School of Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies
W4PF Diploma in Theatre Consultancy (part-time)
MA in Theatre Consultancy (part-time)
TH 964: Performance Spaces: historical and contemporary developments
TH 965: Theatre Auditoria, Sensory perception, Regulation and Legislation
TH: 966: Venue Management: Programming, Infrastructure and Audience Experience
TH 967: Diploma Dissertation
TH: 968: MA Dissertation
Course Director: Dr Margaret Shewring
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Taught Postgraduate Diploma (part-time: 16 months)
Taught MA (part-time: 24 months)
Course Overview
The part-time Postgraduate Diploma and MA courses in Theatre Consultancy are the result of detailed discussions between the School of Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies at the University of Warwick and the Society for Theatre Consultants.
The purpose of the courses is to extend and enhance the continuing professional development of theatre consultants and of those who work in the construction of theatres or are involved in their operation in such roles as project managers, project champions, production managers and those who manage buildings for the performing arts. With emphasis on such topics as the history of theatre spaces, the physical perception both of performance and of the buildings in which performances are seen and heard, and the social, economic and legal frameworks in which such venues operate, the courses encourage candidates to assimilate accumulated experience in the wide field of work they undertake on a daily basis and to situate that work in a wider academic framework.
The courses extend students’ knowledge of the historical development of theatre space and of the social, cultural and legislative context of that development. They address the opportunities and limitations of different theatre spaces in relation to the repertoires presented (including opera and dance as well as plays, musicals and concerts) and the communities being served. They consider the construction of multi-purpose venues and other new builds as well as the conservation and conversion of listed buildings and ‘found spaces’. They also consider the recent boom in the development of performance spaces in academic institutions, particularly schools.
Those aspects of theatre building in which theatre consultants play a considerable part, including the process of liaison between the client, funding bodies, architects, local authorities and construction teams are studied in the context of the detailed use and design of appropriate spaces, the psychological and social understanding of design, health and safety issues and the need to take into account cutting edge developments in theatre technology (including light, sound, scenography and virtual reality). The course also provides sessions on regulation and legislation, including the requirements for the licensing of buildings for public entertainment. Some elements, including architectural and technical issues (planning and listing) and the technologies of lighting and sound, draw upon the experience of external practitioners. These elements draw on the professional skills of the Society of Theatre Consultants and the Association of British Theatre Technicians and conform to the guidelines and regulations set out in the Technical Standards for Places of Entertainment (produced on an annual basis as an essential guide and tool for theatre consultants).
The course programmes include visits to performance venues as well as visits to performances in the Arts Centre, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and other Midlands Theatres.
The courses are taught across faculty and disciplinary boundaries, drawing on the strengths and expertise of a range of academic departments and of the Warwick Arts Centre, in the development of transferable skills.
The Diploma/MA is co-ordinated by the School of Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies. Convenor: Dr. Margaret Shewring.
The course consists of a series of core modules offered by:
Theatre and Performance Studies
The Digital Laboratory
The Law School
The Arts Centre
Staff contributing to the course include:
Katie Anderson(Director of Marketing, Warwick Arts Centre)
Matthew Burman(Head of Programmes and Audiences, Warwick Arts Centre)
Professor Alan Chalmers(Warwick Manufacturing Group and International Digital Laboratory)
Professor Jim Davis(Theatre and Performance Studies)
Alison Foden(Financial Director, Warwick Arts Centre)
Dr. Carlo Harvey(Warwick Manufacturing Group)
Professor Colin Manchester (Law)
Professor Ronnie Mulryne (Emeritus professor. Former Chair of the Drama Projects Committee of the Arts Council and of the Drama and Dance Advisory Committee of the British Council)
Richard Perkins(Library)
Howard Potts(Technical Director, Warwick Arts Centre)
Andrea Pulford(Director of Planning and Operations, Warwick Arts Centre)
Alan Rivett(Director of the Warwick Arts Centre)
Guest Seminars are given by members of the Society of Theatre Consultants, architects and theatre practitioners.
