Literature and Performance

1. What makes Literature and Performance distinct?

A Literature and Performance EE must:

• investigate the relationship between a written text and its performance potential or realisation

• analyse how meaning changes when literary choices become staging choices

• engage with close reading of the text and critical reflection on performance interpretation

• draw on performance theory or practitioner ideas where relevant

• focus on dramatic function, character embodiment, space, movement, voice or design

• explore artistic intention, interpretative choices or audience impact

• construct an argument combining literary analysis and theatrical understanding

Your essay should feel like an integrated study of text and performance, not pure literature or pure theatre.

2. What counts as a suitable Literature and Performance topic?

A strong topic is:

• centred on a specific text or set of texts with clear performance implications

• focused on how performance choices shape meaning

• supported by accessible scripts, performances or rehearsal evidence

• narrow enough to examine a technique, moment, character or interpretative choice in depth

• analytical rather than descriptive or narrative

Examples of suitable topic types

• analysis of how staging conventions transform a key theme in a play

• investigation of how character embodiment alters interpretation of a text

• comparative study of two performance approaches to the same scene

• analysis of voice, gesture or spatial dynamics in adapted performance

• exploration of how design or technology shapes meaning in a production of a literary work

Examples of unsuitable topics

• pure literary analysis of a text with no performance focus

• historical or biographical essays about playwrights

• general discussions of theatre movements unrelated to a text

• descriptions of performances with no textual grounding

• topics relying on inaccessible productions or lacking evidence

Literature and Performance requires analysis of how texts become live meaning.

3. Using evidence in Literature and Performance

Your essay should draw upon both literary and performance evidence, such as:

• close reading of the text

• analysis of key lines, scenes or structural features

• recorded or live performances

• annotated stills or sequence breakdowns

• director’s notes, rehearsal journals or practitioner commentary

• critical writing on performance or adaptation

• relevant performance theory

Avoid

• plot summary

• generic opinions without evidence

• websites with no scholarly authority

• performance descriptions with no textual reference

• literary commentary without considering performance

Evidence must show the interaction between text and performance practice.

4. Research methods appropriate for Literature and Performance

Your methods may include:

• textual analysis of language, structure or dramatic function

• performance analysis using theatrical frameworks

• comparative study of adaptations or staging choices

• interpretation of character embodiment, movement or voice

• analysis of design, space or technology as interpretative tools

• contextual research into artistic influences or traditions

Methods must be clearly explained and consistently applied.

6. What evaluation looks like in Literature and Performance

Evaluation may include:

• limitations of available performance evidence

• differences between intended and actual effect

• reflection on alternative staging possibilities

• consideration of cultural or contextual influences

• assessment of competing interpretations

• acknowledgement of gaps or ambiguities in text or performance

Evaluation should appear throughout, not only at the end.

7. Common pitfalls in L&P EEs

Avoid these issues, as they frequently lead to weak outcomes:

• topics that drift into pure literature or pure theatre

• essays dominated by plot summary

• overly descriptive accounts of performances

• lack of engagement with both text and performance

• topics too broad or conceptual

• use of inaccessible or undocumented performances

• minimal reference to practitioner theory

8. Model research questions

Here are high quality examples of L&P research questions:

1. How does the physicalisation of Blanche DuBois in selected performances reinterpret her psychological fragility in A Streetcar Named Desire?

2. To what extent do staging and spatial choices alter the political meaning of Sophocles’ Antigone in contemporary adaptations?

3. How effectively can minimalist performance techniques highlight the absurdism in selected scenes from Beckett’s Endgame?

4. To what extent does vocal interpretation redefine the thematic tensions in Shakespeare’s Macbeth?

5. How far does costume and design influence audience perception of identity in modern stagings of Lorca’s Blood Wedding?

Each question integrates textual analysis with performance interpretation.