp. 12-13) if your quote goes over more than one page.
• Quotes from other texts, for instance critical works, should be accompanied by the author’s name and the page number, e.g. (Stanislavski, p. 113). You need only give the author’s name because the reader can find the full reference in your bibliography.
• If there is more than one book by the author you are quoting in your bibliography, you should give the date as well so that it’s clear which one you are referring to, e.g. ‘Stanislavski, 1980, p. 44’.
• A page reference for a quote from an essay in a collection would look like this: ‘(Zola, in Bentley, p. 351)’.

Lastly, plagiarism is easy for tutors to detect. Penalties for plagiarism vary from a mark of 0 to failure of the course, the year or even the degree. These penalties are enforced, so make sure that you provide full references for any material that you use that is not your own.