Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this module the students will:
- Have a detailed knowledge of eleven landmark plays
- Understand how and why these plays reflect the history of the twentieth century
- Be able to critically elaborate the social movements and concerns that these plays both came from and spoke to
- Critically understand the evolution of theatrical genre, structure, and form over the course of the twentieth century
- Have critical understandings of key genres of drama, for example: tragedy; epic theatre; post-modern, new brutalism
- Have participated in workshop discussion and presentations
- Be able to think critically about and theoretically analyze drama and theatre
- Have developed critical and analytical writing skills specific to drama, theatre, and performance
Indicative Module Content:
11 landmark plays from the 1890s to the 1990s.
Critical readings and discussions about these plays and their playwrights as well as discussions and readings about:
Theatrical form, structure, and genre.
Modern and contemporary theatre history.
Theatre as a force for social, political, and cultural change.
Theatrical representation of the twentieth century as an century of progress
Theatrical representation of the twentieth century as an century of war
Key social movements and concernts-- civil rights, anti-imperialism, feminism, LGBTQ rights, HIV/AIDS, war and genocide - that inspired these plays