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CS92PROD
Staging the Real in Early Modern England
CHUM 320
Spring 2024
Section: 01  
Crosslisting: ENGL 323

The stage in Shakespeare's time was by modern standards "relatively bare," lacking illusionistic sets that would later be relied upon to conjure the reality of a particular time and place onstage. What, then, defined the "real" prior to the emergence of modern theatrical realism and the illusionistic conventions associated with it? What representational strategies (of text, costume, props, sound, stage machinery, etc.) were used to convey "realness" onstage at the Globe and other early English theaters, which lacked the "fourth wall" of the proscenium arch that separated the realities of the play-world from those of everyday life?

This course explores the dramaturgy of the "real" in early modern England in conjunction with the Center for the Humanities Spring 2024 theme of "Get Real," in plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries that experimented with new ways of bringing to life the realities of war, true crime, sex and gender "deviance," street life and lingo in London's underworld, serendipitous wealth gleaned from capitalistic enterprise, and other sensational news ripped from the headlines.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA CHUM
Course Format: SeminarGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: (ENGL)
Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above

Last Updated on OCT-03-2024
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