Ateneo - UPO

Cinema, television, adaptation: the case of Sherlock Holmes; performing race in Black British and Asian theatre in Great Britain

debbie tucker green, nut (2013), Nick Hern Books
Errol John, Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, Faber and Faber 2012
Inua Ellams, Barber Shop Chronicles, Oberon Modern Plays, 2017
AAVV, Six Plays by Black and Asian Women Writers, Aurora Metro, 2022
Mojisola Adebayo, Plays One, Oberon Books 2011
Jackie Kay, Red Dust Road, Oberon Books 2019
Roy Williams, Plays Two, Methuen 2013
SuAndi, The Story of M, Oberon Books 2017

* To contextualise the concept of ‘adaptation’, applying it to different media forms;
* To acquire the basic elements needed to understand the contemporary audiovisual landscape.
* To provide an overview of contemporary Black, British and Asian theatre from the 1970s to the present day, across its most varied forms.
* Provide tools for learning how to read and analyse play texts by discussing their most significant formal aspects.
* Put into practice the ability to be active and self-reflective spectators by writing reviews of two performances agreed with the lecturer.

English level B2, or minimum B1 per the module on cinema
Ability to write, in English (or in Italian for students of Letteratura e spettacolo teatrale) an essay analysing a play agreed with the lecturer

The theatre section of the integrated module is delivered exclusively via distance learning on the DIR platform (pre-recorded lectures, external videos, PowerPoint presentations, self-assessment exercises, study materials), with the exception of two 2-hour face-to-face sessions: one at the start of the first semester and one before the start of the examination period.
For the cinema module: lectures; viewing of audiovisual material followed by classroom discussion.

For the theatre module delivered via distance learning, it is strongly recommended that students attend the first in-person session.
This programme is designed to align with goals 4, 5 and 16 of the UNESCO 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Quality Education; Gender Equality; Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).
For the film module, students specialising in English Literature will be required to read Conan Doyle’s short stories in the original language.

For the cinema component: an oral examination based on a topic of the student’s choice.
For the theatre component: an ongoing self-assessment test on the first part of the module; an ongoing quiz to assess knowledge of the second part of the module: a minimum of 6 correct answers out of 10 is required to pass; a forum discussion on the text read and analysed as an example: ‘Welcome Home Jacko’ by Mustapha Matura; a 10-page written paper in English (in Italian for students of Letteratura e spettacolo teatrale) on the performative analysis of a play agreed with the lecturer; two essays (5 pages each) on theatre performances attended and agreed with the lecturer. Weighting for assessment: profile quiz 10%; analytical paper 80%; reports 10%. The use of AI is not permitted for any of the assessed components of the exam.
The mark for the integrated module will be calculated as the weighted average of the two modules.

The module on theatre offers a historical, cultural and theoretical introduction, as well as a methodology for performative analysis applied to the study of Black, British and Asian theatre, based on the critical discussions surrounding ‘race’ developed since the 1970s by Black and Asian Cultural Studies in the UK; it presents decade-by-decade profiles of the leading Black and Asian playwrights and theatre companies in Britain, from the post-war period to the present day; It introduces all the key theatrical elements required for a performative analysis of a play. A detailed case study will be presented in the third part of the module, dedicated to Mustapha Matura’s "Welcome Home Jacko" (1979). The module requires students to attend two theatre performances, agreed upon with the lecturer, and to write two ‘spectator’s reflections’ (5 pages each).
The module on cinema will examine the transmedia history of the character of Sherlock Holmes, from Arthur Conan Doyle’s first novel through to the most recent adaptations.

* To acquire a basic understanding of the main forms of contemporary Black British and Asian theatre
* To be able to contextualise Black British and Asian theatre in terms of its specific characteristics in relation to mainstream British culture
* To be able to describe and analyse a play in writing, using appropriate language and identifying all its main components.
* Develop an interest in contemporary theatre arts, and a greater awareness of the audience’s role in the creation of meaning
* Students will acquire specific skills relating to the interplay of different media forms and narrative experiences, starting with a specific case study of the character of Sherlock Holmes