Department of English

This semester’s Topic in Theatre History focuses on the theatrical, dramatic, and histrionic representations of “Others” in select periods of theatrical history. Topics include (among others) the “barbarian” in ancient Greek theatre; representations of Africans, Turks, indigenous Americans, and Jews in Early Modern English theatre; Asians, Indians and Africans in Restoration and 18th-century theatre; Blackface plays (Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Octoroon) and popular entertainment (the minstrel show and vaudeville) in 19th- and early 20th-century America; issues of non-traditional casting in contemporary theatre; the Miss Saigon controversy; and modernist and post-modern theatre and performance art (Anna Deavere Smith, The Wooster Group, et. al.).