Master of Writing for Performance (MC-WRIPERF)

This one-year Master of Writing for Performance focuses on developing the skills and emerging aesthetic of the individual and collaborative writer for diverse forms of contemporary live performance. Practice in both solo and collaborative writing are supported by an analysis of, and practice in, both traditional dramaturgical principles and play structures based in character, dramatic action, conflict, dialogue, action and causal logic, as well as more experimental, non-linear writing based on principles of montage, association and intuition, and postdramatic writing in which conventions of dramatic writing are evoked only to be discarded. Through a combination of writing workshops, critical seminars, and discussions students will develop skills in writing for the diverse contexts in which live performance can be made, alongside a deeper understanding of the relationship between the playwright and the cultural contexts within which she/he writes. The course focuses on contemporary writing in both Australia and overseas, but with particular attention to a new diversity of voices and cultures in Australian writing. The student is also equipped with research skills for developing and reflecting on their own work as well as that of others, and the academic writing skills to articulate their own practice in the context of contemporary cultural and performance theory.