Thursday 4 December 2008

A Utopian Drama Department

In class today we discussed our ideal 'drama department' adn were encouraged to write about it on our blogs....so that is what I am going to do now!

Firstly, I would want more rehearsal spaces, because as you get nearer to performances it becomes harder to find a proper space to rehearse. I would also want them to be soundproofed. At Central School of Speech and Drama they have soundproofed rooms; so why not us?

I would want an actual theatre. We were meant to have a 'theatre' by Christmas last year but all we have is an unusuable foyeye. I think this is important because it means there is a space which cannot be used for lectures, which means that when you are performing it doesn't feel like your performing to your class.

Proper technical things as well, like up to date lighting and sound boards and a props cupboard which has fully working and usable props.

I think the drama department spaces should feel like they belong to everyone, so then everyone will feel pride in them....I'm not sure how we go about this.

Although, the lecturers we have are great, I think there is a need for a few more, so that we can have the best from various strands of drama.

I think we should have more training from the first year. I know for me the first year was a bit of a farce. I didn't learn that much and I didn't care about it either. I was never challenged, so I never had to take risks. I think if your taught to really care about your work from the moment you start your degree, then your commitment level thorughout the three years is automatically upped.

There is also a need for links with the professional world, outside the lighting and costume modules. Maybe agencies should be asked to come and see work put on by students, this will mean the bar will be raised, and as I have already said, the commitment levels upped too.

I'm sure I will thing of some more things, but this is it for now.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

that's a very long list you got going there!
you should pass some of this information on, to the important people at uni, to show your support for the drama department as I'm sure they think this is true too. And by also getting the support of your peers, it'll provide more pressure for getting things done.

Have you also thought about the economics of providing all of these things? They're all manageable, but you gotta do the work for it first!

Anonymous said...

that's a very long list you got going there!
you should pass some of this information on, to the important people at uni, to show your support for the drama department as I'm sure they think this is true too. And by also getting the support of your peers, it'll provide more pressure for getting things done.

Have you also thought about the economics of providing all of these things? They're all manageable, but you gotta do the work for it first!

I know this is 'Utopian' but there's no reason why some of these changes can't be made - more lecturers and staff and certainly better contact with professional bodies. I think they're certainly do-able if the demand is shown.

Rosie said...

I think this is why mark (secretly wanted us to talk about this on our blogs so he can get an idea of how we want the department to be). I've spoken to both mark and trevor about what I think but if we could come together as a student body and come to come consensus I think we could make a lot of change. But as you say the economics are the toughest thing to get around!

Mark Griffin said...

I think all sensible politics start from a Utopian perspective and then move to pragmatism.

a) What do I really want?
b) How do I get it?

It all goes wrong if you're pragmatic to begin with and then idealistic in part 2.

I think sometimes students are defeatist in the sense that they don't work out how to influence things - but within SMUC - there is a real need for strong student leadership and representation at both department and Union leve.The key is to get organised...