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Unit of study_

PRFM3606: Approaches to Acting

Semester 2, 2020 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

In this unit you will survey a range of acting practices from the seventeenth century to the present, and interrogate their truth claims in order to reveal the social, cultural and historical contingency of each approach. The unit invites you to examine how these different approaches to acting have been influenced by implicit theories of the human self.

Unit details and rules

Unit code PRFM3606
Academic unit Theatre and Performance Studies
Credit points 6
Prohibitions
? 
PRFM3022
Prerequisites
? 
PRFM2601 and PRFM2602 or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Theatre and Performance Studies
Corequisites
? 
None
Assumed knowledge
? 

None

Available to study abroad and exchange students

Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator Glen McGillivray, glen.mcgillivray@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s) Glen McGillivray, glen.mcgillivray@sydney.edu.au
Type Description Weight Due Length
Assignment Reading summary and quiz
Reading summary and quiz
20% Week 03
Due date: 09 Sep 2020 at 23:59
500wd
Outcomes assessed: LO2 LO3
Assignment 5 x Interlocutions
5 x Interlocutions
20% Week 11
Due date: 16 Nov 2020 at 23:59
100wd x 5
Outcomes assessed: LO1
Assignment Essay
Essay
40% Week 12
Due date: 25 Nov 2020 at 23:59
3000wd
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO3 LO2
Presentation group assignment group presentation
group presentation
20% Weekly 500wd
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO4 LO3 LO2
group assignment = group assignment ?

Assessment summary

  • Multiple choice quiz and short summary essay.
  • Small group presentation on one approach to acting.
  • Find and briefly summarise two sources each for five approaches to acting
  • Analytic essay on two approaches to acting

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

Result code

Result name

Mark range

Description

HD

High distinction

85 - 100

Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an exceptional standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.

DI

Distinction

75 - 84

Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a very high standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.

CR

Credit

65 - 74

Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a good standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.

PS

Pass

50 - 64

Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an acceptable standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

  • Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
  • After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website  provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.  

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

WK Topic Learning activity Learning outcomes
Week 01 Presence and absence. On 4 April 2020, management professor Gianpiero Petriglieri, posted on Twitter that it was "It’s easier being in each other’s presence, or in each other’s absence, than in the constant presence of each other’s absence." Today we will begin by discussing the relationship of physical presence and absence and the experiences we are all having on absent-presence. Online class (1 hr)  
Methodology and approach We will begin the semester by considering the question ‘What is Acting?’ I will outline the approach that we will take to the course, starting with the methodological issues raised by Roach, and with reference to current scholarship in the field Lecture (1 hr) LO3
Screenings (subject to availability): Stage Beauty, Tropic Thunder, The Kominski Method, Lecture (1 hr) LO2
Week 02 Topographies of the self. This week we will be introduced to Arjun Appadurai's concept of topographies of the self and see how it can he used to analyse approaches to acting Lecture (1 hr) LO3
Questions and issues: Theories and methodology. Lecture (1 hr) LO3
We will discuss the key theories with which you will analyse different approaches to acting which are introduced to you in the first two lectures. Online class (1 hr) LO2 LO3
Week 03 Development of Stanislavsky’s ‘system’ The system of acting developed by Konstantin Stanislavsky is the foundation of modern acting in the realist style. What are some of the ‘system’s’ key features and how does it relate to what had come before? Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Questions and issues: Stanislavsky's 'system' Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO3
Student presentation: identify the key features of Stanislavsky's 'system', historically contextualise it and discuss the theories of self it implies. Online class (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 04 Passions and Humours in 16th and 17th Century acting Drawing on the previous week’s work we will explore how early modern emotional theory, represented by the passions and humours, affected how actors and theorists thought about acting. Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3
Questions and issues: 16th/17th century theory of passions and humours Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO3
Student presentation: identify the key features of the emotional theories of passions and humours, historically contextualise and discuss the theories of self these theories imply. Online class (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 05 Pictorialism & Melodrama As theatrical technologies improved increasingly spectacular effects became possible. Romanticism posited emotion as a disruptive force and as a site for authentic being. Together with technological advances, this ‘new’ emotionality led to more heightened and exaggerated styles of acting. Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3
Questions and issues: melodramatic acting. Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO3
Student presentation: identify the key features of melodramatic acting, historically contextualise and discuss the theories of self these theories imply. Online class (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 06 American migration, the ‘Method’ In this session we examine the transmutation of the ‘system’ into the ‘Method’ and discuss where American practitioners’ ideas diverged from Stanislavsky’s ‘system’. Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3
Questions and issues: American Method acting. Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO3
Student presentation: identify the key features of American Method acting, historically contextualise and discuss the theories of self these theories imply. Online class (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 07 Technologies of the Actor: Meyerhold. Paving the way for Brecht, Meyerhold’s work is often seen in direct contrast to the psychologism of Stanislavsky, although it is better understood in the context of earlier traditions. Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3
Questions and issues: Meyerhold and biomechanics Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO3
Student presentation: identify the key features of Meyerhold's biomechanics, historically contextualise and discuss the theories of self these theories imply. Online class (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 08 Zeami’s Flower. This week, we will focus upon one of the earliest written accounts of acting, that of the Noh master Zeami. Zeami offers an alternative to Western notions of empathy. Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3
Questions and issues: Noh acting. Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO3
Student presentation: identify the key features of Noh acting, historically contextualise and discuss the theories of self these theories imply. Online class (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 09 Interculturalism From Stanislavski, through Brecht, Craig, Artaud, throughout the Twentieth Century, European theatre has liberally borrowed/pilfered/appropriated performance and acting methods from cultures and traditions outside Europe. In the latter part of century, the nascent academic field of anthropology of performance has added more complexity to the flow of cultural material from East to West (and back again). Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3
Questions and issues: intercultural acting. Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO3
Student presentation: identify the key features of one intercultural approach to acting, historically contextualise and discuss the theories of self these theories imply. Online class (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 10 Deconstructing Acting The avant-garde. Post-modern performance. Non-psychologism. Performance art. Experiments with identity and representation. We will wrap up the course by looking at a range of ‘alternative’ approaches to acting and performance. Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3
Questions and issues: postmodern performance. Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO3
Student presentation: identify the key features of postmodern performance, historically contextualise and discuss the theories of self these theories imply. Online class (1 hr) LO1
Week 11 Reviewing Zarrilli and Roach Lecture (1 hr) LO2 LO3
Questions and Issues: Zarrilli and Roach Lecture (1 hr) LO2 LO3
Essay lab Online class (1 hr)  
Week 12 Reviewing Appadurai Lecture (1 hr) LO2 LO3
Questions and issues: Appadurai Lecture (1 hr) LO2 LO3
Essay lab Online class (1 hr)  

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. Discuss different approaches to acting in order to identify and distinguish their key features
  • LO2. Analyse and compare different approaches of acting in order to determine the implicit theories that govern them
  • LO3. Apply critical theory in order to analyse different approaches to acting.
  • LO4. Critically engage with the work of your peers.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1 Depth of disciplinary expertise

Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.

GQ2 Critical thinking and problem solving

Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.

GQ3 Oral and written communication

Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.

GQ4 Information and digital literacy

Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.

GQ5 Inventiveness

Generating novel ideas and solutions.

GQ6 Cultural competence

Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.

GQ7 Interdisciplinary effectiveness

Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.

GQ8 Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity

An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.

GQ9 Influence

Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes Graduate qualities
GQ1 GQ2 GQ3 GQ4 GQ5 GQ6 GQ7 GQ8 GQ9

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

No changes have been made since this unit was last offered'

Disclaimer

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