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Modern American Political Theater, 1920s-1980s
AMST287 SP

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theoretical questions about the concept of political theater and reconsider the less overt political, ideological and historical content of several classic plays by O'Neill and Williams.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, S hange, 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 Dav id 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: Lecture

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: HA ENGL    Grading Mode: Student Option   

Prerequisites: NONE

Last Updated on MAR-24-2000

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