The latvian academy of culture

Requirements for the Acquisition of Credit Points: To complete the programme and independent tasks.

BA STUDY PROGRAMME Part B

Description of the Study Course

The Name of the Course: The Fundamentals of Direction
The Scope of the Course: 448 academic hours (64 hours per term, 280 hours of lectures, 168 hours of seminars)

21 credit point. The form of assessment: tests and examinations (including the show of individual work)

The Authors of the Course: Ass. Prof. Pēteris Krilovs, Ass. Prof. Māra Ķimele
Preconditions for the Acquisition of the Course: Suitability for the profession, vivid imagination, the comprehension of relativity and reality, the feel for the form and rhythm, prior knowledge about the Latvian and foreign theatre.
The Contents of the Course: The course offers knowledge about the acquisition of the basic issues and methodology in theatre direction. A student acquires theoretical knowledge and gains practical experience in the application of the means of expression in modern theatre art.

Within the scope of the course the student obtains knowledge about the analysis of the drama material choosing an appropriate arsenal of genre and methodology to transmit the written word to the action on a stage.

The students gains basic knowledge in working with an actor and the theatre pedagogy.

Thematic planning:

Theme	Week	Type of classes and hours
TERM I
1. The historical context of the art of direction.	1.- 3.	L8;S4
2. The range of the simplest actions, activities and events. The composition of a particular action and events.	4.-6.	L8; S4
3. An action, an event, the main task.	7.-8.	L8
4. Small forms: an etude, a studio, an observation, a mono event, an event between two and among several persons.	9.-12.	L8; S4
5. An action connected with events out of the space of the stage.	13.-14.	L4; S4
6. Introduction to the theories of the modern theatre.	15.-16.	L4; S4
TERM II
7. The improvement of the small forms.	17. – 19.	L8; S4
8. A fairy-tale, a poem, a ballad, a dream, a note in a diary: miniature models of small performances	20.- 22.	L8; S 4
9. The composition of the plots and events of the pictures by the Old Masters. The creation of an atmosphere and the construction of an etude.	23. – 25.	L8; S 4
10. Work with a short story and a novel. The composition of the plots and events. Literature and the equivalents for the action.	26. – 28.	L8; S 4
11. Dialogue and partner relations. The dependence of a dialogue from the positional relation of the characters and the context. The types of dialogues.	29. – 32.	L8; S8
TERM III
12. The problems of the composition of a room. The sketching of a room. The essence of stage design.	33. – 37.	L 12; S8
13. Mise-en-scene, the fundamentals of its formation.	38.- 42.	L12; S 8
14. Work with the excerpts from plays. Drama of the realism period.	43.- 46.	L12; S4
15. The attractive primary forms of the theatre. A mask and a sign. An informing action.	47.	S4
16. The theory of the analysis of a role.	48.	L4
TERM IV
17. The basic principles of the ancient theatre. A ritual. Drama of sacral rituals.	49. – 53.	L12; S 8
18. Symbolic actions, gestures, signs. Rhythm, music, noise and silence. Light and shade.	54. – 58.	L12; S 8
19. Ancient drama. Analysis, theory.	59. – 64.	L16; S8
TERM V
20. The choice of drama and the independence of the actions of actors from the historical and the genre condition.	65 .- 69.	L12; S 8
21. The variety of acting school. The director’s work with an actor.	70 .- 73.	L10; S6
22. The analysis of a character and a play. The psychological, the social, and the professional level of analysis.	74. – 76.	L8; S6
23. W Shakespeare’s drama. The choice of an excerpt and its analysis.	77.- 80.	L12; S4
TERM VI
24. The stages of relativity and the specific features of a genre. Molière, Maeterlinck, Brecht, Direnmat. The analysis of excerpts.	81. – 92.	L32; S 16
25. Work with a costume artist. A costume as a sign.	93.-94.	L4; S4
26. Work with a composer. The principles of the application of music.	95 .- 96.	L4 ; S4
TERM VII
27. A.Chekhov’s drama. Analysis. Theory.	97. – 106.	L24; S16
28. Latvian original drama.	107. – 111.	L12; S8
29. The theory of the theatre management, the objectives of the theatre.	112. – 113.	L4
TERM VIII
30.Theoretical and practical work on a staging for the BA Work.