Department of Iberian and Latin American Studies School of Languages, Linguistics and Film Queen Mary, University of London

CAT/COM/HSP 5009: Avant-Garde Theatre in Europe

Semester: 2 Level: 5

Credit Value: 15 credits

Module Organizer: John London (Room 1.33, Arts One; Email: [email protected])

Pre-requisite: Any level 4/5 literature module.

Assessment: This module is assessed by coursework only (i.e. there is no examination), but not all the writing you produce will count towards the final mark. Assessment works as follows:

- 25% of the final mark will come from one 1,000-word essay to be submitted during the semester. - 75% of the final mark will come from a 3000-word essay to be written after the end of the module.

Precise submission dates and questions for these assessments will be provided: at least two weeks before submission (for the first essay); at least four weeks before submission (for the second essay). In addition, students will be required to present talks based on the seminar questions in the following Schedule and Bibliography.

1 All students must ensure that they obtain a copy of the School handbook and follow the School’s guidelines and regulations in all matters regarding this module. Students must note that failure to do so may result in de-registration from the module, which may have a significant impact on their overall degree classification.

Description Why should characters behave illogically on stage or not exist at all? How can image rival plot? And what is the point of shocking audiences? This module introduces some fundamental styles and plays from European avant-garde theatre and sets them within an artistic and socio-political context. Futurism, Dada, Expressionism and the Theatre of the Absurd are included. Special attention is paid to Spanish and Catalan drama. We will at all times try to see texts as excuses for performance and use other aspects of culture to understand the challenges of this new drama.

Learning Outcomes By the end of the module, students should understand several major currents in avant- garde drama in Europe and have a knowledge of specific avant-garde plays, as well as a knowledge of specific concepts related to avant-garde drama. They should be able to engage in close critical readings and analysis of plays on the page and for performance, in addition to evaluating arguments within class discussion and in written work. Students should be able to write clearly and concisely about fundamental issues concerning avant- garde drama and to construct cogent written arguments through the use of textual and artistic evidence. They should be able to demonstrate an ability to analyze texts within their aesthetic and performative context.

2 Module Schedule: Spring 2020 * Primary texts to be read before the corresponding lecture each week carry an asterisk *. Week 1: 20 January: Lecture: Introduction; From the Nineteenth Century to the Beginning of a New Age: * Maeterlinck, Interior.

Week 2: 27 January: Seminar: * Maeterlinck, Interior. Lecture: Futurism and Dada: *Boccioni, Genius and Culture; *Cangiullo, Detonation; *Marinetti, Feet; *Marinetti, Settimelli and Corra, ‘The Futurist Synthetic Theater, 1915’; * Tristan Tzara, The Gas Heart (1920); Tzara, *‘Dada Manifesto, 1918’.

Week 3: 3 February: Seminar: *Boccioni, Genius and Culture; *Cangiullo, Detonation; *Marinetti, Feet; *Marinetti, Settimelli and Corra, ‘The Futurist Synthetic Theater, 1915’; * Tristan Tzara, The Gas Heart (1920); Tzara, *‘Dada Manifesto, 1918’. Lecture: Expressionism: * Kokoschka, Murderer Hope of Womankind; * Stramm, Awakening.

Week 4: 10 February: Seminar: * Kokoschka, Murderer Hope of Womankind; * Stramm, Awakening. Lecture: * Pirandello, Six Characters in Search of an Author

Week 5: 17 February: Seminar: * Pirandello, Six Characters in Search of an Author Lecture: * Valle-Inclán, Bohemian Lights.

Week 6: 24 February: Seminar: * Valle-Inclán, Bohemian Lights. Lecture: * García Lorca, The Dream of Life / Play without Title; * Artaud, ‘The Theatre and the Plague’.

Week 7: 2 March: READING WEEK.

Week 8: 9 March: Seminar: * García Lorca, The Dream of Life / Play without Title; *Artaud, ‘The Theatre and the Plague’. Lecture: The Absurd: * Pedrolo, Men and No; * Ionesco, The Bald Prima Donna.

