Studying at York
Thinking Through Playwriting - TFT00066M
Module summary
This module will explore a range of analytical and practical skills that will be useful to you in your study of playwriting, and will extend and deepen the knowledge you already have. We will analyse live theatre productions and dramatic texts, alongside contextual historical and theoretical material. Using discussion, writing, spectatorship, analysis and independent work as methodologies for learning, this module will lay the foundations for the rest of your MA studies, and will equip you for the exciting challenges ahead. This module is designed to lay the theoretical and practical foundations for your studies.
Professional requirements
N/A
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching cycle |
|---|---|
| A | Autumn Term 2022-23 |
Module aims
The aims of the module are:
-
to introduce you to the fundamental elements of the playwriting craft
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to give you a wide range of writers’ work to draw on
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To develop your ability to reflect and analyse your own process in relation to other practitioner’s work
Module learning outcomes
The aims of the module are:
-
to introduce you to the fundamental elements of the playwriting craft
-
to give you a wide range of writers’ work to draw on
-
To develop your ability to reflect and analyse your own process in relation to other practitioner’s work
By the end of the module you will be expected:
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to understand the key aspects of the playwright’s craft and how to address them in your writing
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to have developed your workshop and collaboration skills
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to have established a supportive, safe, critically reflective community of writers
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to have engaged with playwriting manuals, other writers’ creative works as well as traditional academic sources to enhance your own writing
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to have reflected upon, and written about, aspects of your own writing process
Assessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework Multiple-scene Script |
N/A | 70 |
| Essay/coursework Reflective essay |
N/A | 30 |
Special assessment rules
None
Reassessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework Multiple-scene Script |
N/A | 70 |
| Essay/coursework Reflective essay |
N/A | 30 |
Module feedback
Students will receive written feedback on their summative work within the 20-working day University feedback policy, and will receive written feedback on their formative work within 20 working days or sooner, with an option of an individual follow-up meeting if any aspect of the feedback is unclear to the student or if more guidance on interpreting the feedback is requested.
Indicative reading
Adiseshiah, Siân, and Louise Lepage (eds.) Twenty-First Century Drama: What Happens Now. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
Bentley, Gerald Eades, The Profession of Dramatist in Shakespeare's Time, 1590-1642 (Princeton: princeton University Press, 1972.
Castagno, Paul C. New Playwriting Strategies. Abingdon: Routledge, 2011.
Catron, Louis E. The Elements of Playwriting. Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland Press, 2018.
Edgar, David. How Plays Work. London: Nick Hern, 2009.
Egri, Lajos. The Art of Dramatic Writing. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003.
Kiely, Damon. How to Read a Play. Abingdon: Routledge, 2016.
Smiley, Sam. Playwriting: The Structure of Action. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.
Stephens, John Russell. The Profession of the Playwright: British Theatre, 1800–1900. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Taylor, Val. Stage Writing: A Practical Guide. Marlborough: Crowood Press, 2002.
Tichler, Rosemarie, and Barry Jay Kaplan. The Playwright at Work. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2012.
Waters, Steve. The Secret Life of Plays. London: Nick Hern 2010.
Wright, Michael. Playwriting in Process: Thinking and Working Theatrically. Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing, 2010.
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