NOTES: a) Instructor's course descriptions are subject to change. b) If a schedule, description or prerequisite below varies from the The Registrar's Timetable the Registrar's Timetable shall prevail. c) R is for Thursday.
Course Title: New Drama and Theatre
Course Code: DRE420H5S | Lecture MW 3-5
Instructor(s): Lawrence Switzky
Detailed Description by Instructor:
An exploration of plays, productions, and theories of acting from the last 3-5 years in terms of their critical reception, contribution to staging and production practices, and their engagement with urgent questions about the contemporary world. Part of the project of the course will be to decide how these plays manifest or estrange a recognizable “now” as well as how they reveal theatre’s capacity or incapacity to give us images of and inquiries into the present. The plays we will investigate concern race and representation, historical redress, inherited myths and stories, the continuity and volatility of the self, sexual identity and sexual experience, ritual and faith, and our tolerance for alterity. This course is intended for upper-year students who have taken other theatre history and dramatic literature courses and want to consider the state of theatre and drama today through works and movements that have inspired substantial commentary and controversy. We will be joined by guest speakers who will provide alternative perspectives on what matters in theatre in this moment.
Required Reading: Plays (to read, watch, and listen to) will include…
Will Arbery, Heroes of the Fourth Turning
Jaclyn Backhaus, Men on Boats
Annie Baker, The Antipodes
Tara Beagan, Deer Woman
Julia Cho, The Piano Teacher
Caryl Churchill, Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp.
Jackie Sibblies Drury, Fairview
Larissa FastHorse, The Thanksgiving Play
Aleshea Harris, What to Send Up When it Goes Down
Jeremy O. Harris, Slave Play
Young Jean Lee, Church
Taylor Mac, Hir
Anais Mitchell et al., Hadestown
Method of Instruction: Seminar discussion; guest speakers
Method of Evaluation: Short seminar presentation (20%); semi-weekly blog posts (25%); final paper & presentation (40%); participation (15%)