Week 9: 16 March: Seminar: * Pedrolo, Men and No; * Ionesco, The Bald Prima Donna. Lecture:* Arrabal, Guernica and Picnic on the Battlefield (with Dr Gonçal López)

Week 10: 23 March: Seminar: * Arrabal, Guernica and Picnic on the Battlefield. Lecture: * Brossa, The Quarrelsome Party.

Week 11: 30 March: Seminar: * Brossa, The Quarrelsome Party. Lecture: * Belbel, Caresses or * After the Rain.

Week 12: 6 April: Seminar: * Belbel, Caresses or * After the Rain; essay discussion.

3 Reading List

QMUL Library codes (where available) are given after the items listed. Note that many items are available in Senate House, University of London library, Malet Street or in UCL. When an item is indicated as ‘on order’ you should verify the current state of the catalogue in QMUL and, if no code is yet available, ask a librarian to see if the item can be processed quickly.

* Primary texts to be read before the corresponding lecture each week carry an asterisk *. A sample of the relevant bibliography for each topic will help you further.

Introduction to Avant-Garde Theatre in Europe Ibsen, Henrik, A Doll’s House (1879): https://myetudes.org/access/content/user/mazu48009/PDF%20Files/DollsHouse_full0 1.pdf; or: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2542/2542-h/2542-h.htm Warden, Clare, Modernist and Avant-Garde Performance: An Introduction (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2015). Senate House: YXAW War.

Symbolism

*Maurice Maeterlinck, Interior (1894), in Theater of the Avant-Garde: 1890-1950, ed. by Bert Cardullo and Robert Knopf (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001). EBooks: online resource; and PN 6112 THE.

Secondary Reading Maeterlinck, ‘The Modern Drama’, in Cardullo and Knopf, pp. 55-61. EBooks: online resource; and PN 6112 THE. McGuinness, Patrick, Maurice Maeterlinck and the Making of Modern Theatre (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000). PQ2625 A61 MAC. Wilde, Oscar, ‘The Decay of Lying’ (1889), at: http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Abstracts/Wilde_1889.html Worth, Katherine, Maeterlinck’s Plays in Performance (Cambridge: Chadwyck-Healey, 1985). On order.

Seminar Questions 1) In which ways can Interior be considered Symbolist? 2) How can Oscar Wilde’s essay/dialogue ‘The Decay of Lying’ be considered to define a new sort of literature and drama? 3) What is Interior about? 4) How do the staging and symbolism of Interior define its meaning?

4 Futurism and Dada

* Umberto Boccioni, Genius and Culture (1915) * Francesco Cangiullo, Detonation (1915) * F.T. Marinetti, Feet (1915) * Marinetti, Settimelli and Corra, ‘The Futurist Synthetic Theater, 1915’ * Tristan Tzara, The Gas Heart (1920) AND ‘Dada Manifesto, 1918’ (all in Theater of the Avant-Garde: 1890-1950, ed. by Bert Cardullo and Robert Knopf (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001)). EBooks: online resource; and PN 6112 THE.

Secondary Reading Berghaus, Günter, Italian Futurist Theatre, 1909-1944 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998). Senate House: YX3iU Ber. Dashwood, Julie R., ‘The Italian Futurist Theatre’, in Drama and Society, Themes in Drama, 1, ed. by James Redmond (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979), pp. 129-46. PN1621 THE 1; Senate House: Stack: PS Y13. 1. Gordon, R. S., ‘The Italian Futurist Theatre: A Reappraisal’, Modern Language Review, 85 (1990), 349-61. JSTOR. London, John, ed., One Hundred Years of Futurism: Aesthetics, Politics, and Performance (Bristol: Intellect; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017), esp. pp. 171-260 (dip in; look up some internet performances from pp. 262-63). PN56. F8 ONE; PN56. F8 LON; Senate House: Art 5th Flr South Reading Room. Matthews, J. H., Theatre in Dada and Surrealism (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1974). PQ558 MAT. Varisco, Robert, extract from ‘Anarchy and Resistance in Tristan Tzara’s Gas Heart’, in Cardullo & Knopf, pp. 266-71. EBooks: online resource; and PN 6112 THE.

