Critical performance studies in Australia
Critical Performance Studies focuses on developing knowledge, skills, and practices that help you understand and creatively engage the world around you.
You will learn skills and practices valued in a wide range of industries inside and outside the performing arts including teamwork and creative problem solving, effective communication and self-reliance and resilience.
If you are someone who loves to get up on stage and perform or wants to improve your confidence when pitching ideas to an audience, our Critical Performance Studies specialisation is designed for you.
The rich educational opportunities provided by this specialisation are enriched and extended through our collaboration with the Melbourne Fringe, MLIVE, and an array of internationally recognised artists in residence and arts internship opportunities.
Partnership with the Melbourne Fringe Festival
Monash University has partnered with the Melbourne Fringe Festival, giving our university students the opportunity to collaborate with professional theatre makers and performance professionals.
This partnership includes internships with Melbourne Fringe and its artists, along with a presentation of student work that will be featured in the festival itself as part of our season of collaborations between students and professional theatre performers. These opportunities allow every student to be mentored in all aspects of programming and producing and will allow you to make a direct impact on the Fringe Festival’s independent program.
Melbourne: The Theatre Capital
Melbourne is home to Australia's largest performing arts venue, the Arts Centre Melbourne and has a rich theatrical tradition that can only be compared to London’s West End and New York’s Broadway. Some of the most popular international shows have made their world premiere in Melbourne. In one month alone, there can be up to 62 theatre shows and musicals to see. While studying at Monash University in Melbourne you will have the opportunity to see theatre and musicals of the highest calibre.
Signature elements
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Internship opportunities
Gain valuable work experience and develop on-the-job skills areas such as with positions in programming, producing, artist services, marketing, development and production. Interns are placed in all departments of the Melbourne Fringe Festival, providing you with valuable insight into aspects of the planning phases of the Festival.
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Production opportunities
You will co-design, research and deliver an original performance work in collaboration with industry professionals. This work will be performed in front of a live audience as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival Program. You will learn core concepts and methods of artistic research design, representation and engagement all within a professional industry context: the annual Melbourne Fringe Festival.
Units available
Semester two, 2023
| Unit title | Unit description |
|---|---|
| ATS3061 The performing arts in Australia | The performing arts in Australia is representative of much more than the art itself: its meaning is also derived from the values that influence the conditions in which art is made. In order to better understand the place the performing arts holds in a national and global context, we will explore some of the cultural, social and political conditions, including government policy, that have shaped the development of the performing arts in Australia. Featuring case studies, interviews and examples, the workshop series examines key issues of inclusivity, equity, diversity, artistic vibrancy, cultural appropriation, multiculturalism, advocacy and leadership in order to deepen understanding of past and present performing arts practices. |
| ATS3336 Critical performance studies and artistic research (Working on the Fringe Production) | Case study example of production in 2022: GIANT was directed by long-time Fringe artist Cassandra Fumi and devised by Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance students. It was such a pleasure to have Cassandra and the students in our space, to be part of the great energy they created and to see this work come alive. It was valuable work about capitalism, wealth and power and demonstrated excellent physical contemporary performance skills. The work was well-received by our judging panel and industry peers, with a total of seven industry experts engaging with this work as judges during the season. All venue presentation costs (including room hire, technical operation, and front of house) were waived for the season as part of our partnership, as were the cancellation charges for GAS. |
