THE ACTOR IN REHEARSAL 3 - SHAKESPEARE - 2022/3

Module Overview

Students will be expected to arrive on time and appropriately prepared for physical and vocal work. Research and preparation will be necessary in pursuit of some of the modules aims. Students are required to warm up and dress appropriately for classes.

 

The Actor in Rehearsal offers an opportunity for integration of principles and skills from across the programme. Like a canvas the actor may use the rehearsal room to experiment with and apply their training in relation to different theatrical forms and rehearsal processes.

 

The work explored in Acting Fundamentals 1, Collaborative Principles and Embodied Voice and Movement will provide you with the beginnings of process necessary for practical, embodied engagement with the module. 

 

Building on the work of The Actor in Rehearsal 1/2 you will begin to engage with the relationship between technique, in the pursuit of form and creative, emotional freedom.

 

This rehearsal Module offers the actor an opportunity to work with a tutor/director on scenes from Shakespeare. We are aware of the constantly changing needs of the industry and the growth of ethnicity, diversity and identity recognitions within it and are excited to be recognising and stimulating these with individualised approaches being a key ethos of the module.

In the delivery of this module, GSA is guided by the UN's 17 Sustainable Development goals. We aim to promote good health and well-being by keeping to appropriate working hours and maintaining Equity-standard safe spaces. We encourage positive working ethics: collaboration, kindness, support, understanding, listening and integrity. We aim to recycle and repurpose sets, props and other production resources where possible, promoting a circular economy.

Module provider

Guildford School of Acting

Module Leader

BESSELL Jaq (GSA)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 4

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

N/A

Module content

Indicative content includes:

 

• Students will work with a Tutor/Director on scenes from Shakespeare.  Some sessions may or may not be offered online.


• Plays and scenes will be selected and cast by the Tutor in consultation with the Programme Leader, to offer tailored challenges to the particular cohort.


•  The focus of the module is on the process of the actor. A presentation of the scenes at the end of the project is designed to offer a finishing point. However, it is important to note that the scene presentation is sharing of process and is not separately assessed.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate a growing understanding of embodied actor process in relation to rehearsal and more complex text.

The module is continually assessed through Teaching Block 3.

 

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of continuous assessment of the preparation, rehearsal and showing of scenes from Shakespeare.


Formative assessment and feedback will be given through a session in the middle of teaching block 3. Formative feedback will also occur during practical sessions on a verbal basis. The feedback will usually be in a group context, but may sometimes happen one to one with the tutor.

Module aims

• Introduce the key principles of:
  - Actor Process.
  - Character.
  - Imagination and Play.
  - Narrative and story-telling.
  - Form.
  - Space.
  - Time.
  - Action (Inner /Outer), Units of Action, Objective and Super-Objective. (Acting as Doing)
  through a range of experiential rehearsal approaches.
  
• • Inspire an open, generous and playful approach to the practical and analytical tools of the actor.
• • Introduce research and text analysis skills through the exploration of a range of acting methodologies – With an emphasis on the actors’ journey towards embodiment and the living expression of knowledge.
• • Develop imagination, sensation and a quality of immersion in the world of the play.
• • Explore the nature of the relationship between the actor/individual and character.
• • Encourage the development of strategies for practical rehearsal exercises
• • Encourage the development of an embodied personal artistic process.
• • Develop an understanding of what is required in the delivery of complex text and begin the process of engaging with strict theatrical Form.
• • Extend and challenge the nature and level of the student's physical and emotional engagement with the work.
• • Engender an appreciation of the uncertainty of knowledge.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

 

Give a practical understanding of the key concepts that underpin the acting training across the programme.


Place an emphasis on the practical development of embodied skills that are required for extended and best practice in the profession.
 

Enable students to acquire an open, generous, versatile actor process and integrate their knowledge across acting disciplines all of which lead on to a firm foundation moving toward the study at Level 5.

 

Through the rehearsal context give students the chance to begin to integrate skills from other modules in Year 1 and to develop rehearsal room etiquette and approaches.
 

 

The learning and teaching methods include:

 

Practical, skills based and tutor led group sessions following traditional formats.
Visual, Audio and Kinaesthetic methods of learning – including use of VLE.
Practical workshop in Teaching Block 3 (84hrs)
Rehearsal and performance in Teaching Block 3 (12hrs)

54 hours for self-reflection, research, documentation and class preparation time.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ACT1034

Other information

GSA delivers its provision across three teaching blocks, within the University of Surrey’s existing semester structure.

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2022/3 academic year.