Intimate Acts: Inside The 'Fourth Wall' (MUSI20169)
Undergraduate level 2Points: 12.5On Campus (Southbank)
Overview
| Availability | Semester 2 |
|---|---|
| Fees | Look up fees |
The Oxford Dictionary defines the fourth wall as ‘the space which separates a performer…from an audience …a conceptual barrier between any fictional work and its readers or viewers’. In this subject we examine and explore the creation of theatre in which the performer engages in a more intimate relationship with the audience, perhaps through creating a sense of complicity with its audience, through direct address, through theatre moving into intimate physical spaces such as private lounge rooms or through combinations of a number of these elements. In this theatre we challenge the notions of what is real and what is representative. The audience is necessarily invited to take on a more active role than does the observer in fourth wall theatre: to be engaged with being within the performance. Lectures and presentations cover a range of works in areas that may be as diverse as cabaret, burlesque, children’s theatre, site-specific private performance and independent theatre and music theatre. Within practical workshops students will explore elements of performance-making such as space, materials, content and rationale. The major assessment task will give students the choice to critically review theatre within this context, to collaborate on the creation of a concept for an intimate theatre work or to perform a small excerpt of a work in progress. These may incorporate dance, spoken text, music, song, light, sound and physical materials or any combinations of these.
Intended learning outcomes
Upon completion of this subject students should be able to:
- Exhibit practical and theoretical understanding of including acquisition of skills and relevant professional knowledge appropriate to professional artistic practice
- Be critical and creative thinkers, with an aptitude for continued self-directed learning
- Have the capacity to participate fully in collaborative learning and to confront unfamiliar problems
- Apply new analytical understanding to the critical assessment and/or generation of new work
- Demonstrate enhanced practical skills in the generation of new work
- Apply existing creative and artistic skills in innovative ways
- Demonstrate an enhanced understanding of the relationship between form and content in artistic practice
Generic skills
Upon completion of this subject students should be able to:
- reach a high level of achievement in artistic practice, writing, generic research activities, problem-solving and communication
- be critical and creative thinkers, with an aptitude for continued self-directed learning
- examine critically, synthesise and evaluate knowledge across a range of disciplines
- expand their analytical and cognitive skills through learning experiences in diverse subjects
- have the capacity to participate fully in collaborative learning and to confront unfamiliar problems
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Creative interest and/or skills in any area within the live performing arts, including singing, acting, dance, theatre design, writing, puppetry, music making.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Assessment
Additional details
- Continuous: (50%) based on preparation and participation in tutorials and workshops
- Formal: (50%) Either:
A live performance review, comparing and critiquing three performances that fall within the area studied (2,500 words) (50%)
Or
The presentation of a concept for an ‘intimate performance’ new work equivalent to 2,500 words (presentation 40%); and a score/script/rationale in written form (500 words) (10%)
Or
A performance presentation of a new ‘intimate performance’ work, equivalent to 2,000 words (performance 40%), and a score/script/rationale in written form (500 words) (10%)
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Dates & times
- Semester 2
Principal coordinator Christopher Nolan Mode of delivery On Campus (Southbank) Contact hours 36 (6 x I hr lecture + 2 hours tutorial; 6 x 3 hours workshops) Total time commitment 120 hours Teaching period 23 July 2018 to 21 October 2018 Last self-enrol date 3 August 2018 Census date 31 August 2018 Last date to withdraw without fail 21 September 2018 Assessment period ends 16 November 2018 Semester 2 contact information
Time commitment details
120 hours
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Further information
- Texts
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Last updated: 3 November 2022