Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE THS1202

 
TITLE Staging Skills and Practices 2

 
UM LEVEL 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 10

 
DEPARTMENT Theatre Studies

 
DESCRIPTION The study-unit provides specialised training aimed at the practical application of skills introduced in THS1201 in Semester 1. Accordingly, the main focus of this study-unit is to further develop technical competence in areas such as light and sound by means of applying these skills in actual performance productions within the B. Theatre programme (e.g. THS1105, THS2105) and/or within the School of Performing Arts (e.g. PFA1003, PFA2003, PFA3003), and/or in other appropriate projects occurring in different events (e.g. festivals), venues (e.g. Old University Theatre and St James Cavalier), and locations (e.g. street theatre) during Semester 2.

In addition to furthering technical skills introduced in Semester 1, the specific focus on performance application in this study-unit also involves the introduction of another range of abilities associated with the staging of productions such as planning and budgeting; stage management; front of house; backstage; and event promotion. The study-unit will also highlight the praxis of various aspects which students are exposed to in other study-units that focus on the more theoretical and historical dimensions of theatre-making. Through specialised lectures, information seminars, practical workshops, demonstrations, and actual performance work, students will thus be exposed to and have practical experience in all the major skills and processes involved in the staging of performance events such as those for theatre, dance, and music concerts.

Study-unit Aims:

The study-unit aims to:
(a) offer students the opportunity to apply lighting and sound skills in the staging of performance events;
(b) provide students with a practice-based study of event management in performance production in terms of planning and stage management;
(c) enable students to operate different equipment and apply skills in different venues;
(d) facilitate an all-round understanding of how a performance event is staged;
(e) convey a sophisticated sense (feeling and understanding) of how different technologies contribute to the aesthetics and generation of meaning in performance;
(f) make dynamic and informed links between history, theory, and practice.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

(a) demonstrate and reflect a range of technical, creative, and production skills within practical performance outcomes;
(b) demonstrate competence in handling light and sound equipment, as well as in employing an appropriate technical vocabulary;
(c) assess and apply health and safety procedures in performance event situations;
(d) develop expert knowledge and understanding of the processes by which performance is created and realised in terms of technical aspects such as lighting, sound, costumes, stage design;
(e) develop knowledge of the processes by which performance is managed in terms of such aspects as planning, scheduling, front of house, backstage, and stage management;
(f) apply theatre technologies creatively, conceptually, and practically in the understanding that different technologies contribute to the communication of meaning in performance (e.g. light, sound/music, objects/props, projection).

2. Skills:
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

(a) work independently and collaboratively on performance productions;
(b) operate different equipment in different venues;
(c) manage production aspects of stage performance;
(d) develop the creative and design dimensions of stage performance;
(e) work on projects within specified resource and time constraints;
(f) assess health and safety issues and take appropriate action;
(g) apply technical terminology in professional event productions;
(h) develop contacts with technicians, practitioners, and producers in the Maltese performing arts industry.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

MAIN TEXTS
P. Howard, What is Scenography?, second edition (London: Routledge, 2009).
G. Pallin, Stage Management: The Essential Handbook, third revised edition (London: Nick Hern Books 2010).

SUPPLEMENTARY READING
C. Baugh, Theatre, Performance and Technology: The Development of Scenography in the Twentieth Century (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2005).
R. Brown, Sound: A Reader in Theatre Practice (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2010).
R. Corson, J. Glavan, and B. Gore Norcross, Stage Makeup (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001).
N. Fraser, Stage Lighting Design: A Practical Guide (Marlborough: Crowood, 1999).
D. A. Ionazzi, The Stage Management Handbook (Ohio: Betterway Books, 1992).
D. Kaye, and J. LeBrecht, Sound and Music for the Theatre: The Art and Technique of Design (New York: Focal Press, 2013).
J. A. Leonard, Theatre Sound (New York: Routledge 2001).
J. McKinney, The Cambridge Introduction to Scenography (Cambridge: CUP, 2011).
F. Reid, The ABC of Stage Technology (London: A and C Black, 1995).
F. Reid, The Stage Lighting Handbook (London: A and C Black, 2001 and 2004).
S. Sadako Takeda, Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700-1915 (New York and London: Prestel Publishing, 2010).
C. Willett Cunnington, and P. Cunnington, The History of Underclothes (New York: Dover Books, 1992).
Website: Costume (London: Victoria and Albert Museum), http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/c/costume/

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES This study-unit is offered to B. Theatre (Hons) students only.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Fieldwork, Lectures, Project & Seminar

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Classwork SEM2 No 50%
Project SEM2 Yes 50%

 
LECTURER/S

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit