This course aims to introduce students to the practice of autobiographical performance, and to the various theoretical and critical debates that inform it.

Students will engage with the debates surrounding autobiographical performance by exploring the practice through different, overlapping aesthetic frames

8 x 4hour sessions.

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Assessment

1 x 15 minute solo autobiographical performance (40%)
1 x 2,500 word reflective portfolio (40%)

3 x in-course work-in-progress showings (20%)

The primary aim of the course is to

■ introduce students to a mode of performance practice that explicitly uses autobiographical material, enabling them to locate it historically, theoretically and practically, and to engage with it critically;

■ map the historical vector of autobiographical performance;

■ explore the various ways in which autobiographical material is used in performance;

■ assess the impact and effect of the use of personal material in performance (for both performer and spectator;

■ introduce the key theoretical and critical discourses that engage with this practice (truth, ethics, politics, memory studies, etc.)

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ demonstrate a clear understanding of the various ways in which autobiography has historically been utilised in performance, and with what intention and effect;

■ be able to identify, articulate and assess current key critical theories pertaining to autobiographical performance and apply critical analyses to various performance examples, with confidence;

■ demonstrate an understanding of the process of translating theoretical concepts into practical explorations.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.