Directing for Dramatic Theatre (N0215A310502)

Programme objectives

The aim of the study in the master's study programme in Directing for Dramatic Theatre is that the student as a strong, original and creative personality with a unique worldview can independently create a production in a professional theatre, theoretically reflect on their own work and perceive it in a broader cultural, historical and social context and proved the preconditions for further independent personal maturation and artistic development. The aim of the study in the profiling subjects Directing, Dramaturgy, Work on Stage and Work on Production is to maximally develop the student's ability in dialogue with the creative team to independently create and defend a directorial-dramaturgical concept and implement it in cooperation with a group of actors through mutual characters in situations and synthesis of all components of stage expression into a single, intentional, structured, dynamic and meaningful whole of a stage work. Cooperation with students of Czech study programs in creating creative teams is a matter of course, whether they are students of dramaturgy, scenography, production or acting. The student has to prove his abilities especially in his graduate production, the direction of which, realized usually in the Disk Theatre or in another professional theatre, forms a practical part of his/her master's thesis as a registered artistic performance. The theoretical reflection on the direction of the graduate production in a broader context forms the basis of the written part of the master's thesis and together with the oral examination of the history and theory of dramatic art and the history and theory of drama theatre is also part of the final state examination. The basic evaluation output of the study in the master's study programme is a demonstrable ability to independently create a production as an artefact in the scope of a full-length performance with a unique personal interpretive contribution and the appropriate choice and organization of a wide range of stage means and procedures in professional theatre conditions.

Profile of a programme graduate

A graduate of the Master's degree programme in Directing for Dramatic Theatre is an expert who, in accordance with the study objectives, has acquired professional and historical-theoretical knowledge in the field of dramatic art as well as creative abilities and technical skills corresponding to the needs of current professional art practice in drama theatre directing. The graduate is able to create and defend a specific directing concept, is able to direct a production team / acting ensemble and in a creative dialogue with partners can independently create a comprehensive artistic stage work - production - as a complete structure and a specific system within the scope of a full-length performance at the appropriate artistic and professional level. The graduate is able to apply their abilities and skills in productions of various genres and types, in theatres of various types and specializations (drama, opera, musical, cabaret, experimental studio stage, author's and alternative theater) and in the implementation of independent author's theatre projects. Part of his skills is also the ability to theoretically reflect on the specific problems of theatre directing in the context of the current development of dramatic arts and in a broader cultural, social and historical context. The graduate also masters the professional basics of directing in other media, especially radio and television, and has developed general and specific competencies for the organization and management of an artistic institution (artistic director of the ensemble or theater director) as well as for artistic pedagogical activities. He can find future professional applications in all these areas.

Rules and requirements for creating study plans

The basic framework for the conception of study programs at AMU is formally established by the AMU Accreditation Rules, and the basic principles of the accreditation processes are further specified by the AMU Internal Evaluation Rules.

Study plans are created in accordance with the AMU Study and Examination Regulations, which, based on the specifics of higher art education, define the main compulsory subject within the subject typology: In the case of the master's study program subjects of the profiling basis: Directing, Dramaturgy, Work on Stage and Work on Production, which is usually realized in the school studio theatre DISK. The syllabus of these subjects is given in accordance with the main objectives of teaching and in individual years or semesters is created by leading teachers of grades on the basis of specific creative tasks. However, students are always led to intensive teamwork and theoretical and practical knowledge of individual professions, necessary for the creation of a comprehensive stage work (production). Due to the key importance and the highest time requirement of subjects focused on the practical realization (directing) of a collective stage work - a production - these subjects have the highest credit rating (Stage production 15 credits; Staging 15 credits per semester). In the overall student evaluation system, special emphasis is placed on the presentation of artistic output (stage production) in front of the committee or in a public performance in a professional theatre: the principle is a comprehensive evaluation of the student's talent, knowledge and skills applied collectively emerging work. Due to the nature of the main subjects, it is not possible to repeat the attestation.

Students complete other compulsory subjects, which in connection with the main subjects develop the prerequisites for the chosen professional field and go through a compulsory cycle of theoretical and historical lectures and seminars on a theoretical basis, forming part of the state final (master's) exam.

