Syllabus
Schedule: Week 1 (20 Feb.) IntroductionWeek 2 (27 Feb.) Naturalism and its Discontents• “On the Futility of the ‘Theatrical’ in the Theatre” (1896) Alfred Jarry in George W. Brandt ed.
Modern Theories of Drama (Oxford: Clarendon, 1998)• “Against the Well-Made Play” (1911) George Bernard Shaw in George W. Brandt ed.
Modern Theories of Drama (Oxford: Clarendon, 1998)• “Themes and Definitions” (Introduction) Christopher Innes Avant Garde Theatre 1892-1992 (London and New York: Routledge, 1993)• Naturalism and Symbolism in European Theatre 1850-1918 ed. Claude Shumacher (Cambridge: CUP, 2004) See “General Introduction” and extracts on Google BooksPractice: Henrik Ibsen A Doll’s House (1879)Week 3 (5 Mar.) Defining the Avant-Garde• “Theories of the Avant-Garde” (Chapter 1) Richard Murphy Theorizing the Avant-Garde: Modernism, Expressionism and the Problem of Postmodernity (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999)Practice: Alfred Jarry King Ubu (1896)Week 4 (12 Mar.) Futurism and Expressionism • “The Futurist Synthetic Theatre 1915” Marinetti et al. in Bert Cardullo and Robert Knopf Theater of the Avant-Garde 1890-1950 (New Haven: Yale UP, 2001)• “Therapy and Subliminal Theatre” (Chapter 4) Christopher Innes Avant Garde Theatre 1892-1992 (London and New York: Routledge, 1993)• “The Poetics of Hysteria: Expressionist Drama and the Melodramatic Imagination” (Chapter 4) Richard Murphy Theorizing the Avant-Garde: Modernism, Expressionism and the Problem of Postmodernity (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999)Practices: Umberto Boccioni Genius and Culture (1915); Francesco Cangiullo Detonation Synthesis of All Modern Theatre (1915); Filippo Marinetti Feet (1915); The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) / Metropolis (1927) Week 5 (19 Mar.) Antonin Artaud and the Theatre of Cruelty• “The Theatre of Cruelty: First Manifesto” (1932) Antonin Artaud in George W.
Brandt ed. Modern Theories of Drama (Oxford: Clarendon, 1998)• “An End to Masterpieces” (1933) Antonin Artaud in George W.
Brandt ed. Modern Theories of Drama (Oxford: Clarendon, 1998)Practice: Antonin Artaud The Spurt of Blood (1925)Week 6 (26 Mar.) I will be absentWeek 7 (2 Apr.) Bertolt Brecht and Epic Theatre• “A Short Organum for the Theatre” (1948) Bertolt Brecht in George W.
Brandt ed. Modern Theories of Drama (Oxford: Clarendon, 1998)• “Short Description of a New Technique in Acting which Produces an Alienation Effect” (1940) Bertolt Brecht in Michael Huxley and Noel Witts eds.
The Twentieth Century Performance Reader 2nd Ed. (London and New York: Routledge, 2002)• “What is Epic Theatre” (1973) Walter Benjamin in Michael Huxley and Noel Witts eds. The Twentieth Century Performance Reader 2nd Ed. (London and New York: Routledge, 2002)Practice: Bertolt Brecht The Good Person of Szechwan (1943)Week 8 (9 Apr.) Theatre as Sign System: Semiotics, Audiences, Cultural Translation• “Foundations: Signs in the Theatre” (Chapter 2) Keir Elam The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama (London and New York: Methuen, 1980)• “The State of Current Research” Patrice Pavis Analyzing Performance: Theater, Dance and Film (1996; Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 2004)• Theatre Audiences (Chapters 4 and 5) Susan Bennett (London: Routledge, 1997 2nd ed)• “The Emancipated Spectator” (Chapter 1) Jacques Rancière (London: Verso, 2009)Week 9 (16 Apr.) Performance: Widening the Field of Investigation• “Framing Actuality: Thirty Years of Experimental Theater, 1959-89” Theodore Shank in Enoch Brater and Ruby Cohn eds.
Around the Absurd: Essays on Modern and Postmodern Drama (Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1990)• Marvin Carlson Chapter 1 “What is Performance?” Performance: A Critical Introduction (New York and London: Routledge, 1996)• Peggy Phelan, Chapter 7 “The ontology of performance: Representation without reproduction” Unmarked: The Politics of Performance (London and New York: Routledge, 1993.• Jill Dolan, “Performance, Utopia and the “Utopian Performative” (2001)Practices: my suggestions – Karen Finley; Guillermo Gómez-Peña; others to be agreed in classWeek 10 (23 Apr.) Contemporary Performance: Mediation, presence and postmodern theatre• “Postmodernism and the Avant-Garde” (Chapter 7 Conclusion) Richard Murphy Theorizing the Avant-Garde: Modernism, Expressionism and the Problem of Postmodernity (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999)• “The Haunted Stage: An Overview” (Chapter 1) Marvin Carlson The Haunted Stage: The Theatre as Memory Machine (Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 2001)• “An Orchid in the Land of Technology” (Chapter 1 Introduction) Philip Auslander Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture (London and New York: Routledge, 1992)• The Transformative Power of Performance Erika Fischer-Lichte (Chapter 1 and 7) (London and New York: Routledge, 2008; 2004)Practices: The Wooster Group; Rimini Protokoll; Marina Abramović – to be agreed in classWeek 11 (30 Apr.) Post Dramatic Theatre and after• “The Postmodern Scene” (Chapter 1) Johannes Birringer Theatre, Theory, Postmodernism (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana UP, 1991)• Extracts Hans-Thies Lehmann Postdramatic Theatre (1999; London: Routledge, 2006) • Liz Tomlin, “Foreword” Contemporary British Theatre: Breaking New Ground (London: Palgrave, 2013)Week 12 (7 May) Topics in theatre researchTo be finalised. Theatre and ethics, theatre and politics, performance philosophy, Laura Cull, Tony Fisher, Alan Read et al., recent publications and series….Week 13 (14 May) Rektorský den
Annotation
Please note: This a PhD seminar. It is not open to BA or MA students.
This course will explore the diverse body of theory and commentary about theatre in the twentieth century. Course readings will range from academic perspectives on developments and movements in theatre practice to manifestos and essays by theatre practitioners. Selected reading material will be provided on the following areas: Avant garde theatre, Expressionism, Brechtian epic, Artaud and the notion of cruelty, Semiotic theories of theatre, Intercultural theatre, Theories of performance and presence, Theatre and postmodernity. The focus will be upon how in each of these areas critics, theorists and practitioners have attempted to define theatre and drama with the aim of discussing how our conceptions of theatre and drama have evolved and transformed in the course of the century.
Course requirements
As this is a PhD seminar, there is no final written work. Students will be invited to present ideas on the readings each week. We will agree on the specifics at the beginning of the semester.