Following an Induction Day on the Friday prior to the start of the Autumn Term, the course is taught in intensive week-long modules, one in each of the first three terms. A fourth residential week is taken during the second part-time year. Much of the work is presented in seminar format following a keynote lecture to trigger debate amongst the course participants. The course encourages the participants to develop their verbal, presentational and IT skills and to make use of recent developments in visualisation and design software as well as to enhance their written skills in the context of an
extended knowledge base.
Induction Day
Friday 2 October 2015
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Residential Week dates for 2015 - 2016
Autumn Term: 9-13 November 2015
Spring Term: 15-19 February 2016
Summer Term: 6-10 June 2016
Assessment
Each student is required to complete two assessed essays, a portfolio of case studies, a diploma dissertation and, if appropriate, an MA dissertation.
The Diploma is taught part-time over 1 academic year plus 1 further term (16 months).
The submission of a dissertation after a further 8 months will lead to an MA for appropriately qualified candidates whose research reaches an appropriate level.
Warwick Email
The primary means by which the Department and the University communicates with students is by email.It is vital that you regularly check you university email address.Your university address is used to
- Send supervision guidance
- Alert you to changes to classes
- Inform you of library fines
- Inform you of departmental events and opportunities
- For you to confirm your registration on the course and individual module registration
If you cannot remember your email address you can look it up here
If you need to setup your email for different devices please see here
Our Departmental Administrator is Sarah Shute.
MsSarahShute
Administrator
School of Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies
The University of Warwick
Millburn House
Millburn Hill Road
Coventry
CV4 7HS
ph: +44 (0)24 765 73449
Autumn Residential Week(year 1)Tutors: Dr. Margaret Shewring (Theatre Studies), Professor Jim Davis (Theatre Studies), Emeritus Professor Ronnie Mulryne (Renaissance Studies)This module addresses the development of performance spaces, selecting examples from the Ancient Greeks to the present to offer an overview of principal historical and contemporary developments. Issues of theatre historiography are raised.Assessmentfor this module:one assessed essay of 5,000 words.
Spring Residential Week(year 1)Tutors: Professor Alan Chalmers and Dr Carlo Harvey (Digital Laboratory), Professor Colin Manchester (Law School) with Dr Margaret Shewring (Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies)This module extends the students’ understanding of the interior of performance venues. Approaches include an analysis of modes of sensory perception and their implications. It considers individual elements in the design of auditoria in terms of the ways in which these elements trigger multi-sensory responses through light, sound, smell and touch. The module also addresses regulation and legal issues that have a direct bearing on the construction and operation of performance venues.
Assessmentfor this module: one assessed essay of 5,000 words.
Summer Residential Week(year 1)
Tutors: Alan Rivett and staff from the Warwick Arts Centre with Dr Margaret Shewring (Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies)
This module provides experience of the different tasks that constitute the management of an arts complex including programming, marketing, audiences, the economics and infrastructure of an arts centre and staffing. It includes visits to other Midlands performance venues.
Assessment for this module will take the form of a portfolio of 5 x 800-word OR 4 x 1000-word pieces.
Postgraduate Diploma Dissertation (year 2)
The Diploma dissertation marks the culmination of the taught, part-time Diploma course in Theatre Consultancy. It will build on skills and knowledge acquired during the course and will allow for a piece of written work on a topic of the candidate’s choice, decided in consultation with a supervisor (or supervisors).The aim of the Diploma dissertation is to encourage the critical analysis of a topic arising from the first year’s work, from the taught components at the beginning of the second year or from material encountered in the individual student’s theatre practice. Ethical Research considerations will be observed at all times.
The taught elements will consist of seminars and presentations on future directions in the construction of performance venues. These seminars will take place during the same residential week as that attended by the new intake in the Autumn Term so that the two groups can have the benefit of working together and sharing their expertise.
Assessment: the Diploma dissertation should be of approximately 6,000 words and should include a full bibliography and appropriate research and/or case studies.
