Dramaturgy: Processes and Practices

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 7
• Convenor and tutor: Dr Seda Ilter
• Assessment: 1500 words of programme notes (25%) and a digital exhibition project (75%)

In this module you will investigate the practical, historical, theoretical and national contexts of dramaturgical work. At the same time, you will work with a host of leading artists and practitioners to develop skills in playwriting, and to explore performance composition from multiple standpoints, from collaborative theatre-making to radio drama. You will produce critical writing and develop creative work in multiple modes: critical response to text, research essay, creative exhibition, reflective logbook and dramaturgical project.

The module consists of seminars introducing you to key theoretical and historical texts, and workshops with visiting artists, who give practice-based insight into their dramaturgical processes. Where possible, seminars might explore material with relevance to the evening workshop.

Indicative syllabus

• On the origins of dramaturgy
• Dramaturgy of the body
• From Brecht to the postdramatic
• Dramaturgy and adaptation
• Political dramaturgy
• Documentary dramaturgy
• Seminar at Battersea Arts Centre
• Ecodramaturgies: theatre and climate change

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• engage with theoretical discourses relevant to dramaturgy
• understand the development of dramaturgy in a variety of historical, aesthetic and national contexts
• demonstrate practice-based knowledge of dramaturgical processes in a range of artforms.