DRAM2104 Theatre and Performance in the Indo Pacific

This topic introduces students to drama, theory and performance texts that shape key Asian traditions in theatre, dance, puppetry and ritual. Case studies from the Indian subcontinent, China, Japan, and Indonesia, among others, will enable us to trace the origins and developments of both elite and popular traditions, situating them in the contexts of work by classical practitioner-theoreticians, like Bharata, Zeami, Li Yu, etc. This will also allow us to investigate cultural and aesthetic, social and moral themes in Asian drama and performance experience.

This topic aims to:

• Introduce a range of historically and stylistically significant Asian drama and theory texts and demonstrate their implications for subsequent theatrical development
• Introduce a range of key practitioners in the Indian, Chinese, Indonesian, Korean, and Japanese performance traditions
• Provide students with the opportunity to develop an historical perspective by recognising, articulating and evaluating these theories, dramatic texts and practitioners in the light of current theatre practice in Asia
• Develop students' ability to think, speak and write about Asian performance traditions in a critically engaged, aesthetically informed and ethically responsive manner

2. Describe the significance of selected dramatic/performance works and theoretical texts and their contribution to shaping theatrical traditions in Asia
4. Apply appropriate dramaturgical and aesthetic criteria in analysing Asian drama, theory and performance and evaluating their ways of embodying cultural contexts
6. Contribute thoughtfully to group discussion and respond constructively to seminar presentations
8. Demonstrate competency in the practice of documentation and responsible research on traditional Asian drama and performance