Department of English

Fulfills Distributional Course in Arts & Letters

Required of all Theatre Arts Majors. This course, with different topics, may be repeated for credit.

Crosslisted with: THAR 275 601

From the shocking frankness of Mae West's SEX to the "love that dare not speak its name" of Lillian Hellman's THE CHILDREN'S HOUR; from the joyless partying of Mart Crowley's THE BOYS IN THE BAND to the joyous self-invention of Charles Busch's THEODORA: SHE-BITCH OF BYZANTIUM -- theatre has explored and altered our notions of gender, sexual identity and sexuality. In this course, we will look at 20th Century plays, films, entertainments, and performers that have broken the rules. Queer, drag and camp theatre will be prominent topics, and we will include plays by Tony Kushner and Charles Ludlam; performance art by Lypsinka, Split Britches and Dame Edna Everage; cabaret and musical performances (Madonna); bizarre paratheatrical phenomena (Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl); and more. We will also study material that breaks taboos of heterosexual behavior (FIGHT CLUB, SEX AND THE CITY).