A Beginner's Guide to Devising Theatre
- Submitting institution
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Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 11204386
- Type
- A - Authored book
- DOI
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- Publisher
- Bloomsbury
- ISBN
- 9781350025943
- Open access status
- -
- Month of publication
- September
- Year of publication
- 2019
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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1
- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This book draws upon 15 years of practice as research, distilled into practical ideas for devising original theatre from scratch, and providing tools for collaborative working with groups and those new to devising work. The process and methodology are illustrated by case studies of work created in our young people’s performance company, Junction 25.
As a basis for devising theatre, we examine ways to develop a strong group dynamic, and then turn to other parts of the process including finding an idea, creating structure, reflecting on the work and sharing with an audience. To set the method in its wider critical context, the book also includes interviews with five performance companies or artists, who share their own making process. The discourse around devised theatre and performance can seem intimidating, and here we have attempted to demystify the process of devising, while drawing throughout on our own original research.
'A Beginner’s Guide to Devising Theatre' has been positively reviewed in 'Ink Pellet', 'Drama Resource' and 'National Drama Magazine', and adopted as a text on a course at Kent State University Trumbull Campus, Ohio.
It won 'outstanding drama education resource' at the Drama and Music Education Awards 2021. A second edition is now planned, and we have also worked with the publishers on the development of a virtual learning environment (VLE) tool to increase the impact of the book.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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