Dramaturgy and Writing for Performance

Recommended Prerequisites

Level C1 in English.

Teaching Methods

Teaching methodologies are based on seminar work and tutorial supervision. Course work will include a writing project through the individual production of a short text/monodrama. Students will also do course­readings on theoretical texts that are foundational for the topic of this curricular unit. Throughout the semester, students will have direct contact with playwrights, who will be invited to share their practice and relation with writing for theatre.

Learning Outcomes

Taking as starting point the concept of drama in modernity, this curricular unit offers an introduction to the more recent problems in theater writing, with respect to its protagonists, dominant concepts and implications for contemporary theatre. At the end of the semester, students will be able to identify the main textual formations that pervade the european dramaturgy, show an awareness of the the debate about the post­dramatic, and understand the new relation that is emerging between different arts, such as theatre, dance and performance. Within this context, the main goal will be to allow students to experience theater writing through practical exercises.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

I) Concepts:

1) Literature, theatre, drama, text, dramaturgy, dramaturg ;

2) Definitions of “dramaturgy”;

3) What is a text? Performative text, director text and literary text.

II) Writing and textual aesthetics:

1) The origin of fissures in modern drama based on Tchékov, Ibsen and Strindberg.

2) From the Absolute Drama by Hegel to the Epic Drama by Piscator and Brecht; in dialogue with Peter Szondi;

3) Writing for the stage: producing meaning through literature. The demarcation of the scenic space as a condition for na “applied literature”; in dialogue with Bruno Tackels and Hans­Thies Lehmann;

4) The mutant form of drama, rhapsodic text as persistence of the dramatic form; in dialogue with Jean-Pierre Sarrazac and Hans­Thies Lehmann;

III. Practical exercise: writing for the theatre.

Head Lecturer(s)

Carlos Manuel de Matos Moura da Costa

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Project: 50.0%
Research work: 50.0%

Bibliography

BILLINGHAM, P. 2013 “Write on!Practical Strategies for Developing Playwriting”, Harper, G.ed. A Companion to Creative Writing. Wiley-Blackwell 71-85.

CASTAGNO, P. C. 2019 Collaborative Playwriting. Polyvocal Approaches from the EU Collective Plays Project. Routledge

CHABOT, C. 2007 «Un Panorama des Écritures Théâtrales Contemporaines».Théâtre contemporain:écritures textuelle, écriture scénique n184. ThéâtrePublic

DANAN, J. 2010 O que é a Dramaturgia? Editora Licorne.

DANAN, J. 2012 L’Atelier d’Écriture Théâtrale. Actes Sud Papiers

JEFFREYS, S. 2019 21st Century Playwriting, A Manual of Contemporary Techniques, Smith & Kraus.

LEHMANN, H.T. 2016 O Teatro Pós­dramático. Orfeu Negro

PAVIS, P. 2018 “Da Análise de Textos ou Espetáculos às Oficinas de Escrita Dramática” In: Rev.Bras.Estud.Presença, v8 n1, p117-150

SARRAZAC, J.P, et al. 2007 La Réinvention du Drame. Centre Études Théâtrales

TACKELS, B. 2007 Rodrigo García. Les solitaires intempestifs.