FREN3481: STAGE DESIGN IN 17TH-CENTURY FRANCE

• French Language 2 (FREN2051). Others: see the Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

• Modern Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint and 'with' programmes: French Language 4 (FREN3041). Other: see Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

• None.

• To introduce students to the major developments in French 17th-century theatre architecture and stage design.
• To examine the major social, political and theoretical trends that influenced these developments.
• To study a number of representative plays performed in these spaces to explore how they worked in practice.

• The following topics will be covered:
• Theatre design (tennis courts and private spaces),
• Early stage design (compartments, Mahelot),
• The 'unities',
• Farce and the practicable decor,
• The early machine play,
• Court performances and their spaces,
• Later machine plays,
• The remodelling of the Palais-Royal,
• The impact of Lully and French opera.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• By the end of the module, students will:
• Have full knowledge of the major developments in French 17th- and 18th-century theatre and stage design;
• Understand the social, political and theoretical developments that gave rise to these;
• Be familiar with a number of plays that illustrate how these spaces worked in practice.

Subject-specific Skills:

• By the end of this module, students will be able to:
• Conduct independent research into 17th-century performances spaces;
• Analyse a range of relevant documentary evidence pertaining to theatre and stage design (archival documents, ground plans, frontispieces and other images);
• Evaluate the performance requirements of 17th-century play texts.

Key Skills:

• By the end of this module, students will be able to:
• Conduct independent research and present their findings both in writing and orally;
• Read and understand a variety of forms of written French;
• Read, understand and apply critical discourses relating to this topic written in both French and English;
• Read, evaluate and apply visual evidence.

• Weekly lectures and fortnightly seminars.
• Students will give sole or group presentations in seminars (depending on student numbers).
• Assessment will be by means of two assessed essays, one at the end of term 1 and one at the end of the module (40% and 60%).

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