TH 3321 History of the Theatre II Spring 2020 Kevin Gates [email protected] Office Hrs: MWF, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. or by appointment (212 Nueces)

Textbooks: History of the Theatre (Foundation Edition) by Oscar Brockett The Bedford Introduction to Drama (7th or 8th edition) by Lee Jacobus

Course Description: This course involves the study of (primarily Western) theatre history from 1700-the present. Particular attention will be paid to how theatre both reflects and shapes the cultural context from which it derives. Thus, the major figures, representative plays, and different modes of theatrical expression will be discussed in terms of the social, political, religious, philosophical, and artistic forces that have contributed to the development of theatre in Western civilization.

Learning Objectives: By the end of the course, students should be able to:  Demonstrate an understanding of the social and artistic movements that shaped theatre.  Understand the connections between various movements and time periods.  Analyze texts through the lens of various artistic movements and performance traditions.  Discuss the major artistic movements, the key figures, and key plays from the periods covered by this class.

Attendance Policy: Since this course is online, there is no attendance in the traditional sense. Students are expected, however, to review all powerpoint presentations and to complete all assignments. Failure to review powerpoint presentations will result in a reduction of your final grade by one half a letter grade per presentation.

Special needs: Students with special needs (as documented by the Office of Disability Services) should register with the Office of Disability Services (512 245-3451) and identify themselves at the beginning of the semester.

Academic Honesty: Students found guilty of academic dishonesty, which includes, but is not limited to, cheating on an examination or other academic work to be submitted, plagiarism, collusion, or abuse of resource materials, are subject to disciplinary action.

Grading: Exams: (5x100 = 500) 50% Play Analyses: (11x20 = 200) 20% (20 possible extra credit) Reading Assessments: (10x10 = 100) 10% Research Paper proposal: 10 (extra credit) Research Paper: 200 20%

Play Analyses: Familiarity with key works is essential for every theatre practitioner and educator. Over the course of the semester, we will read 12 plays – a TINY fraction of the number of important works that exist. For each play, students will write a critique of the play (minimum 300 words) in response to a writing prompt (or prompts). Note that two short plays, Cathleen Ni Houlihan and Riders to the Sea will be covered by a single writing assignment.

Reading Assessments: Each assessment will consist of approximately ten multiple choice questions based on the assigned readings in the Brockett text. Assessments may be taken open book. Each question counts for 1 point. Students may retake assessments, and the highest grade will go into the gradebook.

Exams: Each exam will be multiple choice. They will be timed, and there are no resubmissions on exams. The exams are NOT cumulative.

GRADING NOTE: It is departmental policy not to discuss grades over email. If you have a question regarding your grade, please arrange to see me.

RESEARCH PAPERS can be on any theatre-related topic from 1700 through the present. The body of the paper should be 2,000 words, excluding header, title, sources, and any block quotes. You must cite your sources, and your paper must include a bibliography. While you may use the Internet, you must also use at least 3 published sources in your research. Do not use the BROCKETT textbook as a source. Please do NOT copy and paste – USE YOUR OWN WORDS. The purpose of this exercise is to expose you to scholarly writing in the theatre and to help you learn how to analyze texts, to evaluate evidence, and to understand more about a key movement, work, discovery, or figure in the theatre. UNIT 1: AFRICAN THEATRE, EUROPEAN THEATRE TO 1850, EARLY AMERICAN THEATRE (TO BE COMPLETED BY MIDNIGHT, FEBRUARY 7)

Assignments: Watch: Lectures 1-4 Read: Brockett, 244-271, 468-474, and 482-488 (Assessment 1) Brockett, 276-292, 295-313, 315-323; (Assessment 2) The Dilemma of a Ghost by Ama Ata Aidoo http://homepages.wmich.edu/~acareywe/dilemmaofaghost.pdf Orra by Joanna Baillie (to be provided) Write: Play Analysis, The Dilemma of a Ghost Play Analysis, Orra Complete: Assessments 1 and 2; Exam 1

Questions to consider as you work through this unit: What are some of the difficulties of analyzing non- Western theatrical traditions, and how might that affect our perspective of African theatre? What are the key concepts of Neoclassicism and the Enlightenment, and how do they affect theatre? How does Baroque design differ from Renaissance design, and how does that reflect the changing philosophies of the time? What were the characteristics of the Bibienas’ designs? How did the discovery of ancient archaeological sites affect theatrical practice? How did Voltaire change theatrical practice in France, and what inspired his reforms? What ideas of Diderot pushed back against Neoclassicism? How did the political situation in Italy affect the development of theatre? What was theatre in Germany like in the early 1700s, and what sort of reforms were proposed? What are the characteristics of the Sturm und Drang movement? What are the characteristics of Weimar Classicism? What is Romanticism? Is Weimar Classicism a distinct movement, or is it an early form of Romanticism? What are the characteristics of Melodrama?

