Using postmodernism in drama and theatre making AS/A2 David Porter AS/A2 Introduction David Porter is former Head of Performing Arts at Kirkley High School, We live in an increasingly ‘cross-genre’ environment where things are mixed, Lowestoft, teacher and one-time sampled and mashed up. History, time, roles, arts, technology and our cultural children’s theatre performer. Freelance and social contexts are in flux. Postmodernism expresses many of the ways in writer, blogger and editor, he is a senior which this is happening. assessor for A level performance studies, IGSCE drama moderator and GCSE drama As the reformed A levels come on stream, postmodernism may appear to examiner. have little place except in BTECs. However, performing arts in general and drama in particular require knowledge and understanding of wider contexts, reinterpretations, devising and study of texts from different periods. Exploring postmodernism is an excellent way to open up a world of artistic interest, exploration, experiment and mash-ups for students who are 16 and over. Although different in details, the Drama and Theatre A level specifications offered for teaching from 2016 (first exam in 2018) are similar in intention and breadth of study. All require exploration of some predetermined and some centre-chosen texts, a variety of leading practitioners, and devising and re- interpretations. Using postmodernism broadens students’ viewpoints, ideas and practical experiences of using art forms to express material. Exam preparation aside, this scheme serves as an effective introduction/taster Allan Graham, Master Peace to performing arts in general and theatre/drama in particular. New specifications f OCR’s Drama and Theatre A level: http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/as-a-level-gce-drama-and-theatre-h059- h459-from-2016/ f Pearson Edexcel’s Drama and Theatre A level: http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-a-levels/drama- and-theatre-2016.coursematerials.html#filterQuery=category:Pearson- UK:Category%2FSpecification-and-sample-assessments f AQA’s Drama and Theatre A level: http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/drama/a-level/drama-and-theatre-7262 f WJEC’s Drama and Theatre A level: http://www.wjec.co.uk/qualifications/drama/drama-gce-a-as/index.html f Ofqual’s conclusions from consultations and new exam regulations are available online: Resources https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/gcse-as-and-a-level-reform- Suggestions are suitable for both teachers and students. Teachers should regulations-for-dramadrama-and-theatre check material before sharing it. BTECs and Technicals are also being revised and students preparing for many routes through these will find postmodernism useful and of help in developing their ideas. Devising public performance Learning objectives Most specifications require both group f To study postmodern approaches to the performing arts and solo practical performance and f To explore issues and ideas from practitioners written analysis of texts from the perspectives of performers, directors f To put ideas into social, historical and cultural contexts and designers. Where devising is f To stimulate creative thinking, problem-solving and team work through required, postmodernism can help performance material prepare for public performance. f To develop writing, devising and performing skills using postmodern material. Scheme in summary Lesson 1: Some postmodernism Towards definitions of postmodernism explored through an experimental piece of performance. Lesson 2: Some history Taking a play extract that uses fragmented history and juxtaposition to air issues and manipulate audience expectations. www.teaching-drama.co.uk Teaching Drama · Spring term 1 · 2015/16 1 Scheme of work|AS/A2 Lesson 3: Some drama A different play inspires a different treatment of high art and low art, intertextuality and physicality. Lesson 4: Some music A piece of minimalist/postmodernist music is an opportunity to experiment collaboratively with bricolage, juxtaposition and repetition. Lesson 5: Some dance A short site-specific dance piece is the stimulus for devising a postmodern deconstruction, reconstruction and diverse performance. Lesson 6: Some art A famous painting inspires a multi-perspective, eclectic, unpredictable and collaborative piece of performance. www.teaching-drama.co.uk Teaching Drama · Spring term 1 · 2015/16 2 Scheme of work|AS/A2 Lesson 1: Some postmodernism Research: Search ‘postmodernism’ online and Learning objectives enjoy a host of definitions of ‘this f To create performance which merges, mixes, intertextualises and mashes up contemporary movement of thought ideas from an abstract concept that rejects conventions’. There are no absolute truths in the genre. f To develop performing