| ATS3935 Professional practice (offered in flexible mode) | Case study from 2022: 16 budding arts producers, marketers and curators contributed to the full gamut of delivering a major arts festival, gaining valuable work experience, developing on-the-job skills and building professional networks. Interns were placed in all departments of the organisation, with positions in programming, producing, artist services, marketing, development and production. Six students undertook placements in Semester 1, providing them with valuable insight into the planning phases of the Festival, as well as assisting with the registration and End of Financial Year campaigns. A particular highlight of the Semester 1 cohort were the two Common Rooms interns, who programmed and produced a successful music event at our year round venue in July. The evening featured a line-up of emerging musicians from the Sir Zelman Cowman School of Music and beyond, and was one of the first music events to take place in the venue post-lockdowns. A further ten students were engaged in Semester 2 for the delivery of the 2022 Melbourne Fringe Festival. These students experienced first-hand the mammoth task of running our first in-person festival since 2019 and honed their on-the-job skills by assisting with the producing and production of the Festival Hub, signature events and the Open Access Program, as well as delivering the organisation’s largest marketing campaign to-date. Once again, a highlight of the program were the industry masterclasses offered to the interns, providing them additional skills in producing, grant writing and publicity. Our own Access Advisor Carly Findlay also facilitated a session on best-practice accessibility for Deaf & Disabled artists and audiences, which Melbourne Fringe leads the industry in. For more information about the Melbourne Fringe Festival, please visit the Melbourne Fringe website. |
| ATS2284 Agency advocacy and activism in critical performance studies | This unit explores performance as an action-based method of advocacy, mediation, and social/cultural transformation across the performing arts. Students will learn key concepts that help us understand, analyse and engage the relationship between performance and individual and collective agency, advocacy and activism. They will engage in both the study and making of performance as a tool for institutional and community transformation. |
| ATS1348 Ensemble studies: theatre and performance ensemble | Theatre and performance ensemble is an opportunity to develop your skills in theatre and performance including writing, acting, directing, lighting, sound, set and costume design, and stage and production management. You will work collaboratively to develop, stage and present performances for a variety of audiences. These performances may include work with existing texts, developing original scripts, poetry, prose fiction, nonfiction, and oral histories that reflect and seek to transform the world around us. This ensemble is designed to create a safe, inclusive, and creative space for developing and showcasing your talents. This program is designed as a workshop. Each week we will gather and work with/around a theme, a performative mode or context, and/or a specific performance project. You do not have to be a trained or experienced performer to participate. You must, however, be committed to exploring how performance allows you to develop, refine, and create debate around the questions you are asking in your work and life. |
| ATS1070 Critical intercultural performance | This unit investigates how embodied culture, politics of location, transnational identities and globalisation help us understand the macro and micro workings of power in intercultural exchanges. Students will be introduced to key concepts in critical intercultural performance thought and practice and will apply these concepts to a range of practical and arts performance contexts. They will collaborate on an immersive exploration of how social actors negotiate and challenge intercultural dynamics and processes through embodied arts practice. |
| ATS2184 intercultural skills for an internationalised workplace (6 weeks intensive ‘block on’ unit taught July 25-Aug 29 in 2022) | The unit introduces students to practical and theory-based approaches to understanding, applying and performing professional and social intercultural skills. The unit draws together domestic and international students and provides a platform for students to learn together and from each other. Developing communication and presentation skills for diverse cultural audiences is a key component of this unit. Students participate in a series of interactive learning activities and workshops to better understand the nature of 'culture', the value of intercultural skills, and the strategies to apply these skills. The unit engages with the internationalised workplace in Australian and in international contexts. For assessment, students submit reviews and reflections and undertake smaller group tasks. The tasks will include a field trip to a culturally significant location either virtual; on campus; or within the Melbourne city area. These tasks build toward a presentation to stakeholders of a real-world intercultural challenge. |
Semester one, 2024 (based on 2023 offerings, and subject to change)
| Unit title | Unit description |
|---|---|
| ATS1069/2287 Exploring critical performance studies in the arts | This unit investigates the questions: What does performance do, and how does performance help us understand and creatively engage our world? We will ask and answer these questions by exploring how performance practice in the arts (tools for doing such as performing, directing, writing and design) and performance theory (tools for understanding and creatively engaging) inform each other. Students will be introduced to key concepts such as ‘ritual’ and ‘myth’, ‘embodied knowing ', ‘performativity’, ‘liveness’, ‘affect’ and ‘intersectionality’ and their application to performance practice. Students will work together to apply their explorations in theory and practice to a range of contexts such as identity, community and culture, enterprise and economics, social relations, politics, and futures. |
