ENGL 3752

Thirteen Plays

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2018-2019.

A survey of the dramatic tradition in England and America through close reading of thirteen plays, as well as videos of their performance, ranging from Marlowe to the present. We'll examine texts both as literary works, constructed of words, and as blueprints for performance, constructed of suggestions for creating a social interactive experience. We'll consider: How does each play represent the distinction between a private person, and personality as a social construct? How does the play represent the idea of a social system or milieu? Plays may include Marlowe's Edward II, Shakespeare's Richard II (which follows from it), and Jonson's Barthololomew Fair; comedies from the Restoration and eighteenth century; twentieth-century British and Anglo-Irish plays by Beckett, Pinter, and Friel; and American plays by Arthur Miller, August Wilson, and Tony Kushner. Anne Washburn's Mr. Burns will represent our own century.

When Offered Spring.

Distribution Category (LA-AS)

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