Seminar-Studies in Theatre (546-0-20)

Topic

Framing European Theatre

Instructors

Dassia N. Posner
Music Communication Building 5-167
Office Hours: M 11am-1pm drop-in and MW afternoons by appointment

Meeting Info

Wirtz 235 Seminar Room: Tues 9:00AM - 11:50AM

Overview of class

This course uses plays, historical context, and primary sources to examine the history of theatre in Europe, focusing on points of change and innovation, theatrical debates, and colonial legacies. How, we will ask, has this theatre responded to its own past and present? Although readings focus primarily on scripted plays and cultural context, we will investigate popular entertainment (through commedia dell' arte) and design (through analysis of chapters in undergrad textbooks), with additional self-directed research on topics ranging from individual artists to pantomime to contemporary productions. The course also includes topics likely to recur in your teaching, research, or theatrical production. The frame for the course is the frame itself. We will consider theatrical frames (the orchestra, the proscenium arch, perspective scenery, the fourth wall) and their disruptions (ironic and self-reflexive theatre, direct audience address, asides) to understand how each era positions theatre in relation to life and makes and unmakes its own rules. We will also consider how to frame theatre history for scholars, students, and theatre artists through oral presentations and a choice of final projects: syllabi, dramaturgy materials, or research papers.

Class Materials (Required)

All readings on Canvas. $1-25