Applied Dramaturgy

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2015:

170 hours

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

This subject connects students to industry professionals through a series of 10 master classes with leading dramaturgs, literary managers and writers. Each will outline their understanding of dramaturgy, and their approaches to their various roles and tasks as a dramaturg. This will run alongside a series of seminars with focused readings and discussions on contemporary dramaturgical practices. This organizational and theoretical knowledge will be applied to the practice of working with new writing in workshops with Raimondo Cortese, on the development of work by the students in the Masters in Writing for Performance. Through these three strands the subject places the work of the dramaturg in its socio-cultural context, and positions the students as future leaders in the field in Australia.

• Be able to engage with the contested and complex term ‘dramaturgy’;
• Enhanced and expanded dramaturgical consciousness;
• Knowledge of a wide range of dramaturgical practices and philosophies in Australia and internationally;
• Theoretical and practical understanding of the socio-cultural context of dramaturgy and a commitment to the way performance sits in relation to wider culture and society;
• Industry connections and networks;
• Practical understanding of working on a piece of new writing;
• Ability to undertake dramaturgical analysis of own and others’ performance.

Individual 30 minutes seminar presentation, throughout semester (40%)

Practice (working on writing masters new scripts), towards end of semester (30%)

Essay (synthesising theory and practice), assessment period (30%)

Katalin Trencsenyi and Bernadette Cochrane (eds) New Dramaturgy: International Perspectives on Theory and Practice, (London and New York: Bloomsbury, 2014).

Mary Luckhurst, Dramaturgy: A Revolution in Theatre, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006)

Hans-Thies Lehmann, Postdramatic Theatre, (Abingdon & NY: Routledge, 2006)

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
  • Work collaboratively