Restoration Theatre:Culture and Politics (DRA3024)

StaffProfessor Jane Milling - Convenor
Credit Value30
ECTS Value15
NQF Level6
Pre-requisitesNone
Co-requisitesNone
Duration of Module Term 1: 11 weeks;

Module aims

This module aims to:

  • Offer students an in-depth analysis of the culture, politics and theatre of England under the later Stuarts 1660-1714.
  • Explore the place of theatre in generating the ideologies of celebrity, of monarchical democracy and party politics, of Englishness and England as an imperial trading nation.
  • Assess the most recent scholarship on these topics and analyse the historiographical debates.

Students will gain an increased facility to assess and edit large amounts of complex information from diverse sources, and the ability to imaginatively engage with historical material.

ILO: Module-specific skills

  • 1. Demonstrate an analytical understanding of the variety of approaches to the political and cultural issues of the period, through written and presentation work
  • 2. Demonstrate a detailed grasp of current historiographical issues, through analytical writing and presentation
  • 3. Evaluate a wide range of primary and secondary material relating to the period and synthesise this knowledge to generate argument, in written and presentation form

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

  • 4. Contribute research to small groups in effective presentations, to evaluate visual and textual evidence and to develop advanced confidence in the ability to analyse, critique and manipulate complex material
  • 5. Apply a wide range of library and IT skills in detailed independent research
  • 6. Engage critically and analytically from different theoretical perspectives and utilie effectively in written form

ILO: Personal and key skills

    Syllabus plan

    Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

    • Overview of theatre during the period and an orientation in questions surrounding the historiography of the period.
    • Individual research presentations on a performer or playwright, examining the development of ideas of celebrity, satire, and patronage and the evolution of forms of biography and scandal narrative.
    • Series of archive and historiographical tasks.
    • Examination of plays in their context, analysing their relationship to a variety of themes.
    • Presentation of religious fanaticism and belief
    • The representation of parliament and emerging ideas of monarchical democracy and party politics
    • Commodity and trade and the development of consumer society
    • Imperialism and trade and the expansion of the slave trade.

    Students will participate in weekly seminars, which will involve a mixture of staff and student presentation (group and individual), archive and historiographic tasks.

    Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

    Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
    332670

    Details of learning activities and teaching methods

    CategoryHours of study timeDescription
    Scheduled learning and teaching33Seminar and lectures and archive tasks
    Guided independent study33Group preparation for weekly seminar tasks
    Guided independent study234Reading, essay preparation, archive work

    Formative assessment

    Form of assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
    Presentations: Individual2 x 10 minutes1-4, 8, 9
    Presentations: GroupWeekly 10 minutes1-4, 8, 9
    Weekly seminar discussion tasksWeekly 15 minutes1-4, 8, 9

    Summative assessment (% of credit)

    CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
    10000

    Details of summative assessment

    Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
    Critical Portfolio (including 2 critical analyses of articles, reflection on historiographical task, and a written excerpt from their presentation work)403000 words1-3, 5-7, 9Written feedback
    Essay 603000 words1-3, 5-7, 9Written feedback
    0
    0
    0
    0

    Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

    Original form of assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
    Critical Portfolio (including 2 critical analyses of articles, reflection on historiographical task, and a written excerpt from their presentation work)Critical Portfolio (including 2 critical analyses of articles, reflection on historiographical task, and a written excerpt from their presentation work)1-3, 5-7,9Referral/Deferral period
    Essay Essay 3,000 words1-3, 5-7,9Referral/Deferral period

    Re-assessment notes

    Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

    Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

    Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

    • Bratton, Jacky, New Readings in Theatre History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003)
    • Canfield, J.D. & Payne, D., eds. Cultural Readings of Restoration and Eighteenth-Century English Theater (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1995)
    • Dawson, Mark, Gentility and the Comic Theatre of Late Stuart London (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005)
    • Fisk, D. Payne, ed., Cambridge Companion of English Restoration Theatre (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000)
    • Hughes, D. English Drama 1660-1700 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1996)
    • Loftis, J. The Politics of Drama in Augustan England (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963)
    • Luckhurst, Mary and Jane Moody, eds. Theatre and Celebrity (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2007)
    • Postlewait, Thomas, Introduction to Theatre Historiography (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009)

    Module has an active ELE page?

    Yes

    Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

    Available as distance learning?

    No

    Origin date

    2007

    Last revision date

    13/11/2018

    Key words search

    Restoration theatre, performers, politics, 18th century, public sphere