Plays and Performances
THEA 150
Fall 2014
| Section:
01
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This course is designed to introduce students to a wide range of plays that are representative of different theatrical genres, styles, and canons. We will read scripts, attend productions on and off campus, and engage in discussions about the artistic merits and sociocultural contexts of these works. The course is divided in two greater units: The Meanings of Avant-Garde--the making of 20th-century theater; and Representations of the Margins: theater and identity. Some of the plays examined in this seminar are A Doll House (Ibsen), The Jewish Wife (Brecht), Fefu and Her Friends (Fornes), They Alone Know (Tardieu), Spring Awakening (Wedekind), Endgame and Act Without Words (Beckett), Cloud Nine (Churchill), The Kiss of the Spider Woman (Puig), The Laramie Project (Kaufman), Irma Vep (Ludlam), Fires in the Mirror (Anna Deavere Smith), and M. Butterfly (David Henry Hwang). |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA THEA |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (THEA) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above |
| SECTION 01 | | Special Attributes: FYS |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Though the list of titles is revised every time the course is offered, some of the plays read in the past include: A Doll House (Ibsen), The Jewish Wife (Brecht), Fefu and her Friends (Fornes), They Alone Know (Tardieu), Six Characters in Search of an Author (Pirandello), Marat/Sade (Weill), Spring Awakening (Wedekind), Endgame and Act Without Words (Beckett), A Circular Play (Stein), The Trojan Women (Euripides), The Trojan Women 2.0 (Mee), Cloud Nine (Churchill), Waltz no. 6 (Rodrigues), The Kiss of the Spider Woman (Puig), The Laramie Project (Kaufman), Irma Vep (Ludlam), The Tempest (Shakespeare), A Tempest (Cesaire), Fires in the Mirror (Anna Deveare Smith), and M. Butterfly (David Henry Hwang)
-Scholarly articles and reviews (in Course reader)
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Examinations and Assignments:
As a writing seminar, course assignments include several response papers and performance reviews, as well as a final essay. Students will select the topic of final papers in consultation with the instructor. Drafts of all writing assignments should be revised with the support of a Wesleyan writing tutor. Other course assignments include staged readings and oral presentations of a given play's production history. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
A first-year seminar course, THEA150: Plays and Performances may be counted towards the completion of the Theatre Major as one of two required courses in dramatic literature, theory, and criticism. |
| Instructor(s): Brewer Ball,Katherine Times: ..T.R.. 02:40PM-04:00PM; Location: TST114; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 14 | | SR major: X | JR major: X | | |
| Seats Available: 1 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: X | JR non-major: X | SO: X | FR: 14 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 1 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 1 |
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