Seminar Questions 1) To what extent do the Futurists and Dadaists fulfil the intentions of their manifestos? 2) What are Dada and Futurism rebelling against and how do they enact this rebellion? 3) Are the innovations of Dada and Futurism essentially antitheatrical? 4) Which movement is more innovative theatrically, Futurism or Dada?

Expressionism

* Oskar Kokoschka, Murderer Hope of Womankind. * August Stramm, Awakening. Both in Seven Expressionist Plays: Kokoschka to Barlach, trans. by J.M. Ritchie and H.F. Garten (London: John Calder; Dallas, TX: Riverrun, 1980). PT1258 SEV; Senate House: XWT67 Sev; and: Q30. 04t Rit.

Secondary Reading Knapp, Bettina, ‘Oskar Kokoschka’s Murderer Hope of Womankind: An Apocalyptic Experience’, Theatre Journal, 35 (May 1983), 179-94. JSTOR.

5 Pam, Dorothy, ‘Murderer, the Women’s Hope’, Tulane Drama Review/The Drama Review, 19, no. 3 (1975), 5-12. Electronic Journal Via JSTOR Patterson, Michael, The Revolution in German Theatre, 1900-1933 (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1981). PT666 PAT; Senate House: YX3K PAT; and: Q38.05 Pat. Schvey, Henry I., Oskar Kokoschka: The Painter as Playwright (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1982). PT2621. O65. Z5. SCH; Senate House: VLkwU Kok Sch; and: Q Koko 5 Scv. Styan, J. L., Modern Drama in Theory and Practice, 2nd edn, 3 vols (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), vol. 3: Expressionism and Epic Theatre. PN2189 STY VOL. 3; Senate House: YXC Sty; and: PN1861. S76 1983.

Seminar Questions 1) Why do Expressionist characters act as they do? 2) How can the art of Expressionism help us understand the drama of Kokoschka and Stramm? 3) Does emotion or melodrama dominate Expressionist drama?

Pirandello

* Luigi Pirandello, Six Characters in Search of an Author in Pirandello, Luigi, The Rules of the Game. Six Characters in Search of an Author. Henry IV, transl. by Robert Rietty (London: Methuen, 1985). PQ 4835. I7 PIR.

Secondary Reading Bassanese, Fiora, Understanding Luigi Pirandello (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1997). Senate House: XMT P67a Bas. Bloom, Harold, ed., Luigi Pirandello (New York: Chelsea House, 1988). Senate House: XMT P67a Lui. Fergusson, Francis, The Idea of a Theater (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1953), pp. 198- 206. Senate House: YXC Fer. Lorch, Jennifer, Six Characters in Search of an Author (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005). PQ 4835. I7 LOR; Senate House: XMT P67 Qa Lor. Paolucci, Anne, The Plays and Fiction of Luigi Pirandello: Selected Essays (Middle Village, NY: Giffon House, 2009). Senate House: XMT P67a Pao. Thompson, Doug, An Introduction to Pirandello’s ‘Sei personaggi in cerca d’autore’ (Hull: Department of Italian, University of Hull, 1985). Senate House: Stack: XMT (PC 1).

Seminar Questions 1) In which ways does Six Characters in Search of an Author challenge existing, realist theatre? 2) Is Six Characters in Search of an Author merely about theatre? 3) How might you need to change Six Characters in Search of an Author in order to stage it now?

