FdA Theatre and Performance

Foundation degree

In St Helens

£ 200 VAT inc.

Description

  • Type

    Foundation degree

  • Location

    St helens

  • Duration

    2 Years

  • Start date

    Different dates available

The foundation degree in Theatre and Performance is a largely practical degree that has been designed to provide you with the skills, practical experience and knowledge with which to seek a range of possible employment opportunities within the theatre and performance industry.

The degree incorporates elements of drama, movement, and visual theatre (including video) and as you progress through the degree, the emphasis is very much on multi-disciplinary practices and the integration of new technologies into live performance. Whilst the practical assessment in the first year is largely performance based, there is the opportunity to move into a more technical or directorial role during the second year.

You can expect to graduate with the appropriate skills to succeed in the theatre industry and its associated areas. The modern and multi-functional theatre is located at the town centre campus and you will benefit from the latest learning resources, rehearsal studios and other facilities.

Facilities

Location

Start date

St Helens (Merseyside)
St Helens College Water Street St Helens, WA10 1PP

Start date

Different dates availableEnrolment now open

About this course


The course will provide you with a platform for employment in many different areas of the contemporary theatre industry. The course is intentionally varied and flexible, in order to allow students to develop their individual career aspirations. As such successful graduates of this course have gone on to further study or professional work in community arts, acting, solo performance work, teaching, theatre production, comedy writing and touring theatre companies.

For 2017 entry you will need UCAS tariff score of 96.

Questions & Answers

Add your question

Our advisors and other users will be able to reply to you

Who would you like to address this question to?

Fill in your details to get a reply

We will only publish your name and question

Reviews

Subjects

  • Theatre
  • Acting
  • Project
  • Industry
  • Contemporary Theatre
  • Directing
  • Production
  • Performance project
  • Theatre Production
  • Solo performance work
  • Comedy writing
  • Theatre Directing

Course programme

What will I study?

Year 1

The first year is initially tutor-led, helping you to build the foundations for the more challenging work in the second year. It will also see you assessing and developing your skills and knowledge of contemporary theatre practices, including devising, performing, directing and academic skills.

Year 2

In the second year you will be involved in the creation of theatre for a number of different audiences and purposes. This will include community arts practice and the organisation and implementation of a specialist project, such as a theatre-in-education tour. You will further develop your skills in contemporary theatre, with the practical and theoretical exploration of interdisciplinary practices and the use of new technologies in live performance.

The course culminates in a student-led performance event(s), which showcases your skills in a setting and style most appropriate to your chosen career path.

Year 1 (Level 4)

TH1101 Devising and Performing (40 credits)

For this devising and performing module you will participate in a series of practical workshops leading to three performance projects. The work will explore contemporary practitioners and current performance practice, different methodologies for devising work, alternative methods for presenting work, and performance skills.

TH1102 Performance Techniques (20 credits)

Performance techniques will allow you to develop your performance skills through the exploration of major styles and the craft of performance. Research, both practical and theoretical, into various performance styles and practitioners will be used to inform your own performance skills.

TH1104 Theatre Directing (20 credits)

Theatre directing module is divided into three sections: text analysis, staging and composition and production techniques.

Text Analysis

This concentrates on the dramatic form. A series of plays and directors are analysed; you are introduced to practitioners such as Meyerhold, Grotowski, Littlewood, Brook and Artaud.

Staging and Composition

Focuses on stage configurations and design. Each director works on a suitable performance piece and begins to translate their ideas about the piece into stage action. Methods of working with the actor in the rehearsal process are also discussed here.

Production Techniques

Concentrates on the actual mounting of a suitable performance piece. Each director is responsible for negotiating the piece with their tutor, doing preproduction research and analysis, auditioning and casting the piece from a pool of college actors, and guiding the production through the rehearsal process.

RP1101 Contextual Studies (20 credits)

Contextual studies will examine theatre and performance during the 20th Century, pre 1969. A series of lectures will trace the development of theatre and performance during this period and provide the cultural, socio-economic and historical perspective of theatrical activity.

During semester 1 you will explore a range of key 20th Century movements and how they relate to performance. The module will start with a general introduction to Modernism before moving into individual art movements such as Futurism, Bauhaus, Dada and Surrealism, as well as Happenings and the beginnings of Performance Art. In small groups you will create a 10 minute performance which reflects your understanding of one of these movements.

In semester 2 the focus will be on the work of key theatre/dance practitioners of the period placing their work within a social context.

RP1102 Personal, Academic and Professional Practice (20 credits)

Personal, academic and professional practice will focus on enabling you to become more effective learners. A range of study and key transferable skills will be explored through individual and group activities. The delivered curriculum will be further supported by access to online web-based material and information/guidance and activities. Tutorial activity will support the development and maintenance of the students Personal Development Plan and related progress file.

The module will also cover 'cultural entrepreneurship' exploring what cultural entrepreneurship is and how cultural entrepreneurs work. Here you will learn how to start up a theatre or performance based business, taking into consideration: finance, marketing and the nature of the industry.

Year 2 (Level 5)

TH2101 Environments for Performance (40 credits)

Environments for performance module covers the exploration of alternative environments for performance events, outside of established theatre venues. A series of lectures and practical workshops will introduce creating performances and related activities with, or for, target audiences.

Practical work will focus upon appropriate application of research, devising/shaping material to a brief, workshop facilitation skills, rehearsing and performing material that is accessible and challenging for the target audience.

TH2102 Multi-Disciplinary Performance (40 credits)

Multi-disciplinary performance is a largely practical module. You will develop your knowledge of, and skills in, contemporary performance practice. The focus will be on exploring new possibilities for the integration of different disciplines within devising and performance and the acquisition of new skills. Technique classes to support this will cover sound, movement, visuals, performance texts and the use of new technologies including computer-aided editing techniques and projection. Practitioners whose work has been significant to the development of late 20th/early 21st century performance will be covered.

TH2103 Final Performance Project (20 credits)

Final performance project module requires you to negotiate, prepare and perform work/s in a setting/style most appropriate to your chosen career path. This module is almost entirely student led and you will be expected to work largely independently. After the initial introductory sessions, you will only have contact with the module leader through bookable tutorials. Although the tutors will be around during the session times to assess your contribution. It is expected that you will work as much as possible without tutor input.

You may choose to work in groups or on a solo project. The project itself is determined by you, although you will have to submit a proposal at the beginning of the module. You may wish to direct or perform, in an already published text. Alternatively, you may wish to devise a new piece of work, in any format, for (or with) a chosen audience. You may be working with others from your peer group, or alternatively you can work with people from outside of the course, or even outside of University Centre St Helens. As a student group you will be responsible for undertaking the entire organisation, administration and operation of the event(s) As near as possible within the confines of an educational environment, this module will replicate the experience of working independently in the profession.

RP2101 Contemporary Theatre Studies (20 credits)

Contemporary theatre studies will continue the study of contemporary theatre and performance following on from the contextual studies module (RP1101). You will explore a broad range of work that falls within the contemporary cannon post 1969. Building on knowledge developed, this module will require you to define a key question(s) that will prompt research and focus the structure and content of an extended written analysis on a negotiated topic, related to contemporary theatre practice. The focus of the work carried out should be on scholarly investigation rather than the simple acquisition of information and your research will be used to answer your set quetions.

Additional information

The majority of the work on the course is practical and performance based, and this forms the majority of assessment. Other assessment methods employed throughout the duration of the course includes group work and lecture and seminar work.

FdA Theatre and Performance

£ 200 VAT inc.