Course
Discontinued
No
Course Code
THEA 1230
Descriptive
Theatre History II
Department
Theatre
Faculty
Language, Literature & Performing Arts
Credits
3.00
Start Date
End Term
Not Specified
PLAR
No
Semester Length
15 weeks
Max Class Size
55
Contact Hours
4 hours per week
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Learning Activities
This course invites students to establish what is hoped will be a lifelong relationship with live theatre. To that end, the instructor will combine lectures on the cultural and political context of landmark plays with opportunities for small group discussions. Slides, video segments and recordings will be incorporated into the lectures and discussions. In-class writing (short, timed, freewriting sessions in response to catalyst questions) will offer students a chance to widen the application of lecture concepts and vocabulary in a personal, critical way. Attendance at live theatre performances will be a vital component of the course. Students will be encouraged to consider how historical theatrical knowledge can be utilized in real, self-directed, creative theatre projects.
Course Description
This is a survey course that explores Western theatre from the 17th Century to the 20th Century. Students will learn about the innovations in theatre styles and staging conventions that have occurred since the Renaissance. By attending live theatre productions, students will strengthen their critical skills and gain an appreciation for the way historical methods are adapted in contemporary productions. Students will also participate in group discussions of representative plays.
Course Content
- The Nature of Theatre
- Defining the basic elements
- Theatre in relation to other forms of art
- Special qualities of theatrical art
- Different Historical Paradigms for the Use of Theatrical Space
- The relationship between space and performance
- The proscenium arch theatre
- The thrust stage
- The arena stage
- Flexible spaces
- Auxiliary spaces
- Shaping the Spectacle
- Production design
- The elements of visual design
- The principles of design
- Sets and costumes
- Sound and lighting
- Theatrical Paradigm Shifts
- Historical paradigm shifts: variations in festival theatre styles (Greek, Roman and Medieval)
- Case study: the emergence of Restoration Comedy in late 17th Century England
- Sample focus work: scenes from The Rover by Aphra Behn
- Case study: The advent of Romanticism
- Sample focus work: Hugo’s Hernani
- Case study: the advent of realism in the late 19th Century
- Sample focus work: Ibsen’s A Doll House
- The Director Takes the Stage
- The theory of Wagner: seeking the unified “masterwork”
- The practice of the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen: ensemble acting and unified production
- Antoine and the Independent Theatre Movement
- The Moscow Art Theatre; Stanislavsky and Nemerovich-Danchenko
- Chekhov’s Drama
- Peter Brook on directing Chekhov
- Reactions to Realism
- The Symbolist Movement
- Maeterlinck and Strindberg
- Sample focus work: Strindberg’s The Father
- Innovations in stage and lighting design
- Appia and Craig
- New in the Early 20th Century
- Dada and Tzara
- Futurism and Marinetti
- Expressionism and Kaiser
- Sample focus work: Duras’ India Song
- New Styles After World War I
- New staging approaches
- The Federal Theatre Project and the Group Theatre in the USA
- Brecht and Epic Theatre
- Artaud and the Theatre of Cruelty
- Sample focus work: scenes from Brecht and Artand
- New Styles After World War II
- Psychological realism
- The American musical
- Pirandello and metatheatre
- Absurdism
- Postwar British Theatre: Pinter, Shaffer and Churchill
- Sample focus work: scenes from the era
- Diversity in 20th Century Theatre
- Alternative theatre groups
- Grotowski and Poor Theatre
- Environmental theatre
- Multi-media, happenings and performance art
- Contemporary directors
- Cultural diversity
- Gender issues
- Sample focus work: Hwang’s M. Butterfly
- Sample focus work: Vogel’s Thompson’s Lion in the Streets
- Sample focus work: Padmanabhan’s Harvest
- The Contemporary Canadian Stage
- The classics in repertory
- New perspectives
- Controversies and rebellions
- The Fringe Theatre movement
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the course, successful students will be able to:
- Discuss the distinct elements of theatre as an art form.
- Discuss variations in what is performed (script, scenario, plan), how it is performed, and why it is performed.
- Articulate the way text, performance and audience are interrelated.
- Identify the individual and collective processes that result in a theatrical event.
- Describe how different audiences can play a vital part in the creation of theatrical art.
- Explain how the performance space reflects the changing needs of individual artists and audience members.
- Discuss the way theatre reflects paradigm shifts in cultural values, ideas and philosophical questions.
- Discuss how critics in different historical periods have evaluated the theatre of their own times.
- Discuss how theatre of other times and places can be made meaningful to contemporary audiences, with particular reference to post-Renaissance Western Theatre.
- Develop a criteria for evaluating live theatre based on knowledge and experience.
- Demonstrate how social, cultural, political, religious and economic forces shape theatrical art.
- Demonstrate how theatrical conventions are reflected, rejected or combined over time by successive generations of artists.
- Recognize the use of historical theatrical devices in contemporary theatre.
- Use the vocabulary of theatre history with accuracy and precision.
- Rise to the challenge of reading dramatic language aloud with minimal preparation time.
- Demonstrate increased skills in recording and summarizing the verbal comments of peers in a discussion setting.
- Demonstrate tolerance for critical views that may be different from their own.
- Demonstrate increased skills as receptive and engaged audience members.
- Write theatre reviews that are balanced, insightful and specific.
- Utilize library resources for theatre history study.
- Undertake challenging reading assignments with an awareness of studying a text as an ongoing creative process.
- Value the instinctive responses and questions that emerge in the initial reading of a dramatic text.
- Value the contemplative responses and detailed questions that emerge with close study of a particular scene.
- Value the responses and questions of other students to a script or performance, and show a willingness to see through others’ eyes.
- Value coherence and specificity in written work, and show a willingness to revise a written response to strengthen coherence and specificity.
- Engage with a dramatic text in a creative way, envisioning original design concepts and fresh directorial ideas for the work.
Means of Assessment
| Workshop Participation (8 workshops at 3 marks, plus bonus mark for attendance at all workshops) |
25% |
| Mid-term Exam | 20% |
| Creative, Research-Based Project | 20% |
| Credit for In-class Writing | 10% |
| Final Exam | 25% |
| Total | 100% |
Textbook Materials
A list of recommended textbooks and materials is provided on the Instructor’s Course Outline which is available to students at the beginning of each semester.
The following or equivalent textbooks are required:
- Wilson, Edwin and Alvin Goldfarb. Living Theatre: A History. Fourth Edition. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2004.
- Worthen, W.B. The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama. Fourth Edition Boston: Wadsworth, 2004.
Students will be expected to pay for tickets to two local performing arts events at a total anticipated cost of $30.00.
Which Prerequisite
None (although this course, offered in the winter semester, is a good companion course to THEA 1130 in the fall semester)