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Form & Realisation - TFT00067M

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  • Department: Theatre, Film, Television and Interactive Media
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: M
  • Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
    • See module specification for other years: 2023-24

Module summary

This module focuses on writing as experimentation with a variety of approaches to dramatic form, both to develop a diverse writing portfolio and to discover the student’s own areas of strength. The module content varies, but teaching may include forms such as postdramatic theatre, literary adaptation, epic theatre, community plays, writing for children/young people, writing direct address, decentered playwriting. The module has a particular focus on how written play texts embody theatrical thinking and theatrical modes of imagining, a key aspect of demonstrating production potential to readers, dramaturgs and literary managers. The module will also include constant revisiting of, and expansion upon, the aspects of playwriting that were introduced in the Thinking Through Playwriting module, so that students will continue to develop their craft while exploring the various demands of dramatic writing for different purposes. Central to this process will be the enhancement of the workshopping practices established in Thinking Through Playwriting, through both supervised and independent group work.

Professional requirements

N/A

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Autumn Term 2022-23 to Spring Term 2022-23

Module aims

The aims of the module are:

  • to expose you to a wide variety of approaches to dramatic writing to develop your own creative practice and analytical skills

  • to enable you to discover your own areas of strength and interest as a writer

  • to provide you with opportunities to apply the dramatic writing skills learned in Thinking through Playwriting in increasingly flexible and creative ways

  • to further develop peer-to-peer workshopping skills and to enhance your ability to support each other as a community of writers

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module you will be expected:

  • to have the tools to generate scripts in a wide variety of modes and forms

  • to have improved your ability to manipulate the basic elements of drama (plot, character, etc.)

  • to be able to identify and analyse how other playwrights use form

  • to be able to conduct your own workshops as writers, supporting each other’s work and giving each other useful and constructive feedback

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Module feedback

Students will receive written feedback on their summative work within the 20-working day University feedback policy, 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

Grace, Fraser, and Clare Bayley. Playwriting. London: Bloomsbury, 2015.

Fliotsos, Anne. Interpreting the Play Script: Contemplation and Analysis. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

Grochala, Sarah. The Contemporary Political Play: Rethinking Dramaturgical Structure. London: Bloomsbury, 2017.

Jarcho, Julia. Writing and the Modern Stage: Theater Beyond Drama. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Knopf, Robert. Script Analysis for Theatre: Tools for Interpretation, Collaboration and Production. London: Bloomsbury, 2016.

Storm, William. Dramaturgy and Dramatic Character: A Long View. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Taylor, Giles, and Philip Wilson. Dramatic Adventures in Rhetoric.London: Oberon, 2015.



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.