The magic of a toolbox : The Prague School in Theatre pedagogy : analysis, comprehension, creativity

Title: The magic of a toolbox : The Prague School in Theatre pedagogy : analysis, comprehension, creativity
Author: Meerzon, Yana
Source document: Theatralia. 2020, vol. 23, iss. 1, pp. 89-104
Extent
89-104
  • ISSN
    1803-845X (print)
    2336-4548 (online)
Type: Article
Language
 

Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.

Abstract(s)
In a Canadian general theatre studies or liberal arts program in which the majority of B.A. students are expected to simultaneously take classes in theatre practice and theory, including acting, directing, design, theatre history and dramaturgy, teaching and learning can be challenging. Often our students approach exercises in text and performance analysis as unnecessary or even as superfluous tasks which a practitioner can do without. The naiveté of this hostile attitude is not surprising, but what is interesting is how a system of structural text and performance analysis, specifically here regarding the category of space, can be used as a pedagogical strategy to wake up the student's imagination and eventually become a tool of the practitioner's creative work. In the following, I will describe how to use the analytical methodologies of drama and performance analysis as developed by Prague School theoreticians as a pedagogical strategy to harness creativity. My case study is a 4th year class – Practice of Dramaturgy – which I have taught at the Department of Theatre, University of Ottawa.
Note
The paper is an outcome of a research project Divadlo jako syntéza umění: Otakar Zich v kontextu moderní vědy a dnešní potenciál jeho konceptů / Theatre as Synthesis of Arts: Otakar Zich in Context of Modern Science and Actual Potential of His Concepts (GAČR 2016-2018, GA16-20335S).
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