MA Dissertation (year 2)
The MA Dissertation module is the final module in the taught MA in Theatre Consultancy. In order to proceed to the MA dissertation, candidates will have to have fulfilled the requirements of the Diploma in Theatre Consultancy without formally accepting the award of the Diploma.
The MA Dissertation offers the opportunity for advanced research into a particular project enabling candidates to increase their knowledge base and to develop a range of research skills and methodologies under the guidance of a supervisor (or supervisors). Each student will enhance his/her ability to structure critical analyses, making use of detailed examples and case studies.
Assessment: the MA dissertation should be 18,000 – 20,000 words and should include a full bibliography and appropriate research and/or case studies.
Diploma and MA in Theatre Consultancy: Preliminary Bibliography
Theatre Spaces
Baugh, Christopher, Theatre Performance and Technology: the development of scenography in the twentieth century (Houndmills, Basingstike and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005)
Burris-Mayer, Harold, Theatre and Auditoriums (Huntington, 1975)
Davis, Jim, Reflecting the Audience: London Theatregoing, 1840-1880 (Hatfield, Herts.: University of Hertfordshire Press, 2001)
Gould, John R. and Margaret Gould, Cities of Culture: staging international festivals and the urban agenda, 1851-2000 (Aldershot and Burlington VT: Ashgate, 2005)
Hewison, Robert, Culture and Consensus (London: Methuen, 1995)
Izenour, George, Theatre Design (New York and London: McGraw-Hill, 1977)
Leacroft, Richard and Helen, Theatre and Playhouse: an illustrated survey of theatre building from Ancient Greece to the present day (London: Methuen, 1984)
Mackintosh, Iain, Architecture, Actor and Audience (London: Routledge, 1993)
Mulryne, Ronnie, and Margaret Shewring, eds, Making Space for Theatre (Mulryne and Shewring Ltd, 1995)
Mulryne, J. R. and Margaret Shewring, eds, The Cottesloe at the National (Stratford-upon-Avon: Mulryne and Shewring Ltd, 1997)
Mulryne, J. R. and Margaret Shewring, eds, Shakespeare’s Globe Rebuilt (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997; reprinted 2009)
Pilbrow, Richard, Stage Lighting (Studio Vista, 1970)
Styan, J. L., ‘Guthrie and the open stage’, in The Shakespeare Revolution (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997)
Todd, Andrew and Guy Lecat, The Open Circle: Peter Brook’s Theatre Environments (London: Faber and Faber, 2009)
Wilmore, David, ed., Frank Matchum & Co. (Theatreshire Books, 2009)
Auditoria: sensory perception, regulation and legislation
G. Larson and R., Shakespeare, Rendering with Radiance: The Art and Science of Lighting Visualization (Morgan Kaufmann, 1998).
G. Calvert, C. Spence and B., The handbook of multisensory processes (MIT Press 2004).
Chalmers A.G., Howard D. and Moir C., ‘Real Virtuality: A step change from Virtual Reality’, in SCCG'09: Spring Conference on Computer Graphics, ACM SIGGRAPH Press, 2009, pp 15-22.
G Williams, Learning the Law, 12th ed (Sweet & Maxwell, 2006)
C Manchester and D Salter, Exploring the Law, 3rd ed (Sweet & Maxwell, 2006)
G Slapper and D Kelly, The English Legal System, 8th ed (Routledge-Cavendish, 2006)
C Manchester, S Poppleston and J Allen, Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing Law, 2nd ed (Routledge-Cavendish, 2008)
P Kolvin, Licensed Premises: Law and Practice (Tolley, 2004)
Paterson’s Licensing Acts, 117th ed (Lexis-Nexis Butterworths, 2009)
Venue Management
Barron, Michael, Auditorium Accoustics and Architectural Design (E & FN Spon, 1993)
Billington, Michael, The State of the Nation (London: Faber and Faber, 2008)
Graves, James Bau, Cultural Democracy: the arts, community and the public purpose (University of Illinois Press, 2005)
Kotler, P., J. Saunders and G. Armstrong, Principles of Marketing, European Edition (Prentice Hall, 2004)
Hill, Liz et al, Creative Arts Marketing, second edition (Oxford: Butterworth- Heinemann, 2003)
Diploma/MA in Theatre Consultancy
A Guide to the Appropriate Presentation of Written Work.
