THE ENSEMBLE AND THE AUDIENCE - 2024/5

Module Overview

The Ensemble and the Audience offers the student the opportunity to integrate principles and skills encountered from across the programme. Building on the work of The Actor and the Ensemble at Level 4, the student will deepen their relationship to collaboration, artistic autonomy and self-made work by exploring techniques of and taking stimulus from theatre for youth in Teaching Block 1 and theatre with communities in Teaching Block 2 to create inclusive ensemble based, self-generated work. Work is developed via critical reflection of existing practitioners and companies, examining global practice through the lens of both creator and participant. The creative outcome is shared with their chosen community group.. Students may wish to engage with the work by taking on a professional creative role required in the facilitation of the collaborative project.

Module provider

Guildford School of Acting

Module Leader

BOWERS Georgia (GSA)

Number of Credits: 30

ECTS Credits: 15

Framework: FHEQ Level 5

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

Module Availability

Year long

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

N/A

Module content

In teaching blocks 1 and 2, students will undertake weekly practical studio-based workshops:

• Theatre for Youth – Teaching Block 1


• Theatre With Communities – Teaching Block 2

The final week of each project will include a group tutorial, to enable student and tutor joint reflection and action planning.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Individual presentation, either live or recorded. 5 minutes in length, following the same brief as the original assessment.

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate practical evidence of a developing methodology as a creative practitioner.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• Practice assessment of creative collaborative classwork through two units of work: theatre for youth and theatre with communities


• Group Presentation assessment of creative process and reflective analysis through two units of work: theatre for youth and theatre with communities


• Presentations slides to be submitted via the VLE 24hours prior to the 20min group presentation.

Formative assessment

Continuous formative assessment occurs in class and students will be guided to understand and recognise formative verbal feedback in addition to formal written feedback as essential to their development and learning journey.

Feedback

These are practical assessments that provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate and receive feedback continually, verbally, from teachers, from peers and of self as directed. Students receive informal and formal verbal and written feedback and also benefit from personal tutorials/feedback panels where this feedback can be discussed after reflection and grading has taken place. Formal feedback will be published via SurreyLearn by a published date within three teaching weeks.

Module aims

• To provide a community-based context for the development of professional skills based on practical understanding and self-reflection within creative contexts
• To facilitate the acquisition and development of vocal and physical techniques, skills and universal vocabularies inherent within the creative industries
• To deepen student understanding of understanding of applied and contemporary theatre, further developing a level of critical awareness and analytical ability which will enrich practice and extend potential, as inclusive interpreters, facilitators and creators
• To support students who can contribute creatively, innovatively, inclusively and intelligently to their chosen professional field

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

•  Enable collaborative practical engagement with and inclusive facilitation of core practical technical performance skills through group activity


•  Facilitate reflective consideration of diverse audiences for performance


•  Enable the collaborative, articulate, inclusive and reflective practitioner

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: APP2004

Other information

Guildford School of Acting is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas:  

 Digital Capabilities 

Students develop their digital skills and literacy throughout the module. They are introduced to the virtual learning environment and required to make use of online resources including online research, creation and submission of digital work (video, written) for their formative and summative assessment. 

Global and Cultural Capabilities

Module content encourages students to engage and work within a range of different social, economic and cultural contexts. They will examine their positionality in relation to a mixture of sites and settings. Through this, students will be introduced to diverse perspectives, via engagement with their chosen communities.

 Employability 

Students directly gain skills and experience in theatre practice, through engagement with the work of current industry practitioners, and in the professional environment equipping them for careers in the creative field. 

 Resourcefulness and Resilience 

Students are guided to develop the ability to reflect, evaluate, adapt, and respond effectively to new ideas, unforeseen circumstances and challenges throughout the programme and particularly in their development of community engagement skills, negotiation, and flexibility. They also develop their resilience through the continuous integration of self-reflective assessment.

 Sustainability

Throughout the module students are encouraged to consider how they can apply their in-class learning to the professional creative field. This includes the strengthening of key performance skills and reflective practice which supports resilience and wellbeing. This course promotes enterprise and entrepreneurship as well as collaborative thinking. These values help students to imagine their own models for social sustainability within the performing arts industry. Students will be nurtured as future leaders in sustainability thinking and supported to take informed decisions and responsible actions that promote the wellbeing of present and future generations.

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.