6 Ramón María del Valle-Inclán

* Luces de Bohemia / Bohemian Lights, ed. by Anthony N. Zahareas, Edinburgh Bilingual Library, 10 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1976); PQ6641. A47. L5. VAL; Senate House: XPT V16G; or Lights of Bohemia, trans. by John Lyon (Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1993); PQ6641. A45. L5 VAL; Senate House: XPT V16 G; or in Valle-Inclán, Three Plays/Plays: One, trans. by Maria M. Delgado (London: Methuen, 1993): PQ6641. A47. VAL; Senate House: XPT V16E 993.

Secondary Reading Delgado, Maria, ‘Introduction’, in Valle-Inclán, Three Plays/Plays: One, trans. by Maria M. Delgado (London: Methuen, 1993), pp. xiii-xlii. PQ6641. A47. VAL; Senate House: XPT V16E 993. Dougherty, Dru, ‘Luces de Bohemia and Valle-Inclán’s Search for Artistic Adequacy’, Journal of Spanish Studies, 2 (1974), 61-75. Online. Edwards, Gwynne, Dramatists in Perspective: Spanish Theatre in the Twentieth Century (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1985), pp. 36-74. PQ6115 EDW; Senate House: XPT6 Edw. Lyon, John, The Theatre of Valle-Inclán (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), pp. 105-25. PQ6641. A47. Z8. LYO; Senate House: XPT V16a Lyo. Smith, Verity, Valle-Inclán (New York: Twayne, 1973). PQ6641 A47 Z8 SMI. Weber, Frances W., ‘Luces de Bohemia and the Impossibility of Art’, Modern Language Notes, 82 (1967), 575-89. Senate House online. Zahareas, Anthony, Introduction, in Luces de Bohemia / Bohemian Lights, ed. by Anthony N. Zahareas, Edinburgh Bilingual Library, 10 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1976), pp. 1-81; PQ6641. A47. L5. VAL; Senate House: XPT V16G.

Seminar Questions 1) Does Bohemian Lights adhere to any of the stylistic features of avant-garde drama studied up until now in the module? 2) How does the structure of Bohemian Lights function? Does it help to convey the meaning of the play? 3) What are the challenges to staging Bohemian Lights and how could you solve them? 4) To what extent is Bohemian Lights a picture of Spain in the 1920s?

García Lorca and Artaud

* García Lorca, Federico, The Dream of Life / Play without Title (Comedia sin título), in The Unknown Federico García Lorca: Dialogues, Dramatic Projects, Unfinished Plays & a Filmscript, ed. and trans. by John London (London: Atlas Press, 1996), pp. 93-112; PQ6613. A763. A6 GAR; Senate House: XPT G23E 996; or in: García Lorca, Plays 3, ed. by Gwynne Edwards (London: Methuen, 1994). PQ 6613. A763. A2. GAR; Senate House: XPT G23E 994.

7 Artaud, Antonin, ‘The Theatre and the Plague’, in The Theatre and Its Double, trans. Mary Caroline Richards (New York: Grove Press, 1958). PN20121 ART; PQ2601. R68 ART; Senate House: YXA Art.

Secondary Reading Delgado, Maria M., Federico García Lorca (London: Routledge, 2008). PQ6613 A765. Z5. DEL; Senate House: XPT G23 a Del. Edwards, Gwynne, ‘“Comedia corriente de los tiempos actuales”: Lorca’s Comedia sin título’, in Journal of the Institute of Romance Studies, 2 (1993). JOURNALS Classmark PQ. Murray, Ros, Antonin Artaud: The Scum of the Soul (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014). Ebook online; PQ 2601. R677 MUR. Singleton, Brian, Artaud: Le Théâtre et son double: Critical Guides to French Texts (London: Grant & Cutler, 1998). PQ2601. R68. Z5. SIN. Soufas, Christopher, Audience and Authority in the Modernist Theatre of Federico García Lorca (University of Alabama Press, 1996). PQ6613. A765. Z5. SOU; Senate House: XPT G23a Sou.

Seminar Questions 1) Do Lorca (in The Dream of Life) and Artaud share the same vision of the theatre? 2) How do Lorca and Artaud redefine the notion of realism? 3) Why does Artaud write about the plague? 4) In what way is Lorca’s The Dream of Life Pirandellian? 5) How does Lorca represent Spanish political life?

