Why Do We Study Drama?

Through drama you can become:

• Anyone
• Anywhere
• Anytime

By understanding drama you can learn to understand anyone, anywhere anytime.  Plays often capture the essence of a culture or a group within that culture.  They reveal the attitudes and opinions of their day.

Improvisation:

• Improvisation is the spontaneous response to new and unexpected situations.
• Life is improvisation.
• We respond in new ways when spontaneous and unexpected things occur to us.
• Basically, drama in this course, will start with Improvisation.
• Ask yourself the question:  “What if….?
• For example:
  •  What if there was a nuclear holocaust?
  •  What if I lived in the Medieval period?
• This can be the starting point for theatre activities.
• Think about:
  • What you would do
  • How you would act
  • How would you feel
  • Who would you know
  • How would you interact

Play-making:

• We can do this!
• It’s the process of experimenting with new roles.
• Through plays we can Re-examine old roles and challenge society’s values and interpretations.

 Drama As A Co-operative Process:

• Group work
• Exploring relationships on and off stage.
• Make friends!

Personal Benefits:

• Self-confidence
• Motivation to start to evaluate your own values and beliefs.

Drama Influences our Lives:

• ‘real life’ drama (personal experiences)
• ‘real life’ drama (news and current affairs)
• fictional drama (film, television, theatre)

• By studying drama’s impact on our culture we can start to look more critically at what these media offer us.
• We can choose whether or not to accept the messages they give.

By studying drama:

• we become intelligent spectators who can distinguish between good and bad drama, ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ ideologies.
• We can start making informed decisions about the drama that we see.

 

 

Undergraduate Drama Units Taught at ACU:

Unit Code	Credit Points	Unit Name
ARTS107	10	The Arts and Culture
PERF104	10	Introduction to Drama
PERF102	10	The Nature of Drama
MEDA207	10	Radio Drama (Pre: 10 cp in 200-level drama production unit)
MEDA209	10	Film and Television as Text
MEDA210	10	Television and Film Drama (Pre: 10 cp in 100-level drama production unit)
PERF200	10	Children’s Theatre
PERF201	10	Contemporary Theatre
PERF203	10	Plays and Playhouses
PERF204	10	Playwriting
PERF205	10	The Production Process
PERF206	10	Theatre in a Social Context
PERF207	10	Australian Drama
PERF208	10	Comedy
PERF211	10	Modern Drama
PERF212	10	Modernism to Post-modernism
PERF214	10	Shakespeare’s Theatre
PERF215	10	Screen Studies
PERF216	10	Theatre Performance
PERF218	10	Indigenous Performance
PERF302	10	Drama: Independent Study

Students wishing to complete an Honours degree in Drama should discuss their proposed program with their Drama lecturers.

 

 

Careers for Drama Students:

The following lists of possible careers for students with a Drama Major have been adapted from Jan Goldberg's book. This book gives detailed descriptions of what would be required for people working in these jobs and it is available through ACU Library's ebrary collection.

Goldberg, Jan. Great Jobs for Theatre Majors (2nd Edition).
Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Companies, The, 2005. p 76.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/australiancathu/Doc?id=10083693&ppg=88 

 

The five career paths described in this book include:
1. Performing

Possible Job Titles
Actor
Comic actor
Dramatic artist
Extra
Live theatre performer
Motion picture artist
Musical comedy Performer
Performer of commercials
Radio performer
Screen actor
Stage actor
Television actor
Voice-over artist
Singer
Dancer
Choreographer
Stunt performer
Model
Mime
Magician
Puppeteer

2. Behind the Scenes

Possible Job Titles
Broadcast technician
Carpenter
Costume designer
Electrician
Hair stylist
Lighting designer
Makeup artist
Property designer
Rigger
Scenic artist
Set designer
Sound designer
Special effects technician
Stage director
Stage manager
Technical director
Wardrobe supervisor

Related Occupations
Related occupations include communications technicians, motion picture directors, script supervisors, program assistants (in radio and television), announcers, disc jockeys, and narrators. Others may be film editors, communications technicians, miniature set constructors, recordists, sound cutters, microphone boom operators, dubbing machine operators, or film loaders. Other possible options include drama teachers, dramatic coaches, fashion designers, furniture designers, interior designers, artists’ managers, booking managers, circus agents, and location managers.

 

3. The Business of Theatre


Possible Job Titles
Advertising manager
Agent Business manager Casting director
Executive director
Fine arts manager
Managing director
Marketing director
Personal manager
Press director
Producer
Producing director
Production assistant
Publicist
Public relations director
Talent manager
Theatrical agent
Theatrical press agent

Related Occupations:
Some of the skills that you would gather when preparing for a career in Theatre Business would also be directly useful for life outside the theatre: eg public relations, sales, labour relations, advertising, management, communications, and media relations.

If you focus your study on theatre and Business, you will have a qualification that will make you attractive to a wide range of employers. Some of the professional skills that this type of style can give you include:

• having a good business sense,
• financial management skills,
• organizational skills,
• effective communication skills,
• strong interpersonal skills,
• negotiation skills
• having the ability to listen,
• being able to match people with roles,
• being able to work under pressure,
• having the ability to relate to clients,
• having the ability to handle stress,
• having a good eye for details.

Many of these general skills would stand you in good stead whatever career path you choose. Employers value strong communication skills and the ability to work in groups. Drama gives you ample opportunity to acquire these skills.

 

4. Teaching Theatre

Possible Job Titles
Drama coach
High school drama teacher
Primary school drama teacher
Theatre teacher
University Lecturer

 

5. Other Theatre Careers

Drama Therapist
Screenwriter
Playwright
Radio/TV announcer
Drama Critic

 

©2009