The specificity of the study plan is the permitted flexibility in the distribution of credits (60 ECTS per academic year) between the winter and summer semesters, based on the more significant study and creative workload associated with completing artistic performances in the summer semester. The study plan consists mainly of compulsory subjects. To achieve the full number of credits for graduation in the master's degree program, it is necessary to obtain 5 credits recommended from elective courses.

Subjects completed the exam are classified according to the scale A – E (F = failed), for other subjects the evaluation credited / uncredited is used; a combination of both attestations is not possible.

The standard length of a lesson is 45 minutes. The basic organizational forms of teaching are lectures, seminars, exercises, workshops, while the last three forms of teaching to varying degrees include the emergence of artistic outputs. Teaching takes place either on a weekly basis or in the form of intensive blocks, workshops and courses.

Prerequisites in the form of sequences of subjects marked with a gradually increasing number after the subject name are automatically assumed in the study plan. This type of prerequisite is not specifically listed in Annex BIII for individual subjects. If the subject has non-sequential prerequisites, it is explicitly stated in Annex BIII to the subject. In the same sense, we do not list co-requisites, they are given by the compulsory assignment of the subject to a specific year and semester together with other subjects. The study plan does not use equivalence.

General information about admission process

The admissions process to the Master’s degree programme in Directing for Dramatic Theatre is contingent on completion of the Bachelor’s programme and applicant for study must provide a certificate of the bachelor's examination in the study programme which corresponds in content and focus to the Bachelor´s programme in Directing-Dramaturgy for Dramatic Theatre at The Theatre Faculty of AMU and to prove the artistic performance, which is the directing realization of the staging unit („bachelor's production“) in a minimum time range of 30 minutes, based on the finished (or adapted to the purpose) dramatic text or its part: the realization is to demonstrate the ability defined space. The purpose of the admissions process is also to verify the candidate’s abilities for further development of his or her talents, theoretical knowledge and professional skills in a two-round admission procedure with the following framework content and evaluation criteria:

ROUND I - DECOMMISSIONING:

1. Knowledge test - The knowledge test evaluates the overall cultural and historical outlook and knowledge of the history and theory of theatre and the history and theory of drama theatre directing, corresponding to the content of the state bachelor's examination in Directing-Dramaturgy for Dramatic Theatre; a maximum of 50 points can be obtained.
2. Essay - The essay assesses the ability to formulate and defend an opinion in a broader context and an ability to think independently; a maximum of 50 points can be obtained.
3. Homework evaluation - Homework is evaluated mainly the ability of written analysis and directing-dramaturgical concept with a concrete idea of the stage implementation of one one-act play selected on the basis of their own choice and one feature play, which the candidate chooses from several proposed dramatic texts. Furthermore, the level of logical thinking, understanding the deeper meaning of the model, theatrical imagination, fantasy and dramatic feeling are evaluated; a maximum of 100 points can be obtained.

In the first round, the maximum number of points available is 200 points, the minimum number of points necessary to advance to round II is 90 points. If the candidate does not achieve the minimum number of points, he/she will not progress to the round II and will be served with a decision not to admit to study.

ROUND II

1. The Commission shall, in an interview with the candidate, examine the type of practical professional training which he has undergone and verify his theoretical training.
2. In the discussion with the commission, the candidate defends the submitted domestic work and the directing-dramaturgical conception of the selected plays.
3. The Commission examines and evaluates the candidate's personal and talent preconditions through individual exercises (psychic dispositions, ability to empathize and communicate, creativity, imagination and originality of approach, sense of unfolding a dramatic situation in space, ability to fabricate and interpret reality by artistic means).

At the round II, the maximum number of points available is 100 points, the minimum number of points required for admission is 60 points. If the candidate achieves 60 points in the second round, he / she is nominated by the commission for admission to study.

The decision to admit a candidate to the Master’s programme is made by the Dean based on the recommendation of the admissions committee. The final instance in the admissions process is the Rector, whose decision is final.

Applicability to other types of academic programmes

After duly completing the Master’s programme it is possible for the student to continue his or her studies in the PhD programme.

Parts of the state final examination and their contents

Studies in this programme are duly completed with the state final examination. This examination is held before an examination committee comprised of the faculty’s professors, assistant professors and expert assistants, or of invited experts approved by the faculty’s artistic council. The state final examination and announcement of the results are public.

