Program Overview

Program Overview

The ACT125 Rise of the Avant-Garde subject examines the major conventions of naturalism, epic theatre, and avant-garde experimentalism within European and American Theatre from B³chner through to the plays of Pinter and Albee during the mid-1960s. Play scripts are studied through a systematic approach to dramaturgical research and analysed as texts for performance. Special attention is paid to the analysis of dramatic structure, and how the development of dramatic tension is associated with the focus given to philosophic questions relating to the ethical and moral dilemmas that confront the central characters within a play.

Availability

• Session 1 (30)
  • On Campus: Bathurst Campus
  • Online: Bathurst Campus

Subject Information

Grading System

• HD/FL

Duration

• One session

School

• School of Communication and Creative Industries

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:

• be able to plan dramaturgical strategies for researching historical periods, key themes and associated characters through the creation of seminar presentations
• be able to collaborate with others to analyse and present the dramatic structure of plays, and facilitate group discussions on key themes and performance
• be able to, as a member of a team, identify and discuss Boal-inspired improvisation in relation to characters within a play and / or the larger moral and philosophical questions posed by the playwright

Syllabus

This subject will cover the following topics:

• The history of the theatre in the early modern period, representative plays and the splintering of theatrical forms during the 20th Century
• Characterisation, sub-textural studies and enacted role performance
• Scenario, scripted and improvisational work
• Analysis of dramatic structure, and the dramatic tension associated with the play's ethical and moral dilemmas