Applied Directing: Rehearsal PracticeLab

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2015:

140 hours total time commitment

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Applied Practice- Rehearsal Practice Lab builds on knowledge and techniques specific to the discipline of directing for theatre introduced in Directing Methodologies and all other subjects in Semester 1. Through skills classes and seminars the subject explores the role of the director as part of a creative team, defining the skills, qualities and processes that are essential to the practising professional director. The subject involves a series of practical workshops and seminar sessions concerned with different aspects of the role of the director, particularly in relation to the actor, to dramatic text and scenography. The course will examine text through a variety of lenses, each of which will elucidate a particular aspect of directorial practice. Areas of skill development include:

• Creative exploration & text analysis;
• Working with actors – scene study;
• Working with designers – principles of scenography

Upon completion of this subject students should be able to:

• Begin to articulate an individual directing philosophy that has at its base the qualities of creativity and experimentation;
• Understand the role of the director within the construct of a theatrical production, particularly the preparatory research and creative development stages;
• Explore ways of connecting imaginatively with dramatic texts;
• Demonstrate a practical and theoretical understanding of ways of generating performance from written text;
• The ability to operate ethically within the practice lab.
• Develop a productive working method for the process of creative collaboration;
• Actively engage in creative and pragmatic discussions, building a language for constructive analysis and feedback on work, both in progress and as performance;
• Document, reflect upon and evaluate their own and others’ creative process through discussion, journal-keeping and reflective writing;
• The ability to read, comprehend and discuss a text within a rehearsal context.

• Laboratory presentations; critical discussions; journal - Throughout Semester (60%)
• Written Work 2000 words (essay) - End of Semester (40%)

Barba, E. (2010) On Directing and Dramaturgy: Burning the house. Abingdon: Routledge.

Barba, E. (2000) ‘The Deep Order called Turbulence: The Three Faces of Dramaturgy,’ in The Drama Review, 44 (4), pp. 56- 66.

Bogart, A. (2001) A Director Prepares. London and New York: Routledge.

Brook, P. 1968, (1990). The Empty Space. Harmondsworth: Penguin. (Original work published 1968).

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Upon completion of this subject students should be able to:

• Create and organise aesthetic material
• Use a range of research tools and methodologies
• Solve problems
• Lead others in the skills of problem solving
• Interpret and analyse
• Develop the capacity for critical thinking
• Work as a leader showing initiative and openness