COLLABORATIVE PUBLIC PERFORMANCE - 2024/5

Module Overview

GSA will cast and direct students for a performance chosen by the school. The ensemble will comprise both MFA Actors and MFA Musical Theatre students, and the selection of the performance piece will be based on the skills and dynamics of the student groups. The piece will be chosen with an awareness of the continually developing global perspective within the industry. The rehearsal period will span four to five weeks of full-time rehearsals, followed by a performance week of dress rehearsals and shows. Throughout the course of rehearsals, a production creative team of professionals will continuously provide feedback on student progress. The directors and production staff will be selected from members of the faculty, production courses, and a pool of professional working directors and technicians.

Module provider

Guildford School of Acting

Module Leader

BYRNE Grainne (GSA)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

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

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

N/A

Module content

Indicative content includes:

A number of weeks of intensive rehearsal with the Director and/or Movement Director and a Musical Director, together with consultation with design, wardrobe, make-up and marketing departments. This is followed by a production week that will include a demanding technical rehearsal and dress rehearsal(s). The module will culminate with performances to a live audience.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate:

• Their ability to contribute to a professionally led rehearsal process, taking direction, working collaboratively with the creative team and other cast members and developing character and performance. Students will then demonstrate their ability to replicate and develop the performance across the run of performances.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

Contribution to creative process and production - The Creative team (Director, Musical Director and Choreographer/Movement Director) assess the student through their entire rehearsal process. Students are assessed on consistency of performance, commitment, imagination and professional conduct in the rehearsal room. (Addressing learning outcomes 1-7)

Performance in public production - GSA staff who are not involved with the creative process assess the student's performance against professional standards. Students are assessed on consistency of performance, commitment, imagination and professional conduct onstage. (Addresses learning outcomes 1-6)

Formative assessment

Students are provided with formative verbal feedback in rehearsal through direction, corrections and communication with the creative team. Towards the end of the rehearsal process 'notes sessions' will be conducted in which students will record the required corrections and modifications to their performance in accordance with industry practice.

Feedback

Students are provided with formative verbal feedback in rehearsal through direction, corrections and communication with the creative team. Students receive written and individual rubric-based feedback on the summative aspects of the module.

Module aims

• To consolidate the skills learned throughout Year One of the programme and from all prior training, by creating and performing a character as cast in a professional-standard public production, incorporating integrated acting, voice and movement
• To contribute appropriately to ensemble practice in a professional environment
• To manage personal engagement in an environment which models the professional model with professional directors, movement directors, musical directors, designers and other creatives.
• To sustain and develop a working performance technique throughout the demands of a series of public performances

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

Facilitate student learning within the context of a professionally led production, including engagement with creative teams, technical staff, full production values including costume and make-up supervisors, set and lighting designers and a full professional structure of stage management and technicians.

The learning and teaching methods include:

• Rehearsals with the full company, and with selected members of the cast


• Technical inductions, Technical rehearsals and Dress rehearsals


• Performances

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: ACTM056

Other information

Digital Capability

Throughout the module, students can work with various technologies that are commonly used in the professional rehearsal environment. These technologies include Digital Rehearsal Materials, as well as Technical Digital Design environments for Light, Sound and Costume. As part of their professional training, students are encouraged to use current communication tools such as email, virtual meetings, and communication software to facilitate effective teamwork. In addition to using the University's VLE (SurreyLearn), students also have access to a range of digital media platforms that they can use for communication, administration, scheduling, and reporting. Furthermore, students will have the chance to create their own digital content, which can help them secure employment and showcase their artistic abilities.

Employability

The programme places a strong emphasis on preparing students for the workforce and ensures that employability is integrated into all aspects of teaching and assessment. Students receive transferable skills through professional development sessions led by experienced staff with practical experience. They gain hands-on training in rehearsal and performance, which is an authentic reflection of professional practice, and learn to work both independently and collaboratively. They also develop critical thinking skills, learn to reflect on their own practice, and engage with professional expertise. Industry professionals are invited to attend classes and performances, and students are encouraged to build their CVs through professional organisations. They have the opportunity to showcase and explore their skills in a "real world" setting, which prepares them to become successful graduates who are highly sought after by agents, casting directors, and employers. The programme also promotes talks and outreach to industries, and has a dedicated Director of Employability.

Global & Cultural Capabilities

The selected texts aim to help students reflect, interact, engage, value and respect their own lived experiences, skills, perspectives and diversity. The current debates in the Creative Industries and the ever-changing world are discussed regularly to encourage students to reflect and learn. The goal of the programme is to enable students to develop their global, social, historical, and cultural awareness, share knowledge from their own backgrounds and cultures, and interpret diverse perspectives. Students are expected to enter the programme with an open mind, a willingness to learn and engage in discussion, and a readiness to broaden their understanding of the characters and communities they will be portraying as actors-in-training. The modules are based on an inclusivity ethos, and the Director of Equality and Diversity at GSA oversees the students' course of study. Every effort is made to make a range of performances accessible, and students are encouraged to contact the Disability and Neuro-Diversity service within the University of Surrey if they experience any barriers to learning.

Resourcefulness & Resilience

Acting and performing are processes that naturally encourage resourcefulness and resilience. Students who undertake intensive classes, rehearsals, and performance schedules develop their skills through consistent practice. This process teaches them how to navigate uncertainty, deal with risks and challenges, and encourages personal considerations of future visions. The "real-world" working schedules and assessments that students face in an acting career require resilience and resourcefulness, while simultaneously nurturing their self-management skills. Classes, rehearsals and performances feature independent and collaborative learning, peer support, problem-solving, communication, independence, perseverance, stamina, self-value, and critical thinking, all of which promote resilience and resourcefulness. The structure of verbal and written feedback enables students to build a holistic view of their individual process. Students are supported throughout and beyond their training by expert staff with practitioner backgrounds. A majority of full-time staff are trained in Mental Health First Aid and can give advice and guidance on where to seek further help. This support helps students take control of their learning and overcome any barriers to their education.

Sustainability

Students are encouraged to contextualise their learning and reflect on their current and future social,¿cultural,¿ethical, political, economic, and environmental impact from a personal, professional and global perspective,¿and to recognise their shared responsibility.¿¿ Students are encouraged to reflect on the values, perceptions, and actions of their own, of others and of characters they are portraying in rehearsal and performance, and the impact this has on audiences. All GSA productions are planned and designed to meet high sustainability standards: props, sets and costumes are designed to be re-used and recycled where possible. GSA has the strongest commitment to working on productions in the most sustainable way possible.

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 2024/5 academic year.