About Theatre and Performance, MPhil - at Trinity College Dublin
The course offers a consideration of the texts and practices of Irish theatre set against the major movements in European performance from the late nineteenth century to the present day, with input from the professional field
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Irish theatre is at a very exciting stage in its history. Many new companies are being founded and are exploring new theatre languages, talented writers are transforming the literary tradition, and the field itself is being energised and expanded by the emergence of new approaches to Irish Studies and to theatre and performance. The M.Phil. offers a study of the diversity of theatre practices in contemporary Ireland, and an investigation of the historical, cultural, institutional and theoretical contexts which have shaped theatre in the island.
Programme of Study:Irish Theatre in Context: the historical development of theatre in Ireland, with an emphasis on issues of text, performance and national/cultural identities. The course will focus on Irish theatre since the nineteenth century, including the histories of the Abbey and the Gate Theatres, as well as the independent theatre sector. The course will draw on current productions as much as possible, and will explore a range of theatre practices, including the work of writers such as Lady Gregory, W B Yeats, J M Synge, Sean O'Casey, Samuel Beckett, Brian Friel, Tom Murphy, Anne Devlin, Christina Reid, Frank McGuinness, Martin McDonagh, Conor McPherson and Marina Carr; companies such as Charabanc, Druid, Field Day, Macnas, Rough Magic and TEAM; and directors such as Garry Hynes, Patrick Mason and Conall Morrison.
Movements in European Theatre: An exploration of the major developments of dramatic theory and practice in European theatre, with an emphasis on the influence of those movements on Irish theatre, national theatres in their various manifestations, and institutional theatre systems.
Strategies of Analysis: Current theoretical approaches to the study of representation and culture at a broader, interdisciplinary level, including a range of artistic practices and cultural traditions which students will be encouraged to bring to bear on their studies in Irish theatre.
