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AMST287
Modern American Political Theater, 1920s-1980s
AMST287 SP
Not Currently Offered
One aim of the course is to shake up our canonical notions
of what modern American theater was, is, can be and can
do. We will accomplish this by studying a tradition of
political theater in America from the 1920s to the present.
Our survey includes 1930s radical theater, 1960s black
revolutionary theater, native American drama, chicano
theater and contemporary feminist plays. We will also
raise theoretical questions about the concept of political
theater and reconsider the less overt political,
ideological and historical content of several classic
plays by O'Neill and Williams. Some theoretical works
(Brecht, O'Neill, Miller, Roth, Boal) and plays by Gold,
Odets, Federal Theater Project, Blitzstein, O'Neill,
Williams, Hellman, Miller, Baraka, Shange, Shepard, Mamet,
Maria Irene Fornes, El Teatro Campesino, San Francisco Mime
Troupe.
MAJOR READINGS
Mike Gold, STRIKE!: A MASS RECITATION,
MONEY
Arthur Arent/Federal Theater Project, ONE THIRD OF A NATION
Marc Blitzstein, THE CRADLE WILL ROCK
Clifford Odets, WAITING FOR LEFTY, AWAKE AND SING
Eugene O'Neill, LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT
Lillian Hellman, THE CHILDREN'S HOUR
Maria Irene Fornes, FEFU AND HER FRIENDS
Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones), THE DUTCHMAN, THE SLAVE, "The
Revolutionary Theater"
Lorraine Hansberrry, A RAISIN IN THE SUN
Hanay Geiogamah, BODY INDIAN, FOGHORN, 49
David Mamet, GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS
Arthur Miller, DEATH OF A SALESMAN, "On Social Plays"
Augusto Boal, THEATER OF THE OPPRESSED
Martha Roth, "Toward a Feminist Performance Aesthetic"
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Two papers (5 pages, 12
pages). Each student will compile an anthology of several
plays, some of which will not have been included in our
reading. The final paper will be a critical introduction
to this anthology. Students will be taught how to use
bibliographic resources for independent research.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS
Each student will
take a turn at initiating class discussion.
This course counts toward the English Department's
historicity requirement.
Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting
or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the
first class, they will be dropped from the class list.
NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form
to the Registrar's Office.
COURSE FORMAT: Discussion Seminar
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level: UG Credit: 1.00
Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA ENGL
Prerequisites:
None
Last Updated on MAR-22-1999
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Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459