| ATS2307 Improvisation in performance practice | This unit works from the premise that improvisation underpins contemporary performance practice in music and theatre. Students will be introduced to a series of improvisation techniques and strategies that draw on the body, gesture and movement, image and symbol, sound, and word in individual and collaborative performing arts practice. They will also explore key concepts of improvisation such as communication, elaboration, extension, agreement and inclusion, rhythm, limitation, and problem solving and their application to a range of performing arts contexts, as well as their usefulness in a number of industries. The cross-disciplinary nature of the unit will enable collaborative improvisatory practices and provide students with opportunity to work within and across performance genres. |
| ATS3094 Preparing for a career in performing arts in Australia | This unit examines fundamental aspects of the Australian performing arts sector, focusing on the development of skills, knowledge and ways of working that will support your transition from study to industry. You will undertake a range of practical, research-led and reflective industry-focused tasks designed to enhance your self-awareness, your knowledge of the sector and your capacity for career planning and decision-making. Through industry-relevant learning activities and assessment tasks, you will discover how adaptability, independence and enterprise can help you design a unique professional identity and personalised career pathway. |
| ATS2492 - Reading the past: Shakespearean drama | One of the main organising principles of the Literatures in English major stream is periodisation, and the aim of this unit is to develop and extend your historical understanding of modern English literature in its foundational period, in terms of its generic and aesthetic forms and structures and its ideological and political contexts and concerns, focussing on the work of such writers as William Shakespeare (1564–1616), Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593) and John Webster (1580–c.1632). The unit will pay particular attention to the complex representation of gender and sexuality in the period. Shakespeare's plays will be considered in relation to the various interpretations which have been applied to or imposed upon them by critics and directors over the years, and how these reflect changing times and fashions as well as political and cultural biases. |
| ATS2801 Ensemble studies: theatre and performance ensemble | Theatre and performance ensemble is an opportunity to develop your skills in theatre and performance including writing, acting, directing, lighting, sound, set and costume design, and stage and production management. You will work collaboratively to develop, stage and present performances for a variety of audiences. These performances may include work with existing texts, developing original scripts, poetry, prose fiction, nonfiction, and oral histories that reflect and seek to transform the world around us. This ensemble is designed to create a safe, inclusive, and creative space for developing and showcasing your talents. This program is designed as a workshop. Each week we will gather and work with/around a theme, a performative mode or context, and/or a specific performance project. You do not have to be a trained or experienced performer to participate. You must, however, be committed to exploring how performance allows you to develop, refine, and create debate around the questions you are asking in your work and life. |
| ATS3935 professional practice (offered in flexible mode) | Case study from 2022: 16 budding arts producers, marketers and curators contributed to the full gamut of delivering a major arts festival, gaining valuable work experience, developing on-the-job skills and building professional networks. Interns were placed in all departments of the organisation, with positions in programming, producing, artist services, marketing, development and production. Six students undertook placements in Semester 1, providing them with valuable insight into the planning phases of the Festival, as well as assisting with the registration and End of Financial Year campaigns. A particular highlight of the Semester 1 cohort were the two Common Rooms interns, who programmed and produced a successful music event at our year round venue in July. The evening featured a line-up of emerging musicians from the Sir Zelman Cowman School of Music and beyond, and was one of the first music events to take place in the venue post-lockdowns. A further ten students were engaged in Semester 2 for the delivery of the 2022 Melbourne Fringe Festival. These students experienced first-hand the mammoth task of running our first in-person festival since 2019 and honed their on-the-job skills by assisting with the producing and production of the Festival Hub, signature events and the Open Access Program, as well as delivering the organisation’s largest marketing campaign to-date. Once again, a highlight of the program were the industry masterclasses offered to the interns, providing them additional skills in producing, grant writing and publicity. Our own Access Advisor Carly Findlay also facilitated a session on best-practice accessibility for Deaf & Disabled artists and audiences, something Melbourne Fringe leads the industry in. For more information on the Melbourne Fringe Festival, visit the Melbourne Fringe website. |