The student must sit for a state final examination no later than two academic years after fulfilling the study obligations of the relevant study plan. A student who has fulfilled the conditions for the relevant study plan, submitted a qualifying thesis with all the required formalities and obtained the required number of credits may register for the state final examination.

The final state examination consists of the following parts:

a) Defence of a university qualification thesis, which consists of a registered graduate artistic performance - directing a graduate production and a master's thesis

b) Oral examination in the history and theory of dramatic art and in the history and theory of the field directing drama theatre

Graduate performance:

The graduate performance is a part of the university qualification work, which the student demonstrates the level of his artistic work by creating his own work of art, which is directing a graduate production using a full range of means of expression at a professional full-length performance in Disk or other professional theatre. The graduate production is created within the subjects of the profiling basis Directing, Dramaturgy, Work on Stage and Work on Production.

Thesis:

The master's thesis with a minimum length of 40 standard pages has the character of a theoretical study, which is usually based on a reflection of his own creative work on a graduate production and is a well-founded analysis of specific problems of directing and possible solutions. With the diploma thesis the student proves that he is able on the basis of connecting skills and knowledge acquired both in subjects (Directing, Dramaturgy, Work on Stage and Work on Production) and in subjects Evolutional Tendencies of Occidental Theatre within Modern Culture and Theory of Theatre and its Components and on the basis of a search of professional literature to independently solve creative problems set by a specific focus on the reflection of the artistic process.

Course and content of the final state examination:

1. During the defence of the graduate production and diploma thesis, the student answers the questions asked by the opponent in the opponent's report and has to demonstrate the ability of sober self-esteem and reflection in front of the examination committee, in which expertise prevents both the revaluation and underestimation of one's own artistic results.
2. During the oral exam in history and theory, the student answers selected questions

a) on the history and theory of dramatic art - the focus of the thematic areas of this exam and its content is to demonstrate the level of student professional and historical-theoretical knowledge acquired especially in the subjects of the profiling basis (Directing and Dramaturgy) and in subjects Evolutional Tendencies of Occidental Theatre within Modern Culture and Theory of Theatre and its Components.

b) on the history and theory of the field directing of drama - thematic areas reflect specific aspects of the fields and their content is based on demonstrating professional and historical-theoretical knowledge acquired especially in the subjects of the profiling basis (Directing and Dramaturgy) and in subjects Evolutional Tendencies of Occidental Theatre within Modern Culture and Theory of Theatre and its Components.

State final examinations are graded on the scale “A, B, C, D, E, F”. The examination committee shall decide the overall assessment for the state final examination by vote in camera.

Thematic areas of the theoretical oral exam:

a) Master's examination questions on the history and theory of dramatic art

1. Dramatic (stage) art with respect to its cultural, aesthetic or psychosocial function: dramatic art as a cultural factor, play, image, entertainment and / or self-expression
2. Dramatic art in traditional Western (occidental) and Eastern (oriental) culture
3. Drama, dramatic character, and the dramatic in ‘civilian’ life, in education and the arts
4. Theatre: institution, building, space, ensemble, operations, means of communication, or expression and / or art
5. Dramatic character and theatricality (stage character): drama (not just in the sense of a theatrical play) and the theatre (stage), theatricality and spectacle, stage character and theatricality, external and internal, obvious and hidden
6. Acting („staging“) in life and in the art of acting (stage or drama)
7. Mimesis: (dramatic or stage) art as image and expression
8. Types and genres of dramatic (stage) art with respect to supply (creative intentions of those who do it) and demand (i.e. audience „needs“ and tendencies)
9. Types and genres of dramatic (stage) art in connection with its components and the usual, or possible methods of their arrangement
10. Relationship of the theatre and the auditorium as reflected in (realized and possible) transformations of theatrical space
11. Acting between performance of a role, comic production and self-expression: actor and player, or comedien and acteur, professional and amateur, actor and entertainer
12. Classicism, romanticism and realism: attitudes and styles, periods and tendencies, general cultural sources and local period manifestations
13. Archaic (traditional), modern and present (postmodern): periods, attitudes, art
14. Techné and enthusiasmos: preconditions and specific features of the creative process in dramatic art and its imaginative and intellectual factor, intuition and craft; convention as a condition for and a barrier to creation
15. Dramatic art and development of the media

b) Master's examination questions on history and theory of the field directing of drama

