ENGL 20433 - Modern Drama

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

English

Description:

In this course, we will trace the major developments in the past century of European drama, beginning with the "social problem play" developed by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in the 1880's and ending with the collaborative feminist theatre of Caryl Churchill in the 1980's. We will read plays by playwrights who tried to bring theatre as close to real life as possible, and by playwrights who sought to shatter audience expectations with bizarre innovations in acting, staging, and theatrical language. Along the way, we will ask ourselves some of the questions that modern playwrights and theatre audiences have struggled with: *Should theatre strive merely to entertain, or should it encourage audiences to think about contemporary issues? *Should plays attempt to uncover the truth about difficult issues and human problems, or should they take the position that all reality is illusory, all human life merely a performance? *Should plays make sense? Are traditional plots important or is it better to use surprising, nontraditional - even nonsensical - methods to try to affect audiences emotionally or viscerally? *Should stage sets try to look as much as possible like the places they are trying to represent, or should they reveal that they are stages and props? *Should actors try to "become" their characters, or should they distance themselves from their characters and think analytically about them? As we consider these questions, we will read plays and short essays by influential thinkers about the theatre. Students will write five short response papers. Class participation will be a vital part of this course as students interpret, stage, and act out portions of plays, both as a regular part of class discussion and as a graded group presentation.

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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