ENGL 20411 - Shakespeare in Performance

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

English

Description:

Shakespeare's plays are not isolated artifacts that exist in a vacuum: as literary scholar and artistic director Kevin Ewert has said, Shakespeare's "creations were not birthed, Athena-like, from his balding pate into this world to stand alone as singular, finished and fully-formed edifices; neither playwright nor play existed or "worked autonomously." The plays were originally produced as popular entertainment and both reflected and constructed the cultural conditions of early modern England. Modern interpretations of the plays - on paper, on stage, on film-likewise engage with their own historical moments: each interpretative act is a socially, politically, theoretically informed, and further generative, response. In this course, we will focus on six of Shakespeare's plays to develop an understanding of the formal, linguistic, and stylistic aspects of the genre. We will examine not only the literariness but also the liveliness of these texts, considering each in terms of performance by viewing contemporary theatrical and cinematic works, including the Actors From the London Stage's production of Much Ado About Nothing here at Notre Dame, Chicago Shakespeare Theater's staging of Macbeth, and various film adaptations. Through reading, discussing, watching, and maybe even performing Shakespeare, students will develop the analytical skills to consider diverse interpretations and make their own informed, critical interventions.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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