THEA 340
Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Struggle Theatre Fall 2016
Division I
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Class Details

This course explores the impact of theatre on communities in general and on societies existing under specific circumscribed sociopolitical systems. The seminar investigates the power of theatre to influence, enlighten, and transform audiences within commonly lived sociopolitical systems. Over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries, theatre has provided a space where–within that famed “two hour traffic of our stage”–struggle can emerge and opposition can, somehow, be voiced. The theatre is a place of parable and of storytelling, a place where comedy, satire, and tragedy find within their audiences both recognition and identification. Put this way, theatre can be and has been a powerful and dangerous tool. The course will consider “Struggle Theatre” across a range of contexts, including: anti-apartheid South African protest theatre from the 1950s to 1980s; theatre movements in Eastern Europe during the Cold War; United States Depression-era and and Viet Nam protest theatre; theatre in Brazil, Chile, Argentina and other South American countries during their periods of military dictatorships. We will look at current theatre movements in the USA as well as in the Middle East & North African Region, (MENA) and Europe. Readings will include theorists from literary studies, anthropology, cultural studies, and related fields, as well as primary texts from drama and other arts.
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 10
Expected: 10
Class#: 1885
Grading: no pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: committed participation in class, on time completion of assignments, participation in staged events during the semester, where possible; a final, fully imagined project
Extra Info: may not be taken on a pass/fail basis; not available for the fifth course option
Prerequisites: THEA 101 or a 200-level Theatre course or permission of instructor
Enrollment Preferences: Theatre majors
Distributions: Division I

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