THEATRE ARTS 275/ENGLISH 271 ADVANCED TOPICS IN THEATRE: TWENTIETH-CENTURY ENSEMBLES (THE EDINBURGH PROJECT) Professor Mazer Spring 1996 Bennett Hall 305, x8-7382; cmazer@english.upenn.edu Office Hours: Tu 2:00-3:30, Th 1:30-3:00, and by appointment) January 16: Intro I. The Group Theatre: Personal and Political Theatre of the 1930s. January 18: Helen Krich Chinoy "The Poetics of Politics: Some Notes on Style and Craft in the Theatre of the Thirties," (bulkpack) January 23: Wendy Smith, Real Life Drama: The Group Theatre and America, 1931-1940, pp. 3-55 (bulkpack). January 25: Clifford Odets, Waiting for Lefty (bulkpack) II. The Living Theatre. January 30: Julian Beck, The Life of the Theatre, pp. 4-9, 47- 49, 55-66 (bulkpack); Jack Gelber, The Connection (RESERVE) February 1: Pierre Biner, The Living Theatre, pp. 111-141 (re: Frankenstein); pp. 145-158 (re: Antigone). February 6: Biner, The Living Theatre, pp. 167-213 (re: Paradise Now); video showing TO BE ARRANGED. [February 8: TBA (Tom Stoppard in residence with the Theatre Arts Program)] III. New Methods: Grotowski and his Laboratory. February 13: Jerzy Grotowski, Towards a Poor Theatre, pp. 27-53 (bulkpack). February 15: Reports on Grotowski productions: Akropolis, Doctor Faustus, The Constant Prince, Apocalypse cum Figuris. IV. Peter Brook: Experiments within and outside of the establishment. February 20: Michael Kustow, et. al., Tell Me Lies: The Book of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Production of US (RESERVE). February 22: David Williams, ed., Peter Brook: A Theatrical Casebook, pp. 199-224; 293-305 (re: Africa tour; The Conference of the Birds) (bulkpack); Peter Brook, The Shifting Point, pp. 114-134 (bulkpack). [APPROXIMATE DUE DATE: FIRST TAKE-HOME ASSIGNMENT] V. Transformations: Joseph Chaikin and the Open Theatre. February 27: Joseph Chaikin, The Presence of the Actor, pp. 1- 26, (bulkpack); Eileen Blumenthal, Joseph Chaikin: Exploring at the Boundaries of Theatre, pp. 38-66 (bulkpack). February 29: Robert Pasolli, A Book on the Open Theatre. (RESERVE) March 5: Jean-Claude van Itallie, The Serpent (in America Hurrah and other plays). March 7: Chaikin, video screening (of the documentary, The Serpent) TO BE ARRANGED. [Spring Break] VI. Further Transformations: Megan Terry and the Omaha Magic Theatre. March 19: Megan Terry, Viet Rock (bulkpack); Megan Terry, Keep Tightly Closed in a Cool Dry Place (bulkpack); June Schleuter, "Megan Terry's Transformational Drama: Keep Tightly Closed in a Cool Dry Place and the Possibilities of Self," (bulkpack). VII. Ensemble Theatre on Wooster Street I: Richard Schechner and the Performance Group March 21: Richard Schechner, Environmental Theatre, pp. 1-86, 125-192. March 26: Dionysus in 69 (RESERVE). Video showing TO BE ARRANGED. VIII. Ensemble Theatre on Wooster Street II: The Wooster Group. March 28: James Bierman, "Three Places in New England" (bulkpack); Spalding Gray, "About Three Places in Rhode Island" (bulkpack); Elizabeth LeCompte, "The Making of a Trilogy" (bulkpack); Spalding Gray and Elizabeth LeCompte, Rumstick Road,Rumstick Road (bulkpack). [APPROXIMATE DUE DATE: SECOND TAKE-HOME ASSIGNMENT] IX: Joint Stock Company April 2: Caryl Churchill, Cloud Nine. April 4: Caryl Churchill and David Lan, A Mouthful of Birds (RESERVE). [April 9, 12: TO BE ANNOUNCED.] X. After Grotowski: Barba and Boal. April 16: Eugenio Barba, "The Way of Opposites," and "The Odin Story, by Ferdinando Taviani, from Beyond the Floating Islands, pp. 86-113, 236-282 (bulkpack). April 18: Ian Watson, Towards a Third Theatre: Eugenio Barba and the Odin Teatret, pp. 41-72 (bulkpack). April 23: Augusto Boal, Games for Actors and Non-Actors, pages to be announced. April 25: Catch-up and Conclusions. There will be TWO take-home essay assignments, plus ONE final research project, due at a date to be announced, on a topic that MUST BE APPROVED IN ADVANCE. Students participating in the Edinburgh Project, will have an ADDITIONAL ESSAY to write, due AFTER the troupe returns from the Edinburgh Festival, and on a topic that reflects the experience of building the production, and your experience of witnessing the work of other companies at the Festival. (You will receive an incomplete in the course, which will be converted into a grade after the paper is submitted). Students who are NOT in the Edinburgh ensemble are responsible for ONE short (10 minutes) in-class presentations, on one of the following topics (or a related one, subject to approval. Individual productions by Grotowski and his Laboratory Theatre (Feb 15) The San Francisco Mime Troupe Andre Gregory and the Manhattan project Richard Foreman and the Ontological Hysteric Theatre Lee Breuer, Joanne Akalaitis, and Mabou Mines Herbert Blau and Kraken Squat Tadeusz Kantor Arianne Mnouchkine and the Théâtre du Soleil Theatre de Jeune Lune Theatre de la Complicité The date of the report is determined by its subject, and is only slightly negotiable. Attendance in class is crucial; CHRONIC ABSENCE OR LATENESS WILL BE COUNTED AGAINST YOU. The following books can be purchased at the Penn Book Center, 37th and Walnut: Jean-Claude van Itallie, America Hurrah and other plays. Richard Schechner, Environmental Theatre. Caryl Churchill, Cloud Nine. Augusto Boal, Games for Actors and Non-Actors. The bulkpack can be purchased at the Campus Copy Center, 39th and Walnut. Books marked "RESERVE" (Jack Gelber, The Connection; Michael Kustow, et. al., Tell Me Lies; Robert Pasolli, A Book on the Open Theatre; Dionysus in 69; Caryl Churchill and David Lan, A Mouthful of Birds) are in Rosengarten. I have set up a listserv for this course on e-mail, to which you have been automatically subscribed (if this is not so, contact me via e-mail). You will be sent a copy of every e-mail message posted to the listserv, and any message you send will be distributed to everyone who signs up (including the professor). Important announcements about assignments and due dates, notices about local theatre events, etc., will be posted regularly, so CHECK YOUR E-MAIL EVERY DAY. The listserv can also be used by you and your classmates as a clearing house for thoughts and impressions about the readings and the class discussions. Just send a note to Mazer271@english.upenn.edu, or reply to any message you receive over the listserv. (But remember: everything you post can be read by everyone; if you have any private comments, or any private replies to a query you read on the listserv, you should respond privately to the individual's own e-mail address, rather than replying through the listserv). If you are not yet on e-mail, you might consider getting an account, which you can access at any computer hooked up to the network.