Theatre History & Literature 1

Course Objectives: In this course we will look at the history and literature of the theatre from the point of view of the society in which they operated. We will examine how theatre reflects the assumptions of a culture and how theatre artists use their medium to express their belief or disbelief in those systems. The goal is for the class to help you do the following things:

• understand the connections between the practice of theatre and the society in which it is found
• have a good sense of the development of theatrical practice and theory from its origins through the English Restoration
• be able to make connections between theatrical practice and its literature
• be able to discuss relationships between theatre of the past and theatre of the present
• research a particular play and its theatrical history and contexts
• research a topic of debate in theatre history and write an analytical paper
• write a well-conceived thought paper examining a specific theme or context in one play

Course Requirements: 2 exams and two 6-8 page papers. The first of these will be a history paper on a question of scholarly debate. You will be required to turn in a rough draft for this paper. The second paper will be a more traditional literature/thought paper. Information about these papers is on the website and we will discuss them in class.
You will also give a brief presentation, in groups, on one of the plays we are reading. Your job will be to relate the play to the history we are studying. Part of this assignment will involve creating a casebook with your group. Again, this information will be on the website and discussed in class.
The other significant portion of your grade will come from class participation, which includes answering questions on the online bulletin board system. Since history, especially theatre history, is not an exact science, there is much room for debate about the causes of theatrical trends and even about the basic characterizations of those trends. I will leave as much room as possible for classroom discussion on topics of interest to you. I expect you to come to class with questions and thoughtful comments in mind.
Quizzes - There will be at least 9 pop quizzes this semester on the play that was to be read for that day. At the end of the semester, your lowest quiz grade will be dropped (top 8 grades counted).

Course Texts: Living Theatre Wilson and Goldfarb
Longman Anthology of Drama and Theatre Greenwald, Schultz, Pomo

Evaluation:
Exam 1 15%
Exam 2 17%
Class Participation 15%
Paper 1 15%
Paper 2 13%
Presentation 15%
Quizzes 10%

Grades:
A – 91-100
A- - 88-90
B+ - 85-87
B 81-84
B- 78-80
C+ 75-77
C 71-74
C- 68-70
D+ 65-67
D 61-64

Attendance Policy: You are permitted 3 absences. Your next two absences (4 and 5) will lower your final grade by 2 points. Each subsequent absence will lower your final grade by one-third of a letter grade (i.e. 3 points). Twelve or more absences, whether excused or unexcused, will result in a grade of WA (equivalent to an ‘F’). (Here’s the math - 5 absences - minus 4 points on final grade, 6 - minus 7 pts, 7 - minus 10 pts, 8 - minus 13 pts, 9 - minus 16 pts.) Three tardies (5 minutes or more) equal one absence. You must tell me at end of class that you were late or risk being marked as absent for the day. I do not count absences as excused or unexcused, so if you know that you will be absent for auditions, etc., budget your time accordingly. (The only exception to this is an absence for a daytime performance of a departmental production. I don’t count those.) It is the Department of Theatre’s official policy that attendance is mandatory. Failing to attend (for excused or unexcused reasons) a TR course 8 times or a MWF course 12 times is the Department standard for the grade of WA, which is the equivalent of failing.

Course Schedule

Week 1
W Aug. 23 - Introduction: Goals and Requirements The Nature of Theatre and relationship of Theatre to Drama. How do we know what we know?
F Aug. 25 - Scholars. Who’s right in all this mess? What if we disagree? The subjective nature of theatre. Ritual and Theatre. The Anthropological View. Story time.
Read: Wilson, pp. 2-21; “The Abydos Passion Play”

See King Lear. A two page review of the play in terms of its modern adaptation will enable you to drop an additional quiz grade and substitute the paper grade. Paper due Monday, Sept. 11.

Week 2
M Aug. 28 - Theatre Origins, Greek Theatre Read: pp. 22-38, Anthology 11-16, 108-114
W Aug. 30 - Read: Medea
F Sept. 1 - Read: pp. 38-59, Anthology 34-36

Week 3
M Sept. 4 - Read: Lysistrata
W Sept. 6 – Finish up Greek theatre
F Sept. 8 – Susan out of town; no class

Week 4
M Sept. 11- Roman Read: Chapter 2, Anthology 216-218
W Sept. 13 - Read: Brothers
F Sept. 15 - Roman entertainments

Week 5
M Sept. 18 - Medieval Read: pp. 119-141, Anthology 410-414
W Sept. 20 - Read: Abraham and Isaac
F Sept. 22 - Medieval Read: Everyman and pp. 141-146

Week 6
M Sept. 25 - Secular medieval theatre
W Sept. 27 - Asian; Indian theatre Read: Chapter 3, Anthology 324-332, 360-373
F Sept. 29 – Indian and puppet theatre

Week 7
M Oct. 2 - Japanese theatre
T Oct. 3 - Last day to withdraw from classes with a grade of W
W Oct. 4 – Japanese theatre Read: Kamachi at Sekidera Due: First paper first draft
F Oct. 6 – Japanese theatre and exam review

Week 8
M Oct. 9- Exam #1
W Oct. 11- Chinese theatre Read: The Qing Ding Pearl and “The World of the Chinese Drama”
F Oct. 13 - Chinese theatre

Week 9
M Oct. 16 - Renaissance Read: pp.148 - 159, 175 - 180, Anthology 462-473
W Oct. 18 - Italian Renaissance Architecture Read: pp. 164– 175
F Oct. 20 - Susan out of town; no class

Week 10
M Oct. 23 - Read: selections from The Mandrake online Due: First Paper
W Oct. 25 - Commedia Read: pp. 159 - 164
F Oct. 27 - Elizabethan Read: Chapter 6, Anthology 476-482

Week 11
M Oct. 30 - Elizabethan
W Nov. 1 – Elizabethan Read: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
F Nov. 3 - Finish Elizabethan

Week 12
M Nov. 6 - Fall Break
W Nov. 8 - French Neoclassicism Read: Chapter 8
F Nov. 10 – Read: Anthology 666-671, Tartuffe

Week 13
M Nov. 13 - Spain 17th cen. Read: Chapter 7
W Nov. 15 - Read: Life’s A Dream
F Nov. 17 - finish Spanish 17th century

Week 14
M Nov. 20 - Restoration/18th century England Read: Anthology 674-681
W Nov. 22 - Thanksgiving Break
F Nov. 24 - Thanksgiving Break

Week 15
M Nov. 27 - Restoration, 18th cent. England Read: Chapter 9
W Nov. 29 - Read: The Country Wife – find it online at Bibliomania
F Dec. 1 - Restoration, 18th cent. England

Week 16
M Dec. 4 - Review for exam; or, Theatre History and Literature in 50 minutes of questions. Due: Literature Paper

The Final Exam will cover primarily what we've learned since Exam #1. There will be a couple of questions covering the whole semester.
Final exams: 10:00 class - Wed. Dec. 13, 8-11; 1:00 class - Mon. Dec. 11, 12-3.

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