Theater History III: Shaw to Kushner
Spring 2008-09

This introductory-level seminar course is designed for students from all backgrounds who are interested in exploring how theatrical performance has shaped culture and can be used as a tool for understanding human interaction. We will explore impulses throughout history to "make theater" for religious, educational, and political ends, as well as for general entertainment. We’ll also turn these theories around and look at how the ideas and tools of theater and performance can provide insight into religious ceremonies, classroom interactions, political campaigns, and social events.

Course objectives:

In terms of content, the goal of this course is to learn the history theater and drama by examining specific plays and productions. The course is designed so that, by the end of the term:

1. Students will be familiar with a representative cross-section of examples of 20th century drama and theater, with an admitted concentration on the US and Europe.
2. Students will be able to locate each play or production in the context of the socio-historical moment in which it was created.
3. Students will be able to discuss each play or production as an example of a particular genre, style, or movement.
4. Students will be able to articulate how each play, production, or movement was, at the time it was generated, a reaction to "what came before" – either a reaction to a historical event or atmosphere, or a reaction to the ways that other plays and productions have attempted to represent in performance what is "real."

In terms of process, the goal of this course is to develop students’ skills in critical reading, writing, and thinking, as these skills are used in both cooperative and independent research. To this end, the course is designed so that, by the end of the term:

1. Students will have learned and practiced the skills specific to reading plays.
2. Students will have worked with their classmates on a cooperative research project resulting in an historical re-enactment.
3. Students will have practiced peer-to-peer learning by taking turns introducing each play or production and its historical context.
4. Students will have had an opportunity to guide the class towards critical issues of their own interest by setting discussion questions for the play they introduce.