The Theatre of Brian Friel

Overview

Brian Friel was the most acclaimed playwright from Northern Ireland and one of the most internationally acclaimed playwrights of his generation. Students taking this module will learn how Friel wrote plays that proved to be popular with audiences around the world and gained such approval from leading critics and scholars. In addition, students will gain an understanding of the applications of performance in educational, community and social contexts. Students may also have the opportunity to engage with local hard-to-reach communities with Friel’s work to help them develop personal, social and interactive skills.

Learning Objectives

• Understanding historical, contemporary and international contexts of production, circulation and reception of Friel's plays.
• Developing ideas and constructing arguments on Friel's plays and the capacity to present them in appropriate ways.
• Understanding the public and community nature of performance practice, with particular emphasis on collaborative learning and heuristic principles, on 'learning through doing' in group contexts in relation to Friel’s plays and related paratheatrical material
• Understanding of the applications of performance in educational, community and social contexts and pedagogical perspectives as appropriate to drama
• Understanding of the use of group processes in the creation of work including, for example, working collectively, ensemble, co-creation and hierarchical and non-hierarchical structures
• Questioning the ethical implications and appropriateness of performance work to ensure activities are undertaken in safe and supported environments for specific audiences/participants.

Skills

• Describing, theorising, interpreting and evaluating performance texts and performance events from a range of critical perspectives;
• Reading the performance possibilities implied by a script, score and other textual or documentary sources;
• Realising a script, score and other textual or documentary sources in the engagement with hard-to-reach communities;
• Planning, facilitating, delivering and evaluating projects that apply drama, participatory and performance subject expertise in social, educational, community and other socially engaged settings
• Development of creative and imaginative skills as shown through the realisation of practical research projects on Friel's plays.

Assessment

None