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Playwriting in Practice - TFT00017C

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  • Department: Theatre, Film, Television and Interactive Media
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: C
  • Academic year of delivery: 2024-25

Module summary

This module introduces you to the tools of playwriting. Teaching includes lectures and practical workshops, with script analysis and the study of scenes from a wide variety of significant and contemporary plays and writers. You are also given weekly writing tasks and have opportunities to comment, reflect and feed back on each other's work.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 2 2024-25

Module aims

This module aims:

  • To introduce you to core playwriting skills that underpin the creation of text for performance, including character and dialogue, plot and structure, and world of the play.
  • To expose you to a wide variety of significant and contemporary works and writers.
  • To develop your skills in giving, receiving, and responding to feedback.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of this module, you should:

  • Be able to conceive, structure, and plot a scene.
  • Be able to create characters and give them dialogue and objectives within a scene.
  • Be able to analyse the craft skill at work in well-executed scripts.

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

Students will receive ongoing formative feedback on their scriptwriting work across the term and will also receive 1 x 20-minute tutorial to support the
development of their ideas for their summative submission.

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Module feedback

You will receive written feedback in line with standard University turnaround times.

Written feedback on formative assessment, oral feedback from the tutor on the first draft of the summative assessment, peer feedback throughout the module.

Indicative reading

The weekly playscript reading will be set by the module convenor each year. In the past these have included plays by: Caryl Churchill, Lynne Nottage,
Anton Chekhov, William Shakespeare, Annie Baker, Terence Rattigan, Dawn King, Jez Butterworth.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University constantly explores ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary. In some instances it may be appropriate for the University to notify and consult with affected students about module changes in accordance with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.