TWENTIETH CENTURY DRAMA

Year	No.	Offer	Mode	Description			Cred. Pts
96	93515 	S1  	D 	TWENTIETH CENTURY DRAMA   	1.00

Contents

• Staffing
• Pre-requisite(s)
• Synopsis
• Objectives
• Topics
• Texts
• Recommended References
• Student Workload
• Assessment Details

STAFFING:

PRE-REQUISITE(S)

93529

SYNOPSIS:

The   study   of  dramatic  texts and performance  practices  provides
insights  into human experiences and places these experiences  in  the
context of society.

This unit examines the fourth of the four major periods of drama,  and
provides  a  study  of a number of  twentieth century plays,  both  as
texts to be read and, where possible, as performances.  The plays  are
considered  in  terms   of  the  dramatic  movements  they  exemplify.
Areas  of  study include 'epic' theatre, expressionism and the theatre
of  the absurd.  The unit will also examine the processes involved  in
production of the performance event.  Areas of study include  feminist
theatre strategies and the role of the director.

OBJECTIVES:

On successful completion of this unit students will have:

1. the ability to understand and to respond critically to modern drama, as text and in performance;
2. an understanding of different modes of dramatic presentation and be able to make informed connections between the differing twentieth century dramatic aesthetics;
3. developed communicative and analytical skills through written papers and tutorial discussion;
4. a detailed knowledge of specific dramatic texts and performance practices drawn from the period.

TOPICS:

 Description                                                    Weighting(%)

European drama at the turn of the century

Twentieth century acting theories

Popular culture in modern drama

The epic theatre

The theatre of cruelty and the poor theatre

Expressionism

The rise of the director

Theatre of the Absurd

Feminist theatre strategies

Theatre audiences

English drama - post 1956

Radical theatre of the seventies and eighties

Dance-theatre and non-text based performance

TEXT and MATERIALS to be PURCHASED:

Peter Barnes, "Lulu", (adapt. from Wedekind), London, Methuen, 1989.

Edward Bond, "Plays: Three", London, Methuen, 1982.

Bertolt Brecht, "Life of Galileo", trans. John Willett, London:
Methuen, 1980.

Caryl Churchill, "Plays: One", London: Methuen, 1985.

Dario Fo, "Mistero Buffo, trans. Ed Emery, London, Methuen, 1988.

Jean Genet, "The Balcony", trans. Bernard Frenchtmann, rev. ed.
London, Faber, 1965.

Federico Garcia Lorca, "Three Tragedies", trans. James Graham-Lujn and
Richard L O'Connell, Middlesex, Penguin, 1961.

Eugene Ionesco, "Rhinoceros and Other Plays", trans. Derek Prouse,
Middlesex, Penguin, 1962.

John Osborne, "Look Back in Anger", London, Faber, 1960.

Heiner Muller, Hamletmachine and Other Texts for the Stage, trans.
Carl Weber, New York: PAJ Publications, 1984.

Harold Pinter, "The Homecoming", London, Methuen, 1966.

Franca Rame & Dario Fo, "A Woman Alone and Other Plays", trans.
Gillian Hanna, Ed. Emery and Christopher Cairns, London: Methuen,
1991.

August Strindberg, "Six Plays of Strindberg", trans. Elizabeth
Sprigge, New York, Doubleday & Co., 1955.

Peter Mandke, "Offending the Audience and Self-Accusation", trans.
Michael Roloff, London: Methuen, 1971.

RECOMMENDED REFERENCE MATERIALS:

J L Styan, "Modern Drama: Theory and Practice", 3 vols., Cambridge
University Press, 1981.

Bertolt Brecht, "Brecht on Theatre", ed. John Willett, New York, Hill
and Wang, 1964.

Peter Brook, "The Empty Space", Middlesex, Penguin, 1972.

Martin Esslin, "The Theatre of the Absurd", Middlesex, Penguin, 1965.

Marvin Carlson, "Theories of the Theatre", Cornell University Press,
1993.

Susan Bennett, "Theatre Audiences", London, Routledge, 1990.

Sue-Ellen Case, "Feminism and Theatre", London, Macmillan, 1988.

Christopher Innes, "Avant Garde Theatre 1892-1992", London and New
York, Routledge, 1993.

Richard Jones, "Great Directors at Work" Stanislavsky, Brecht, Kazan,
Brook", Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1986.

Edward Braun, The Director and The Stage", London, Methuen, 1982.

STUDENT WORKLOAD REQUIREMENTS:

	ACTIVITY				HOURS
Lectures                                      	26
Tutorials/Workshops                           	39
Private Study                                 	100

ASSESSMENT DETAILS:

No	*F/S	Marks		Due		Description					Wtg(%)		LBL
1 	S 	        	T.B.A.  	1 X 1000 WD TUTORIAL PRESENTATION       	20.00   	Y
2 	S 	        	T.B.A.  	1 X  10 MINUTE WORKSHOP PRESENTATION    	20.00   	N
3 	S 	        	T.B.A.  	1 X  2000 WORD ESSAY                    	20.00   	N
4 	S 	        	END S1  	3 HOUR EXAMINATION                      	40.00   	N