Theatre Arts 112/English 98
Theatre, History, Culture III:
Modernism to Post-Modernism
Professor Mazer
Spring 2013
519 Annenberg Center, 3-2659;
cmazer@english.upenn.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:30-2:30, and by
appointment
January 10: Introduction.
I.
Against/Beneath/Beyond Realism
January 15: Anton Chekhov, The Seagull.
January 17: The Seagull (cont.); Maurice
Maeterlinck, “The Tragic in Everyday Life,” and The Intruder.
[REQUIRED THEATREGOING: Endgame, by Samuel Beckett, Arden
Theatre, January 17-March 10. (Please
see it before we discuss the play in class on February 26)]
January 22: Edward Gordon Craig, “The Actor and the
Über-Marionette” from On the Art of the Theatre; Adolphe Appia, “Ideas
on a Reform of our Mise en Scène”; William Butler Yeats, At the
Hawk’s Well and Purgatory.
II. Dada and Surrealism
January 24: Alfred Jarry, Ubu Roi; Guillaume
Apollinaire, The Breasts of Tiresias.
III. The Theatre of Cruelty
January 29: Robert Leach, “Antonin Artaud,” in Makers
of Modern Theatre; Antonin Artaud, “Metaphysics and the Mise en Scène,”
“On the Balinese Theater,” “No More Masterpieces,” “The Theater and Cruelty,”
and “Theater of Cruelty (first manifesto)” from The Theater and its Double.
[REQUIRED THEATREGOING: Chimera, Annenberg Center, January
30-February 2. To purchase a ticket for
$10, go directly to the box office, and give them the code “THARTS” by JANUARY
16]
IV.
Expressionism
January 31: Kenneth Macgowan and Robert Edmond Jones,
“Beyond Realism,” “The Living Stage,” and “Masse-Mensch—Mob-Man,”from Continental
Stagecraft; Ernst Toller, Man and the Masses.
V.
Constructivism and Bio-Mechanics
February 5: Robert Leach, “Vsevolod Emilievich
Meyerhold,” in Makers of Modern Theatre; Mel Gordon, “Meyerhold’s
Biomechanics”; Vsevolod Meyerhold, “Observations on the Play” and
“Meyerhold at Rehearsal.”
VI.
The Epic Theatre
February 7: Robert Leach, “Bertolt Brecht,” in Makers
of Modern Theatre; Bertolt Brecht, “The Modern Theatre is the Epic
Theatre,” “Theatre for Pleasure or Theatre for Instruction,” “Alienation
Effects in Chinese Acting,” “The Street Scene.”
February 12: Brecht, The Caucasian Chalk Circle.
[Approximate date: FIRST TAKE-HOME ASSIGNMENT]
VII.
American Expressionism
February 14: Eugene O’Neill, “A Manifesto on Masks”;
Sophie Treadwell, Machinal.
VIII.
American Political Theatre, American Realism and Beyond
February 19: Clifford Odets, Waiting for Lefty and Awake
and Sing!
February 21: Awake and Sing! (cont.); Lee
Strasberg, “The Voyage Continues II: The
Actors Studio and My Classes,” A Dream of Passion.
IX.
Theatre of the Absurd
February 26: Samuel Beckett, Endgame.
February 28: Endgame (cont.); visit from Ed Sobel
(Penn ‘87), director of the Arden Theatre production.
[SPRING BREAK]
X.
The Actor and the Body
March 12: Jerzy Grotowski, “Towards a Poor Theatre,”
“The Theatre’s New Testament,” and “He Wasn’t Entirely Himself,” from Towards
a Poor Theatre.
X1.
Synthesis
March 14: Peter Brook, The Empty Space.
March 19: Film viewing, on reserve in
Rosengarten: Peter Weiss, Marat/Sade,
directed by Peter Brook.
[Approximate date: SECOND TAKE-HOME ASSIGNMENT]
XII.
Post-Colonial Theatre
March 21: Brian Crow and Chris Banfield,
“Introduction,” from An Introduction to Post-Colonial Theatre.
Marc 26:
Girish Karnad, Naga-Mandala.
March 28: TBA
XIII.
Performance Anthropology and the New Inter-Culturalism
April 2:
Interviews and articles on The Mahabharata, from Peter
Brook: A Theatrical Casebook, ed.
David Williams; Gautam Dasgupta, “Peter Brook’s ‘Orientalism’”; Maurya
Wickstrom, “Commodities, Mimesis, and The Lion King: Retail Theatre for the 1990s,”; slides, and
video clips about Peter Brook’s Mahabharata and Ariane Mnouchkine’s
Shakespeare and Aeschylus.
XIV.
Feminist Theory and Performance
April 4: Jill Dolan, “The Discourse of Feminism: The Spectator and Representation,” from The
Feminist Spectator as Critic; Caryl Churchill, Cloud Nine.
April 9:
Cloud Nine (cont.); Rhonda
Blair, “‘Not
… but’/‘Not-not-me’: Musings on Cross-Gender Performance.”
XVI.
Post-Modern Drama, Post-Dramatic Theatre, and The Theatre of Images
April 11:
Suzan-Lori Parks, The America Play; Sarah Kane, 4.48
Psychosis.
April 16:
discussion of Chimera.
April 18:
Richard Foreman, “Foundations for a Theater,” “Directing the Actors,
Mostly,” “Visual Composition, Mostly,” from Unbalancing Acts; slides and
video-tapes of productions by Robert Wilson, Richard Foreman.
April 23:
Catch-up and Conclusions.
There will be TWO take-home essay assignments
(approximately 5 pages), plus a choice of A FINAL TERM PAPER (approximately
10-12 pages), due at NOON on MONDAY, APRIL 29, the first day of the exam
period, OR A FINAL EXAM, to be scheduled by the registrar. The topic for the final term paper must MUST
BE APPROVED IN ADVANCE, in person, by THURSDAY, APRIL 11; if you have not
received approval for the topic by the date, YOU HAVE JUST CHOSEN TO TAKE THE
EXAM. Late term papers will not be
accepted; if you do not turn in your paper by noon on the 29th, YOU HAVE JUST
CHOSEN TO TAKE THE EXAM.
Attendance in class is crucial; CHRONIC ABSENCE OR
LATENESS WILL BE COUNTED AGAINST YOU.
Grade: Final term-paper or exam: 40%
First
take-home: 25%
Second
take-home: 25%
Participation
(minus attendance problems): 10%
Please familiarize yourself with the rules of
academic intergrity, at http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/osl/acadint.html. I will rigorously pursue violations of the
code.
The following books can be purchased at the Penn
Book Center, 34th and Sansom Sts.:
Anton Chekhov, The Major Plays
Robert Leach, Makers of Modern Theatre
Sophia Treadwell, Machinal
Clifford Odets, Waiting for Lefty and Other
Plays
Bertolt Brecht, The Caucasian Chalk Circle
Samuel Beckett, Endgame
Peter Brook, The Empty Space
Caryl Churchill, Cloud Nine
Suzan-Lori Parks, The America Play
Sarah Kane, 4.48 Psychosis
All other readings are on the Blackboard site.