Module manager: Ben Dunn
Email: b.a.dunn@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This studio-based module explores theatre and performance that puts the audience at the centre of the live experience. Addressing examples from interactive and immersive performance to escape rooms, installations, and digital performance, this module explores the practice, ethics, and aesthetics of participation in contemporary performance. Balancing workshop-based learning with student-led practice and research, you will identify an area of inquiry within this field, investigating the practice, theory, and ethics of work that challenges the relationship between audience and performer.
· Workshops and student-led creative inquiry develop practical understanding of contemporary techniques for engaging and working with the audience as a key component of live performance;
· Practical exploration provides an experiential understanding of the ethics and aesthetics of participation, as audience and performer
· Selected readings and group discussion supports critical understanding of theoretical, political and ethical discussion in this field;
· Student-led research provides an opportunity to develop knowledge of a particular area of practice, advancing understanding of how to create performance for specific audiences and contexts;
· Group work supports the development of sector-facing interpersonal skills including collaboration, planning, and feedback.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. Apply knowledge related to the fields of interactive, participatory, and immersive performance to design performance events that explore the relationship between audience and performance;
2. Demonstrate the practical skills required to work with and engage the audience as an integral aspect of live performance, creatively and ethically;
3. Understand and evaluate the ethical, relational and political challenges of performance in this field;
4. Locate examples of practice in relation to academic discussion and the wider professional context of cultural sector.
Skills Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
5. Design performance events that evince and explore the ethical dimensions of interactive performance;
6. Apply and develop practical strategies to work with and engage the public in participatory activity;
7. Situate interactive performance within the wider context of the cultural sector.
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Learning | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| Lectures | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| seminars | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| Practicals | 6 | 3 | 18 |
| Private study hours | 167 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 33 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Students will receive ongoing tutor feedback on their learning and engagement with practical and theoretical material during workshops and seminars.
In addition:
• Students will submit a draft version of their abstract in week 7 for feedback in week 8 or 9;
• Students will receive formative feedback on their practical engagement and creative response to the themes on the module during each of the practical sessions, where they will be required to develop and present examples of practice;
• In weeks 9 and 10, students will work in groups in preparation for their assessment. During these weeks, they will receive tutor and peer feedback to support the development of their pieces.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Group Project | A small group performance with individual written abstract (1000 words) | 100 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
The performance will examine specific themes and practices introduced through the module with the focus, venue and duration negotiated with the module leader. The performance should be to an invited audience of students and staff. The written abstract provides evidence of critical and contextual understanding and will identify the subject relevant themes and practices the group aims to explore in performance. This information will inform how the performance project is marked and will be used to differentiate individual marks. It is not possible to recreate the conditions of a group performance project should a student need to resit the assessment. In this situation, students will be offered two options: a solo performance exploring the same subject area, OR a ‘performance blueprint’ (2000-2500 words), outlining a proposed project, including discussion of the context, practice and intended outcomes.
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 03/04/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team