1. From Diderot to today: the origins and development of European dramaturgy (in the broader sense of „thought about theatre“), taking into account the origins and development of modern directing

1. The origins and development of Czech dramaturgy, taking into account the origins and development of modern Czech directing (Kvapil, Hilar, E. F. Burian, Grossman et al. - where does dramaturgy end and the director begin?)
2. The origins and transformations of modern European directing in relation to the development of dramaturgy („intellectual“ directors, „arranger“ directors and „acting“ directors; the double meaning of „acting“ directing)
3. The origins and transformations of modern Czech directing in relation to dramaturgy and taking into account its European context
4. Drama and theatrical (stage) space: the origin, types and transformations of modern stage art and the development of European scenography
5. The origins and transformations of modern Czech stage art and development of Czech scenography
6. Drama, the dramatic and dramatic character taking into consideration the problem of the relation of the aesthetic category and of the concept of historical poetics (drama of Dostoevsky's novels and lyricism of E. F. Burian's theatre)
7. Space-time of drama and space-time of the staged work taking into account the specific space-time of various genres and styles
8. The dramatic work and the story, staging and director´s invention: story and action, the director´s conception and stage action, subject, story and theme
9. The dramatic, staged and acted character in various (historically based) genres and styles of dramatic and stage creation, the director's role in the creation of an acted and staged character (see the relationship between acting and other sources for the building of a staged character in E. F. Burian)
10. „Civilian“ speech and verse, versification systems in European drama, development and specific features of Czech verse, the concept of spoken rhythm and its application in prose and verse; construction of the actor´s spoken part and the director´s „orchestration“, voices and sounds, music as a constitutive element and as mere accompaniment
11. From playing out a situation to movement in space: attitude and posture, gestus and gesture, gesture of the character and gestus of the stage, individual movement and movement of the whole, the visual artistic aspect of an actor´s movement in space and scenographic solution, directing and choreography
12. Interpretation and realization: analysis and understanding, the work and (current) context, „reading“ of the text and its concrete realization, the dramaturge´s and director´s conception and the genesis of the staged work; illustration of intent and the creative (rehearsal) process
13. The classic text as a cultural phenomenon and as a material: interpretation, updating, adaptation, variations
14. Originality and tradition: „classics“ („classicism“) and the present („modernity“), canons and convention and their violation („innovation“), the individual and the generational approach, tying in with tradition and trendiness

Other academic duties

In practice, the evaluation process takes place throughout the programme in dialogues between the pedagogue and students. At the end of each semester, the overall work of every student is evaluated by the instructor of the given subject on the basis of continuous activity, assigned written work and progress in artistic disciplines. In the case of the main subjects – scenic creation, staging creation – assessment takes place on the basis of an evaluation commission composed of instructors and the departmental leadership. At the end of each semester, students’ knowledge and skills are assessed with credits and examinations stipulated by study plans, and the student is informed of these through the information system (KOS). The organisation and form of credits and examinations is precisely stipulated by the AMU Attendance and Examination Regulations (Article 15). A quantitative metric is ECTS (European Credit Transfer System), which enables the transfer of credits within the ERASMUS exchange programme of European theatre schools.

Characterisation of professional practice

An important part is the obligatory professional practice in a theater of the professional type (eg also in the school theater DISK), radio or television, participation in preparation and rehearsal of a production.

Anticipated job placement for graduates (typical employment)

Graduates of the Master's degree programme in Directing for Dramatic Theatre can apply - and successfully apply - primarily as directors in theatres of various types and specializations (drama, opera, musical, cabaret, experimental studio stage, author's and alternative theatre) and in the implementation of independent author's theater projects, but also in other media, especially as directors of radio and television productions, or as assistant directors in the film industry. They also find employment as managers in theatres (artistic director, director) and other cultural institutions. They can also find employment as professional editors in publishing houses and the media, pedagogues of art disciplines, lecturers in art agencies, specialists in the field of PR as well as in the production and administrative sphere, as employees of advertising agencies, etc.