Vienna Field School
Field School to Vienna, Austria in Drama/Scriptwriting Spring 2012
Offered by The Department of English and International Education Mount Royal University
Dates: May 14th to May 29th (approximate)
Lead Professor (contact for questions about course content, structure of the field school, etc.): Dr. Natalie Meisner email: nmeisner@mtroyal.ca
Coordinator, International Projects (contact for information about fees, traveling abroad, student loans, payment, etc): Trinda Guillet email: tguillet@mtroyal.ca phone: (403) 440-5002.
What is it?
The field school takes place in Vienna during the Annual Performing Arts Festival Wiener Festwochen in May. Students will have the opportunity to engage with dramatic texts as scholars in the context of a high caliber international theatre and performing arts festival. In addition, they will create dramatic text of their own destined for stage, screen or live performance. The field school offers six university credits (2 courses). Not only do these two courses complement one another extremely well, they both benefit from being offered in the context of an international field school. There are also many exceptional cultural opportunities in the city of Vienna that complement the course material.
How is it organized?
There is an initial intensive study period (2 weeks) at Mount Royal University where students receive grounding in the major dramatic works and theoretical concepts of the modern period as well as an introduction to the methodology and formal demands of playwriting. Following this we travel as a group to Vienna and attend live performances that become the source material of the second half of the syllabus. Students will have the unique opportunity to experience (as audience members) and take part in (as workshop participants) cutting edge international theatre and performance. It will be beneficial, but not necessary that students take both courses.
Which credits are offered?
ENGL 3309 – Theatre and Performance from 1900 to Now
(3 credits – TG) 3 hours lecture . This course examines the extent to which “all the world’s a stage”. Theatre and performance texts and theories will be used to illuminate key issues and ideas in contemporary culture such as ritual, realism, the absurd, the society of spectacle, subjectivity, and identity. Prerequisite: One 2000-level English course.
Note: Credit will be allowed for only one of English 2257 and English 3309.
ENGL 3305-Script Writing. (3 credits ) This course explores the theory and practice of writing for stage, screen, and live performance. Workshop exercises will focus on developing dramaturgical skills needed for writing dialogue, plotting action, using generic conventions, and developing characters. Students will have the opportunity to create their own plays, screenplays, or performance pieces.
What can I expect at the Field School?
Classes focus on the development of dramaturgical skills, dialogue writing, plotting, generic conventions and character. Students will have the opportunity to develop their own play, screenplay or performance piece. In addition to developing the necessary skills to write for film, theatre and live performance, students will also have a wide array of opportunities to enhance their critical thinking and communication skills.
There are tremendous benefits for a dramatic writer who engages in formal study. At the same time, it is an invaluable experience for scholars of dramatic literature to engage with the formal demands of writing and artist creation in their field of study. This field school offers students the opportunity to not only study cutting edge dramatic works from around the world, but also to undertake a piece of their own writing in this rich cultural and educational international environment. During our stay in Vienna, we will attend performances together and study them formally. Students will also have time to work on their own writing assignments which we will then examine in scheduled meetings. The festival environment provides students with an environment where they can meet and engage with other students and artists not only from Austria, but from around the world.
What are the benefits of studying drama live at at an international festival?
Drama, in addition to being the literature of live communication is arguably the most international of the literary arts. A great number of the most widely taught authors in English Dramatic Literature s wrote their now canonical texts in languages other than English. To study the realist plays of the modern period such as those of Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, and Bertolt Brecht already requires that students and scholars open themselves to an international perspective.
This becomes even more imperative when we approach the work of playwrights such as Athol Fugard, Griselda Gambaro, Bernard Marie Koltez, and Robert Lepage who write not only global audiences, but also for audiences concerned with the problems of globalization. Weiner Festwochen allows us to undertake a study of contemporary drama in the context of an international festival where students experience the work of some of the most highly regarded makers of contemporary theatre and performance. Liveness is the key element of drama, as such there is no replacement for live attendance at a performance. It is this unique experience that provokes some of the most compelling questions in contemporary theatre and performance, but also in contemporary society. What is the meaning of community? What is my responsibility to my fellow citizens? How do I consume the “theatres of war” and the “society of spectacle”?
The opportunity to attend cutting edge productions and study them on site adds an exciting applied dimension to the course and gives students access to new materials that could take years to make their way into anthologies for study. Initiatives such as this one respond proactively to the needs of our increasingly international, multilingual and multicultural student body at Mount Royal University.
Where will we stay in Vienna?
We will be staying at a Pension. Classier and more comfortable than a hostel, more affordable than a hotel, Pension Suzanne (http://www.pension-suzanne.at) is located directly in downtown Vienna – only 50 metres far from the famous Viennese State Opera House. Allof the theatres, museums and monuments are walking distance to the Pension. ***Last year’s students loved the Pension, in terms of the atmosphere, old world charm, location, friendly staff. One of the highlights is definitely the long buffet breakfast where you can fuel up for the day with a hearty meal and have discussions with travellers from all over the world over excellent coffee and tea. There is free cable and wireless internet in the rooms.
Pension Suzanne
Walfischgasse 4
1010 Wien
Tel.: +43-(0)1-513 25 07
Fax: +43-(0)1-513 25 00
What are the other student opportunities at the festival?
jugendFREI
With jugendFREI (youthFREE) is a program that run in tandem with the festival. It is a series of free workshops, talkback sessions and backstage events for youth that aims to provide hands-on opportunities for youth to become involved in theatre as both spectators and contributors.
With Festwochen erspielen (Festwochen Stage) and Festwochen erforschen (Festwochen Exploration), two different focuses are offered: the first comprises workshops for young people that include behind-the-scenes tours of current Festwochen productions and tickets for performances; the second focus provides an overview of the mediation and information services organised for teachers and pupils by presenting the programme at schools, supplying extensive teaching materials, introducing works and initiating after-performance discussions. jugendFREI thus harbours many opportunities to experience the theatre and its artists firsthand. All workshops, mediation services, visits to rehearsals, etc. organised by jugendFREI are free of charge.
IMPORTANT LINKS:
http://www.festwochen.at/
http://www.pension-suzanne.at
Other Arts and Cultural Opportunities in Vienna
http://www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/green-vienna/parks-gardens-center
http://www.hundertwasser-haus.info/en/
http://www.archdaily.com/148401/flederhaus-heri-salli/