Modern drama
P Fitzpatrick
8 points
* 3 hours per week
* Second semester
* Clayton
Objectives Students in this subject should develop an understanding of ideas of modernism, and the aesthetic and socio-political contexts in which it evolved. They should also acquire the capacity, through experimental work in class, to relate textual interpretation to performance possibilities, and a knowledge of contemporary theoretical approaches to the analysis of non-verbal communication.
Synopsis This subject looks at the emergence of modernist dramatic forms in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Europe. The focus is at once on concepts of `the modern' and on critical analysis of the texts and performance styles usually associated with a range of artistic ideas and movements such as naturalism, expressionism, surrealism, absurdism and epic theatre. In all cases, the plays will be treated as performance texts, and students will be required to think about the many theatrical signifiers apart from dialogue which contribute to the production of meaning.
Assessment Tutorial presentation and participation: 20%
* Short
essay (1500 words) or group-devised performance: 30%
* Long essay (3000
words): 50%
* Third-year students will be required to complete written
tasks of greater complexity, and to show evidence of a wider range of
theoretical and historical reading.
Prescribed texts
Beckett Endgame Faber
Brecht Mother Courage and her Children Methuen
Buchner Woyzeck Oxford
Chekhow The Seagull in Five plays Oxford
Ibsen Hedda Gabler in Four major plays Oxford
Jarry Ubu Rex Methuen
Maeterlinck The Intruder Centre for Drama and Theatre Studies
Pirandello Six Characters in Search of an Author in Naked masks Dutton
Strauss Big and Little Centre for Drama and Theatre Studies
Strindberg The Ghost Sonata Centre for Drama and Theatre Studies
Weiss Marat Sade Calder and Boyars
Wilde Salome Faber
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