Module manager: Alison Andrews
Email: a.andrews@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 module introduces contemporary debates on culture and Identity in relation to performances of Shakespeare’s work. It focuses on the viewing and interpretation of Shakespearean drama in practice within different cultural frameworks. You will explore key ideas and respond through practice to contemporary debates surrounding inter/intra/trans-cultural performance.
The intercultural encounter is a dynamic, active encounter between different cultural groups, involving the exchange of ideas and practices in relation to Shakespeare. Inter/intra and trans cultural practices consider how elements of culture are absorbed, translated and transmitted across stagecrafts. It requires an ability to look deeply at both originating and target societies with an awareness of history and an attitude of tolerance and openness. In this module you will be encouraged to use your own cultural identity and theatre genres as a starting point from which to move towards an understanding and appreciation of the values of other individuals, groups and societies, and to the role of Shakespearean drama in cultural representation. This will be explored in practice.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. Research and plan a small group performance of a section of a Shakespeare play taking into account current debates about intercultural theatre practice
2. Employ appropriate movement and/or voice sequences and/or techniques drawn from cultures other than their own in the creation of performance work
3. Critically engage with performances of Shakespeare’s plays (live or on film) in an intercultural context
4. Critically examine a range of selected literature on the topic of intercultural theatre, selected from the booklist and during the module sessions.
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
5. Utilise skills drawn from an expanded range of global performance traditions
6. Interpret performance texts across cultural contexts
The module will critique the notions of ‘inter/intra and trans culturalism’, and develop an analytical frame by which students can investigate and understand cultural practices in the work of William Shakespeare. Students will be required to work with practice to explore issues of cultural contextualisation of his work. Exemplar content :• Inter/intra/trans cultural performances : identifying the strands and motivations;• International theatre and performance genres and codes; • The cultures of performance – language, self, social setting, stagecraft;• Translating and transmitting cultures of Shakespeare in Performance; • Challenging conventions in staging Shakespeare - integrative and disruptive interculturalism;
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supervision | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| presentation | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Practical | 9 | 3 | 27 |
| Independent online learning hours | 30 | ||
| Private study hours | 136 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 34 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Formative feedback is provided in the tutor-led practical workshops which are focussed on devising and developnig the assessed presentation.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Practical | 25 minute practical | 100 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Alternative assessment will take the form of a Lecture-demonstration addressing learning outcomes, detailing the considerations the candidate would take into account when preparing/directing a scene of intercultural Shakespeare presented by a group of 3 to 5 people.
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 30/04/2025
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