SPRING 2001
This information effective for Spring 2001.
Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.
Instructor: Michael Warren
Anticipated meeting times and locations:
T/ Th 2-3:45 pm, College Eight 242; and Wed 7-10 pm in College Eight
252
The twentieth century was a particularly rich century for theater in Britain; the design of a syllabus presents extraordinary challenges. Although the title of the course and the description in the catalog indicate the study of drama since 1900, the focus of this course will probably be on nine or ten important plays written between 1945, the end of World War II, and the year 2000, and on the social, historical, and theatrical circumstances of their original performance. To illuminate the plays' relation to English political and artistic life, we shall view a number of films--some versions of playtexts, some original works--that present a kind of parallel history to the plays. The film showings will be on Wednesday evenings and are part of the class requirements; students should not enroll for the course if they anticipate difficulty with attending any of the class meetings.
The course moves from the drawing room drama of the forties, through the theatre of the absurd and the new realism of the fifties, into the forms in which political and social issues have been explored during the last thirty years. Six of the ten authors listed below are still active playwrights, and their work is to be seen on British and American stages.
Plays to be studied will be chosen from the following (the list differs significantly from that in the catalog entry). The availability of texts will be a factor in my final selection of plays for study.
Among the films viewed will be versions of The Browning Version, Look Back In Anger, and Plenty; some productions of plays made for TV; and the feature films The Third Man, Betrayal (a version of a Harold Pinter play), The Ploughman's Lunch, and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid.
There will be two papers, each of seven to eight pages in length, upon topics to be negotiated with the instructor.
Students should come to the course with some acquaintance with the study of drama; LIT 61D and LIT 80Z are particularly good preparation. Students are strongly encouraged to read other plays by these playwrights, and plays by other playwrights of the period; and to see other British films of this period.
Students planning to enroll in the course (and all other students also) are strongly advised to see the Theater Arts Department's production of Brian Friel's Translations, to be presented on the Mainstage in late February.
Required texts (as available) will be ordered at The Literary Guillotine on Locust Street. Some plays may be made available in a reader.