Key topics: Traditional African Goethe Vestris performance Melodrama pattern/appeal Irving Issues facing playwrights Pixérécourt Star actors Soyinka Romantic theory Box sets Fugard Schlegel US first play, theatre Bibienas Kleist Forrest Alfieri Tieck Astor Place Riots Voltaire Hugo Cushman Diderot Scribe’s “well-made play” Native character types Marivaux Theatre Regulation Act of Minstrelsy Beaumarchais 1843 Uncle Tom’s Cabin Hanswurst Gothic melodramas Booth Gottscheds Baillie Daly

Neuber Kemble family MacKaye Lessing Kean Delsartre Kotzebue Aldridge Boucicault "free plantation" Schiller Macready

UNIT 2: REALISM’S FIRST PHASE; THE “-ISMS;” IRISH RENAISSANCE (TO BE COMPLETED BY MIDNIGHT, FEBRUARY 28)

Assignments: Watch: Lectures 5-8 Read: Brockett, 326-334, 340-350; 356-369, 377-382, and 384-389 (Assessment 3) Brockett, 382-384, 389-392, and 413-423 (Assessment 4) A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen (Anthology) Cathleen Ni Houlihan by (to be provided) and Riders to the Sea by J.M. Synge (Anthology) Write: Play Analysis, A Doll’s House Play Analysis, Cathleen Ni Houlihan/Riders to the Sea Complete: Assessments 3 and 4; Exam 2 Submit: Research Proposal

Questions to consider as you work through this unit: What ideas or forces worked against the development of realistic theatre? How much of what we think of as Realism can be attributed to the experiments of Saxe-Meiningen? How did the advancements proposed by Wagner become part of modern theatrical practice? How did the works of Comte, Darwin, Freud, and Marx change the dialogue? What is the difference between Realism and Naturalism? What is the difference between the approaches of Zola and Ibsen? What are the non-realistic elements in Miss Julie? How did people manage to avoid censorship when staging controversial plays? What were the differences between the Little Theatres in England, France, and Germany, and how did the membership lead to these differences? What are the key characteristics of Expressionism, Futurism, Dada, Symbolism, and Surrealism? What were the goals of the Irish Renaissance, and how successful was the project? What are the contributions made by Appia and Craig? How are their ideas similar, and how do they differ?

Key topics:

Modernism Independent Theatre Movement Synge Marx Santley Horniman Comte Symbolism (philosophy + Appia Darwin staging) Craig Freud Maeterlinck Realism Realism (basic principles) Jarry Naturalism Dumas fils Strindberg Symbolism Wagner Wedekind Expressionism Saxe-Meiningen English Aestheticism Futurism Ibsen (career, influence/style, Wilde Dadaism Doll’s House) Irish Renaissance Surrealism Zola + Naturalism (drama + Abbey Theatre U.S. expressionist plays staging) Yeats Cocteau G.B. Shaw Gregory

UNIT 3: RUSSIAN THEATRE; THEATRE TO 1945 (TO BE COMPLETED BY MIDNIGHT, MARCH 20)

Assignments: Watch: Lectures 9-12 Read: Brockett, 337-340, 369-370, 392-394, and 409-422 (Assessment 5) Brockett, 371-375, 396-407, and 422-426 (Assessment 6) Mother Courage by Bertolt Brecht (Anthology) Trifles by Susan Glaspell (Anthology) Write: Play Analysis, Mother Courage Play Analysis, Trifles Complete: Assessments 5 and 6; Exam 3

Questions to consider as you work through this unit: What is the significance of the Moscow Art Theatre? How is the MAT related to the career of Chekhov? Was Realism the only style practiced at the MAT? What are some of the techniques originated or developed by Stanislavsky? How might those techniques have been shaped by the way they were transmitted to the US? How did Meyerhold’s work differ from Stanislavsky’s? What is the significance of Vera Komissarzhevskaya’s contributions? What is Biomechanics? How did the Ballets Russes influence theatrical practice, particularly in design? How did Soviet influence shape Russian Theatre? What are the characteristics of Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty? What are the characteristics of Epic Theatre? How does Theatre of Cruelty compare to/contrast with Brecht’s ideas? What production is said to have united the two modes? What was Copeau’s view of directing, and how influential was it? What are the characteristics of the works of Pirandello, Giraudoux, and Anouilh? How did English staging practices develop between the wars? How did the Syndicate gain control of American theatre, and who was able to push back against their control? What was the “New Stagecraft,” and who were the principal figures who introduced it? What was the significance of the Federal theatre Project? Can you distinguish the features of Golden Age Musicals from Alternative Forms, Sondheim, and the New Alternative?

