Studying at York
Extended Playwriting Project - TFT00111M
- Department: Theatre, Film, Television and Interactive Media
- Module co-ordinator: Dr. Bridget Foreman
- Credit value: 60 credits
- Credit level: M
- Academic year of delivery: 2023-24
- Notes: This is an independent study module
Module summary
This module provides you with an opportunity to undertake an independent writing project based on your particular interests and your own choice of topic, style, genre and medium. With the support from staff members with one-to-one supervision and a series of workshop days with the rest of your cohort, you will produce a play which is of a professional standard and a reflective essay that demonstrates your understanding of your own writing process. This will include practical and scholarly research you carried out and how you position your own work in relation to the works of other playwrights, practitioners and theatre artists who have influenced you, your creative practice process and your final script.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2023-24 |
Module aims
The aims of the module are:
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to provide you with the opportunity to write a full-length play
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to give you the opportunity to design and execute an ambitious independent scriptwriting project
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to test and enhance your command of the knowledge, skills, and techniques acquired during previous scriptwriting modules in a context where, although supported by supervisorial guidance, you have the chance to create your own agendas and devise methods to carry them out
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to enable you to understand and participate actively in the process of script development
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to develop your analytical capacity to reflect on the function, scope and effectiveness of your own research and writing process
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the module you will be expected:
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to have written a 15,000-20,000 word script and a careful analysis of your research and writing process
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to have applied and extended the understanding, skills, and knowledge acquired through your work on earlier scriptwriting modules
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to have demonstrated a working knowledge of the relationship between form and content, and to have chosen an appropriate narrative structure for the story you are telling in your play
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to demonstrate an understanding of characters and dialogue, plot and action, content and structure, how they are created and developed, and of the interplay between each core element
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to present a script professionally, with flawless editing and using industry-standard layout and formatting
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to be able to write a critical analysis of your own research and writing process with insight and self-awareness
Assessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework Essay : Reflective Essay |
N/A | 30 |
| Oral presentation/seminar/exam Play: Play |
N/A | 70 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
Ongoing formative assessment and feedback on work in workshop days and individual supervision.
Reassessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework Essay: Reflective Essay |
N/A | 30 |
| Essay/coursework Play |
N/A | 70 |
Module feedback
You will receive written feedback in line with standard University turnaround times.
Indicative reading
Adiseshiah, Siân, and Louise Lepage (eds.) Twenty-First Century Drama: What Happens Now. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
Ball, David. Backwards and Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1983.
Castagno, Paul C. New Playwriting Strategies. Abingdon: Routledge, 2011.
Catron, Louis E. The Elements of Playwriting. Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland Press, 2018.
Cole, Toby. Playwrights on Playwriting: The Making of Modern Drama from Ibsen to Ionesco. New York: Hill & Wang, 1961.
Edgar, David. How Plays Work. London: Nick Hern, 2009.
Egri, Lajos. The Art of Dramatic Writing. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003.
Fliotsos, Anne. Interpreting the Play Script: Contemplation and Analysis. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
Grace, Fraser, and Clare Bayley. Playwriting. London: Bloomsbury, 2015.
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.
Jester, Caroline, and Caridad Svich (eds.). Fifty Playwrights on their Craft. London: Bloomsbury, 2017.
Kiely, Damon. How to Read a Play. Abingdon: Routledge, 2016.
Knopf, Robert. Script Analysis for Theatre: Tools for Interpretation, Collaboration and Production. London: Bloomsbury, 2016.
Neipris, Janet. To Be A Playwright. New York: Routledge, 2005.
Radosavljevic, Duska. Theatre-Making: Interplay Between Text and Performance in the 21st Century. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
Smiley, Sam. Playwriting: The Structure of Action. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.
Storm, William. Dramaturgy and Dramatic Character: A Long View. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
Sweet, Jeffrey. What Playwrights Talk About When They Talk About Writing. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017.
Taylor, Val. Stage Writing: A Practical Guide. Marlborough: Crowood Press, 2002.
Tichler, Rosemarie, and Barry Jay Kaplan. The Playwright at Work. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2012.
Waters, Steve. The Secret Life of Plays. London: Nick Hern 2010.
Wright, Michael. Playwriting in Process: Thinking and Working Theatrically. Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing, 2010.