THEATRE STUDIES - 2025/6

Module Overview

This module will engage students in the study of the history, impact and ethos of theatre by focusing on key ideas and approaches that have formed its development. Topics to be studied include, but are not limited to theatre history, theories of performance and exploration of the political, social and ethical response, role, responsibility and impact of theatre in relation to communities and societies globally. This module seeks to empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.

Module provider

Guildford School of Acting

Module Leader

MCNAMARA Anna (GSA)

Number of Credits: 30

ECTS Credits: 15

Framework: FHEQ Level 4

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

Module Availability

Year long

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

n/a

Module content

Each teaching block, students will attend seminars, building on structured materials provided via the VLE, which students will engage with independently beforehand.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

n/a

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:

• Written assessment (Essay) – 2,000 words. Typically to be submitted toward the end of teaching block 2

• Presentation assessment (Case Study) – 15 minutes or equivalent. Typically to be presented toward the end of teaching block 3

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

There are practical assessments that provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate and receive feedback continually, verbally, from teachers, and from peers. Students receive informal and formal verbal and written feedback and also benefit from personal tutorials where this feedback can be discussed after reflection and grading has taken place.

Formal summative feedback will be published via SurreyLearn by a published date within three teaching weeks.

Module aims

• This module aims to equip the student with an understanding of the key theatrical historical movements, moments and trends and to work to the following programme aims:
• To enable engagement with a critical understanding of context, style, genre and idiom in the diverse practices of contemporary theatre
• To enable the student to demonstrate originality in the application of knowledge, research and independent practice
• To empower students who can contribute creatively, innovatively, inclusively and intelligently to their chosen professional field
• To facilitate students' independent learning, self-management and creative entrepreneurship

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

• Enable active and critical engagement with key theatrical concepts and histories


• Engage students through blended and flipped learning


• Enable the articulate, reflective, inclusive 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: APP1003

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, engagement with discussion forums, submission of digital work (video, written) for formative and summative assessment.

Global and Cultural Capabilities

Programme 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 appropriate scholarship.

Programme content incorporates perspectives and practices from a range of cultures; through conversations around culture, appreciation, and appropriation students are encouraged to diversify their knowledge and reflect on different experiences; through critical engagement students are encouraged to examine and debate topics in relation to global and cultural capabilities, further developing students’ sustainable performance practice.

Employability

Students directly gain knowledge and understanding of key international theatre practices skills providing a robust foundation in their chosen field that can transfer into the sector.

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 negotiation, and flexibility.

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 deconstructing established anglosphere framing of historical theatre practices, and the strengthening of key performance skills and reflective practice which supports resilience and wellbeing. This module promotes enterprise and entrepreneurship as well as collaborative thinking. These values help students to imagine their own models for social sustainability within the applied and contemporary theatre 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 2025/6 academic year.