Pedrolo and Ionesco

* Pedrolo, Manuel de, Homes i no / Men and No, trans. by Herbert Gilliland, Modern International Drama, 10, no. 1 (Fall 1976), 39-74. In pdf: on QMPLUS. * Ionesco, Eugène, The Bald Prima Donna, in Plays vol. 1, trans. by Donald Watson (London: Calder, 1958). PQ2617 06 ION; Senate House: XTT I65D 960.

Secondary Reading Bennett, Michael, Reassessing the Theatre of the Absurd: Camus, Beckett, Ionesco, Genet, and Pinter (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). Senate House: YXAW Ben. Coe, Richard, Ionesco: A Study of His Plays, rev edn (London: Methuen, 1971). PQ 2617.06 Z5. COE. Esslin, Martin, The Theatre of the Absurd, 3rd edn (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1980). PN1861 ESS; Senate House: YXAW ESS. George, David and John London, ed., Contemporary Catalan Theatre: An Introduction (Sheffield: Anglo-Catalan Society, 1996). PC3915 CON; Senate House: XKU6 Con. Schechner, Richard, ‘The Bald Soprano and The Lesson: An Inquiry into Play Structure’, in Ionesco: A Collection of Critical Essays, ed. by R.C. Lamont (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1973). PQ2617. 06. Z5. ION.

8 Styan, J. L., Modern Drama in Theory and Practice, 2nd edn, 3 vols (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), vol. 2: Symbolism, Surrealism and the Absurd. PN2189 STY VOL. 2; Senate House: YXC Sty; and: PN1861. S76 1983. Wellwarth, George, Modern Drama and the Death of God (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1986), pp. 147-52. Senate House: YXC Wel.

Seminar Questions 1) Does Pedrolo share the same vision as Ionesco? 2) How does Pedrolo reflect on Catalan reality in Men and No? 3) In which ways does The Bald Prima Donna conform to Esslin’s definition of the Theatre of the Absurd? 4) Is there any real humour in the The Bald Prima Donna and/or Men and No?

Fernando Arrabal

* Guernica and Picnic on the Battlefield, in ‘Guernica’ and Other Plays, trans. by Barbara Wright (London: Calder & Boyars, 1967; New York: Grove, 1969). PQ 2601. R65. ARR.

Secondary Reading Arata, Luis Oscar, The Festive Play of Fernando Arrabal, Studies in Romance Languages, 25 (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1982). PQ 6651. R6. Z5. ARA.Senate House: XTT A74a Arr. Chesneau, Albert, Décors et Décorum: enquête sur les objets dans le théâtre d’Arrabal, Collections Études, 42 (Quebec: Naaman de Sherbrooke, 1984). On order. Donahue, Thomas John, The Theater of Fernando Arrabal: A Garden of Earthly Delights (New York: New York University Press, 1980). PQ 6651. R6. Z5. DON. Drumm, Elizabeth, ‘“Guernica on Stage: Examples by Fernando Arrabal and Jerónimo López Mozo’, Anales de la Literatura Española Contemporánea, 34 (2009), 427-51. Online. Esslin, Martin, The Theatre of the Absurd, 3rd edn (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1980). PN1861 ESS; Senate House: YXAW ESS. Kronik, John W., ‘Arrabal and the Myth of Guernica’, Estreno, 2, no. 1 (Spring 1976), 15-20. On order. London, John. Reception and Renewal in Modern Spanish Theatre: 1939-1963 (London: MHRA, 1997), pp. 214-22. PN2784 LON; Senate House: YX3gU Lon. Podol, Peter L., Fernando Arrabal, Twayne’s World Authors Series, 499 (Boston, MA: Twayne, 1978). PQ 6651. R6. Z5. POD; Senate House: XTT A74a Pod.

