COMP 248(F) The Modern Theatre: Plays and Performance (Same as English 234 and Theatre 248)

THEA 248(F) The Modern Theatre: Plays and Performance (Same as English 234 and Comparative Literature 248)
A survey of major trends in playwriting and performance practice from the late nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth. We will read major playwrights from a variety of national traditions, always considering their works in the context of evolutionary and revolutionary transformations of theatre practice. Artists and movements will include Realism and Naturalism (Stanislavsky, Antoine, Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov, Shaw), Symbolism (Wilde, Maeterlink), Expressionism (Kaiser), Futurism (Mayakovsky, Marinetti), the Epic Theatre (Brecht, Piscator), The Theatre of Cruelty (Artaud), the "Absurd," (Beckett, Genet, Pinter) the collectivist avant-garde (Grotowski, Living Theatre, Open Theatre), and more recent playwriting.
Lecture/discussion format will focus on dialectical interplay between dramatic writing and trends in acting, directing, design, theatre architecture and the actor/audience relationship. Requirements: active participation in class discussion, midterm exam, final exam, one major paper.
No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 18 (expected:18). If overenrolled, preference given to Theatre majors.
Hour: BAKER-WHITE