This guide is designed to outline, as clearly as possible, both the appropriate ways to include references and quotations in your work and the correct ways in which to indicate your source(s) for those references and quotations.
It also highlights some of the most usual mistakes in assessed work and indicates the correct presentation.
The School of Theatre and Performance Studies has agreed that the appropriate way to cite references in your work is that set out by the Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA). Their full guide is available on line by inserting MHRA StyleGuide. It is also available in hard copy from the University Bookshop (reference section) as MHRA Style Guide.
The Guide includes chapters on appropriate spelling and referencing techniques as well as details on proof-reading for publication. The most important sections for you are chapters 8 (on quotations), 9 (on footnotes and endnotes) and 10 (on references).
In each of these chapters you will find clear basic instructions plus numerous examples covering a wide range of potential citations.
What is offered below is a summary of the basic ground rules. If you learn these in your First Year you will find that the required details become ‘second nature’ as your assessed work progresses.
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Crucial points
- What is crucial is that you present your argument – and document it – in a way that will give readers confidence. [If you cannot do this work accurately, then it is unlikely that your readers will have confidence in the accuracy of your arguments and the clarity of your thinking/analysis.]
- The information below is intended as a selective guide to the appropriate presentation for assessed work. It is not fully comprehensive – but it does highlight those errors that have, over many years, undermined the credibility and accuracy of student assessed work.
- If you would not find it easy to read and fully understand your own work, then you need to look again at these basic guidelines – and at the fully articulated guidelines on the MHRA site.
- Once you have mastered the basic rules of style and referencing you will find that the presentation of your assessed work does full justice to the individuality and subtlety of your arguments.
- Check your spelling.
- Do not change tense mid-sentence.
- Take time to make sure that you know how to use an apostrophe correctly to indicate the possessive.
- Please DO NOTEVER use ‘it’s’ to indicate a possessive form. It’s == it is.
- Take care when you use an‘s’ to indicate a decade. E.g. ‘in the 1960s’ but ‘a famous 1960’s group.
- Number your pages.
- Above all: say what you want to say as clearly and concisely as possible.
Style Guide
a) Footnotes/Endnotes
It is important to indicate the source(s) for your work.
This may take the form of a footnote indicating the book(s) in which you found the information on which your discussion depends and/or a detailed citation for each quotation.
You can include this information in numbered footnotes (that is: notes at the foot of the page to which the source material is relevant) or in endnotes (that is: in numbered notes at the end of your work and preceding your bibliography.
Such notes can be inserted by using the ‘Insert’ tab at the top of the screen.
Click on ‘Insert’ and then click on the ‘drop-down menu’ for ‘references’.
Under the section labelled ‘references’, click on ‘footnotes’ or ‘endnotes’.
The next choice offered will be whether you want the note at the foot of the page or as an endnote and it will ask about the format (font) for the numbers themselves. For the numbers, select ‘1, 2, 3…’
If you want to insert an additional note, or delete a note already inserted, the computer programme will automatically change the numbers of your notes to include the newly inserted (or deleted) note in the appropriate sequence.
b) First reference to a particular source
The first time you cite a particular source you should give full details in your notes of how the reader can access that same source (whether it is a book, an article, a newspaper or a website).
If you are citing a book or an article, the name of the writer of the source always appears in the usual order (for example: Margaret Shewring – not putting the surname first); the title should be complete, in italic font, and the full publication details given (see below).
If the source is a newspaper, the title of that newspaper should be in full and in italic font. You should also give the date on which the article appeared. If you know the name of the writer of the article (or review), you should include that at the start of the note: Michael Billington, The Guardian, 11 September 2015.
Please note the correct presentation for the date.
For a website or online database you need to give the full web address and the date on which you accessed the site.
c) Subsequent reference(s) to an identified source