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Shakespeare and Ecodramaturgy in Performance

Module description

New knowledge about anthropogenic climate change means re-evaluating all kinds of historical dramatic texts for what they reveal about the environment, including those by Shakespeare. In this module you will explore possibilities for adapting and performing Shakespeare’s texts to refract today’s so-called climate crisis. You will encounter ecodramaturgy as a provocation for theatre-making and devise and act in your own performance responses to an early modern play, melding historical research, modern science and contextual criticism: Shakespeare meets climate change in the studio.

Module aims - intentions of the module

• This module aims to enable you explore the potential convergences of Shakespeare and ecodramaturgy in the studio, developing your devising and performing skills.
• The module will introduce you to theories and practices of adaptation, early modern history and contemporary climate change theatre, encouraging an exploratory approach towards source materials utilised to inform performance creation.
• You will be asked to respond creatively to Shakespearean ecocriticism in light of climate change, generating your own devised performance work and reflecting on ways of speaking to (and back to) the dramatic canon through performance.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate an ability to translate Shakespearean ecocriticism into devised performance
• 2. Demonstrate advanced performance/ creative skills in the presentation of the material

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Develop confidence in performance skills and public presentation, both of dramatic practice and researched material.
• 4. Explore theoretical concerns through practice, and vice versa, and to synthesise findings in practical and written tasks. The ability to interpret research into physical practice and vice versa.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Develop group cooperation skills, including the ability to give and receive constructive critical feedback and to improve communication skills and analytic abilities in discussions to lead to the creation of focussed devised performance.
• 6. Balance between self-direction and collaborative work; self-management, collaborative working skills, problem solving, critical analysis and valuing own and others’ ideas and beliefs.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that this module will:

• Begin by introducing a range of Shakespearean monologues and scenes through a variety of exploratory ecodramaturgical approaches to adaptation, devising and staging. Research and practice will develop together and you will undertake an initial practice response in a pair or triad for formative assessment mid-way through the module.
• You will then work on a larger group piece for performance at the end of the module
• You will document your own research alongside the practice, developing your emerging articulation of the argument presented in the devised piece for your reflective essay.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Chiari, S. (2018) Shakespeare’s Representation of Weather, Climate and Environment: The Early Modern ‘Fated Sky’, Edinburgh University Press.
• Fischlen, D. and Mark Fortier (2000) Adaptations of Shakespeare: A Critical Anthology of Plays from the Seventeenth Century to the Present, Psychology Press.
• Hulme, M. (2016)  ‘Climate’  Chapter 4 in: Part I-Mapping Shakespeare’s World (ed. Whitfield, P.)in: Volume 1: Shakespeare’s World, 1500-1660, in: The Cambridge Guide to the Worlds of Shakespeare (ed.) B. Smith, Cambridge University Press.
• Ghosh, A. (2018) The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, University of Chicago Press.
• Jones, G. (2015) Shakespeare’s Storms,Manchester University Press.
• Martin, R. (2015) Shakespeare and Ecology, Oxford University Press.
• Martin, R. and O’Malley, E. (eds.) (2018) “Eco-Shakespeare in Performance,” Shakespeare Bulletin 36(3).
• May, T. (2020) Earth Matters on Stage: Ecology and Environment in American Theater,Routledge.
• O’Malley, E. (2021) Weathering Shakespeare: Audiences and Open-Air Performance, Bloomsbury.
• Reilly, K. (ed.) (2018) Contemporary Approaches to Adaptation in Theatre, Routledge.
• Woynarski, L (2020) Ecodramaturgies: Theatre, Performance and Climate Change, Palgrave Macmillan.
• Yusuff, K. (2018) A Billion Black Anthropocenes or None, University of Minnesota Press.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• Ashden Directory http://www.ashdendirectory.org.uk/
• Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts https://sustainablepractice.org/about-us/the-cspa/
• Cymbeline in the Anthropocene project https://www.cymbeline-anthropocene.com/
• Julie’s Bicycle https://juliesbicycle.com/

Key words search

Shakespeare, Eco-dramaturgy, Eco-criticism, Adaptation, Devising, Performing.