skills through improvisation/devising around issues From Encyclopedia Britannica: f To learn some theoretical knowledge that underpins postmodernism as a basis ‘scepticism, subjectivism, suspicious of for contemporary drama study and devising. reason and aware of role of ideology in political power’;.see: Warm-up http://www.britannica.com/topic/ In pairs, a scene in which a clever person is lecturing a student on the role of postmodernism-philosophy women in schools in a way that sounds incredibly clever but may be blatant nonsense. Student responds with different but equally absurd arguments. Resources: Discussion/questions and new learning f Introducing Postmodernism: A Graphic To start, ask the class for their definitions of postmodernism. Guide by Appignanesi and Garratt Here’s one: ‘Postmodernism defies definition but is a catch-all term which http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/ describes experimental performance from the 1960s onwards that parallels the id/Introducing_ minimalism of the 1950s and since. It covers art, architecture, philosophy, music, Postmodernism/9781840468496 dance, drama, fiction, photography, film, fashion, history, language, time, gender, f TES: Postmodernism https://www.tes.com/teaching- multi-media and almost anything else. The buzzwords include satire, parody, resource/postmodernism-6420979 reinvention, hyper-reality, bricolage, repetition, site-specific, montage, risk, f Postmodern Fiction diversity, intertextuality, juxtaposition and collaboration.’ Discuss this view. http://1980swebography.weebly. Postmodernism is very big on definitions. There are many books about it. The com/postmodern-fiction-a-very- website Communications from Elsewhere http://www.elsewhere.org/pomo/ posts short-introduction-and-resources. allegedly postmodern statements which may or may not be serious, but which html invite satire and parody. f Postmodernism and Education http://infed.org/mobi/post- Let’s take this one: Realism and structural subtextual theory: modernism-and-post-modernity/ ‘Art is part of the fatal flaw of sexuality,’ says Sartre; however, according to Dietrich, f Comment on Roland Barthes’ essay it is not so much art that is part of the fatal flaw of sexuality, but rather the failure, and The Death of the Author some would say the genre, of art. The premise of structural subtextual theory suggests http://www.theguardian.com/books/ that narrative comes from the masses. Therefore, Dahmus implies that we have to choose booksblog/2010/jan/13/death-of- between constructive sublimation and semanticist subcultural theory.’ the-author Development Groups of 4 or 5 develop one scene that turns this argument into a piece of drama. Theory: Lyotard At least 3 ‘experts’ are needed – Sartre, Dietrich and Dahmus. You can use musical ‘That is what the postmodern world is instruments, music, masks, costume, sound effects or whatever else you think all about. Many people have lost the may help to convey some meaning to an audience. You may need a dictionary. nostalgia for the lost narrative.’ One of many quotes from postmodern theorist Plenary and discussion Jean-Francois Lyotard http://www.egs. edu/faculty/jean-francois-lyotard/ Share and show work in progress. Invite peer comment. Is it confusing, baffling quotes/ and bewildering? Does it make any sense as performance? Does it have to? What have we discovered about postmodernism? Question Tip: Basics Neither teachers nor students need Postmodernism has been described as ‘the future stuck in the past.’ Discuss. to get lost in theories and abstract concepts. The basics of deconstruction, collage and re-interpretation will be enough to start appreciating the genre and its value in exploring performing arts. www.teaching-drama.co.uk Teaching Drama · Spring term 1 · 2015/16 3 Scheme of work|AS/A2 Lesson 2: Some history Research: f The End of History? (1989) article by Learning objectives Francis Fukuyama, which announced f To create performance which merges, mixes, intertextualises and mashes up triumph of liberal democracy and ideas from a piece of drama text arrival of post-ideological world http://www.wesjones.com/eoh.htm f To develop performing skills through improvisation/devising around issues f The End of History and the Last Man f To learn some theoretical knowledge that underpins postmodernism as a basis (1992 and updated) book by for contemporary drama study and devising. Fukuyama analyses religious fundamentalism, politics, scientific Warm-up progress, ethical codes, and war In pairs, a scene in your parents’ lives before you were born. Demonstrate the https://books.google.co.uk/books/ time the scene is taking place with three different aspects, such as technology, about/The_End_of_History_and_the_ attitudes, food. Last_Man.html?id= NdFpQwKfX2IC &redir_esc=y. Discussion/questions