Key topics:

Gogol O’Casey Lillian Hellman Tolstoy Charles Frohman Thornton Wilder Stanislavsky James O’Neill Black Crook Meyerhold The Syndicate Showboat Chekhov The Schuberts Gershwin/Of Thee I Sing Komissarzhevskaya David Belasco Paul Robeson Ballet Russes Clyde Fitch Golden Age Stalin Martha Morton Rogers & Hammerstein Artaud (theory + staging) Decline of US Theatre Oklahoma! Brecht (theory + staging, plays) New Stagecraft Alternative Forms Pirandello Little Theatres The Fantasticks Giradoux University Theatre Hair Anouilh Robert Edmond Jones A Chorus Line Lorca Provincetown Players Stephen Sondheim Ghelderode Theatre Guild Andrew Lloyd Webber/British Witkiewicz The Group Theatre Invasion Tyrone Guthrie Three Plays for a Negro The French Team/Les Mis John Gielgud Theatre Disney and the New Coward Federal Theatre Project Alternative Eliot Eugene O’Neill

UNIT 4: POST-WAR THEATRE TO 1968 (TO BE COMPLETED BY MIDNIGHT, APRIL 10)

Assignments: Watch: Lectures 13-16 Read: Brockett, 429-436, 438-444, 449-455, 491-507, and 509-515 (Assessment 7) Brockett, 455-462, and 515-528 (Assessment 8) Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (Anthology) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Arthur Miller (Anthology) Write: Play Analysis, Waiting for Godot Play Analysis, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Complete: Assessments 7 and 8; Exam 4 Submit: Research Paper

Questions to consider as you work through this unit: What is the difference between Existentialism and Absurdism? Did the Absurdists write to an existing genre, or was the genre invented by critics after the fact? What is the view of mankind in Existentialism and Absurdism? What are the three types of Absurdism, and what are examples of each? How did the writers in the wake of World War II deal with the emotional consequences of the war? What are the significance of the National Theatre of England, the RSC, and the Royal Court Theatre? What are the contributions of Peter Brook? What was the Actor’s Studio, and how did its participants affect the development of American Theatre? How and why did Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway develop?

Key topics: Essentialism vs Existentialism The Stratford Festival Miller Sartre English Stage Company Williams No Exit Look Back in Anger Albee Martin Esslin John Osborne Simon Absurdist Conventions Peter Hall Broadway Off-Broadway Samuel Beckett Trevor Nunn Off-Off Broadway Eugene Ionesco Harold Pinter La MaMa E.T.C./Ellen Stewart Vaclav Havel Edward Bond Lincoln Center Josef Svoboda Peter Brook Gregory Mosher Max Frisch Peter Shaffer Julliard Acting Program Friedrich Dürrenmatt Tom Stoppard Joseph Papp Brecht/Helene Weigel Caryl Churchill Public Theatre/NY Shakes. Dario Fo David Hare 3 factors leading to Regional Jean Genet Alan Ayckbourn Theatre Movement Jerzy Grotowski Kazan/Mielziner (style and Major regional and/or Chicago Heinar Müller influence) Theatres Ariane Mnouchkine Actor's Studio

UNIT 5: CONTEMPORARY THEATRE (TO BE COMPLETED BY MIDNIGHT, MAY 4)

Assignments: Watch: Lectures 17-20 Read: Brockett, 515-528 (Assessment 9) Brockett, 542-556 (Assessment 10) Fences by August Wilson (Anthology) How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel (Anthology) Angels in America: Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner (Anthology) Write: Play Analysis, Fences Play Analysis, How I Learned to Drive Play Analysis, Angels in America: Millennium Approache Complete: Assessments 9 and 10; Exam 5

Questions to consider as you work through this unit: How did the experimental theatre of the 1960s develop earlier genres? How is their influence still felt? Who are some of the major figures of Latinx and African American theatre? What are the different strains of feminism, and what is the philosophy behind each? What are the shared struggles of communities of color, women and the LGBTQIA community with respect to representation and “the canon?” What is post-modernism?

Key topics:

Living Theatre Wolfe Kushner Open Theatre Parks Postmodernism Happenings Nottage Flying Karamazov Brothers Luis Valdez Liberal/Radical/Materialist Robert Wilson El Teatro Campesino feminism Shepard Actos Female Pulitzer playwrights Mamet Mitos (Henley, Norman, Bogart Rivera Wasserstein) Hnath López Women’s Experimental Gunderson Svich Theatre Co. Hwang Marginalized issues Fornes Nguyen Mykell Pinkney Vogel Marber Harlem Renaissance West Kane Marita Bonner McNally Ravenhill Hansberry Development and types of Butterworth Baraka gay representation McDonagh Turner Ward Boys in the Band, Jeffrey, McPherson Shange Laramie Project, Normal Carr August Wilson Heart

**Syllabus and Itinerary subject to change. Instructor e-mail Response Time: I will normally respond to emails within 24-48 hours of receiving them, although response time to emails received on weekends may be longer. Please indicate the course number (TH3321) somewhere in the subject line of the email, so I will know that it is a course issue.

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