Seminar Questions 1) Does Arrabal’s style sever any connection with reality? 2) What is the effect of the attitude of Arrabal’s characters? 3) Are Guernica and Picnic on the Battlefield funny or essentially serious? 4) In which ways can Guernica and Picnic on the Battlefield be considered Spanish?

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Joan Brossa

* The Quarrelsome Party, trans. by Anna García Jové, Laia Castañé, David George, and John London, in Modern Catalan Plays, ed. by John London and David George (London: Methuen, 2000). PC3929.5 MOD; Senate House: XKU67 Mod.

Secondary Reading http://www.fundaciojoanbrossa.cat/engl/index.html Brossa, Joan, Word are Things: Poems, Objects and Installations (London: Riverside Studios, 1992). PC3941. B76. BRO. Brossa, Joan and Antoni Tapies, Novel.la (Barcelona: Curial, 1975). Senate House: Stack: VLgU TAP. George, David and John London, ed., Contemporary Catalan Theatre: An Introduction (Sheffield: Anglo-Catalan Society, 1996), pp. 73-83 (by David George). PC3915 CON; Senate House: XKU6 Con. Guerrero, Manuel, ed., Joan Brossa or the Poetic Revolt (Joan Brossa o la revolta poètica (Barcelona: Departament de Cultura, Generalitat de Catalunya/Fundació Joan Brossa/Fundació Joan Miró, 2001). PC3941. B76. Z5. BRO. London, John, Contextos de Joan Brossa: l’acció, la imatge i la paraula (Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, 2010). PC3941. B65. LON; Senate House: XKu B842a Lon.

Seminar Questions 1) How can Brossa’s art help us to understand his theatre? 2) In which ways are the acts of The Quarrelsome Party linked? Do the links create meaning or undermine it? 3) Is it helpful to see The Quarrelsome Party in the context of 1960s Barcelona?

Sergi Belbel

* Caresses, trans. by John London, in Spanish Plays, ed. by Elyse Dodgson and Mary Peate (London: Nick Hern Books, 1999); PQ6227. SPA; Senate House: XPU 67 Spa; OR After the Rain, trans. by Xavier Rodríguez Rosell, David George and John London, in Klaus Chatten, Sugar Dollies and Sergi Belbel, After the Rain (London: Methuen, 1996). PT2663 H2 CHA.

Secondary Reading George, David and John London, ed., Contemporary Catalan Theatre: An Introduction (Sheffield: Anglo-Catalan Society, 1996), pp. 91-96. PC3915 CON; Senate House: XKU6 Con. Faulkner, Sally, Literary Adaptations in Spanish Cinema (Woodbridge: Tamesis, 2004), pp. 72-77. PN1993.5 S7. FAU; Senate House: YXP3g Fau.

10 Feldman, Sharon, In the Eye of the Storm: Contemporary Theater in Barcelona (Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2009), esp. pp. 185-95. PN2786. B3 FEL; and full book online through library catalogue. George, David, ‘From Stage to Screen: Sergi Belbel and Ventura Pons’, Anales de la Literatura Española Contemporánea, 27 (2002), 89-102. Online. George, David, Sergi Belbel and Catalan Theatre: Text, Performance and Identity, Colección Támesis: Serie A: Monografías, 287 (Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2010), pp. 120-26 (Caresses), 126-32 (After the Rain). Ebooks; Senate House: XKU B418a Geo. London, John, ‘Sergi Belbel’s Carícies, Arthur Schnitzler’s Reigen, and the Seduction of Form’, in Teatro hispánico y su puesta en escena: estudios en homenaje a Josep Lluís Sirera Turó, ed. by José Luis Canet, Marta Haro, John London, and Biel Sansano, Colección Parnaseo, 31 (Valencia: Universitat de València, 2017), pp. 223- 34. PN2781 TEA; Senate House: 5th Flr: YX.3g The.

Seminar Questions 1) Is Belbel innovative or essentially traditional? 2) To what extent can we define Belbel’s style as realist? 3) Does it matter that Belbel writes his plays in Catalan?

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