PRFM3961—REHEARSAL STUDIES · Essay (2500 words) · Weighting = 60% of the overall mark for the unit of study · Due Date: Submit by midnight on TBC Here is the stimulus question to which your essay must...

Ethnographic Methodology and Performance rehearsal


PRFM3961—REHEARSAL STUDIES · Essay (2500 words) · Weighting = 60% of the overall mark for the unit of study · Due Date: Submit by midnight on TBC Here is the stimulus question to which your essay must respond: What is the goal and what are the challenges of applying ethnographic methods to the study of rehearsals (or other forms of preparation) for a piece of theatre, dance or some other aesthetic performance genre? In responding to this question, you must • Concentrate on 2 or 3 key issues that have arisen in debates about ethnographic methodology within the disciplines of anthropology, sociology and performance studies. • Anchor your argument with detailed reference to: —one existing, full-length published account of rehearsal processes (this can be an account by an insider practitioner, an observing journalist, or a scholar/ethnographer—see the “suggestions for further reading” below) • And compare/contrast with other accounts of rehearsal (you do not have to use all these sources): —your own brief experiences of participant-observation in rehearsals/workshops during this semester (Raghav’s rehearsal in the Rex) —footage of rehearsal processes shown in class —Photo/Illustrated Documentation of rehearsals —your own experience of rehearsal (as insider or outsider) —Reviews/Blogs/Diaries Assessment Criteria / Essay Guidelines Key criteria on which your work will be marked include the following: Knowledge of epistemological/methodological debates in ethnography You will need to: —name the key issues you want to discuss; —cite the authors whose opinions you are dealing with; —explain the significance of their views in your own best plain English, and —give appropriate examples to demonstrate your understanding of the concepts Knowledge of the existing literature on rehearsals You will need to offer: —A clear contextualisation of the account(s) of rehearsal to which you refer —Evidence of close, comprehensive study of one book-length account of rehearsal(s) (and related issues: training, company structures etc.); —Contrastive/comparative reference to other accounts of rehearsal (including your own observations and fieldnotes) Analytical connections between rehearsal literature and ethnography debates —Be clear about your rationale for choosing whichever particular account(s) of rehearsal you choose to discuss. —Show explicitly how the concepts discussed in the ethnography readings can apply to writings on theatre rehearsal (including your own); —Include some detailed analysis of specific excerpts of account(s) of theatre rehearsal. Structural features of the essay I will be looking for —an introduction in which you clearly explain the key issues to be explored in the essay and the overall thrust of your argument; —throughout the essay, clear “sign-posting” of steps and shifts in the presentation of case studies and in the detail of the argument; —a brief conclusion, clearly related to what has gone before but also perhaps indicating other issues worth following up. Grammar, spelling, expression —Paragraphs need a clear topic sentence; —Sentences need a main clause with a finite verb; —Punctuation needs to support the logical structure of sentences and paragraphs (and to put apostrophes in as and when appropriate); —Essays need to be spell-checked (and then re-checked by hand); —Avoid excessively long sentences (a main clause + one dependent clause is usually already complex enough. Avoid Geertzian type sentences, see p. 28)