Western Theatre Traditions: Modern

Dialectical approach to reading and thinking about the history of dramatic theatre in the west, interrogating the ways poetry inflects, and is inflected by, the material dynamics of performance. We will undertake careful study of the practices of performance, and of the sociocultural, economic, political, and aesthetic conditions animating representative plays of the Western tradition from the late eighteenth century to today; course will also emphasize development of important critical concepts for the analysis of drama, theatre, and performance. Specific attention will be given to the ideology of realism and naturalism, the development of epic theatre, the theatre of cruelty, postcolonial performance, and the continuing invention of dramatic forms (theatre of the absurd, speechplays, postdramatic theatre), as well as to the political and theoretical impact of race, gender, sexuality in modern performance culture. Writing: 2-3 papers; Reading: 1-2 plays, critical and historical reading per week; final examination.