Course Description:

This course surveys some major trends in world drama over the last century or 
so, a period that is one of the richest in the rich history of the stage. We 
will approach the plays both as literary texts and as scripts for
performance; indeed, a major aspect of the course will be performance -- your
performance of two selected scenes. From a literary standpoint, I will
attempt to situate the plays within period contexts such as Modernism and
Postdermism, and I will operate as a comparatist rather than a scholar of any
particular national literary tradition. What we want by the end of the term 
is an understanding of the major ideas shaping the 20th century stage,
combined with a visceral appreciation of the power of words translated into
actions.

Grading Proportions:

Participation	15% 
Scenework	30%
Papers		30%
Final Exam	25%
	      =100%

Participation is determined by your involvement with the online forum for this 
class. Information about registering and logging onto the forum can be found at
http://ogeechee.litphil.gasou.edu/classes/Register_&_Login.html. You need to 
immediately register and be ready for discussions. I will typically post a topic 
on Friday concerning the next week's reading. We will use your remarks as a 
starting point for class on Monday. The forum discussion will remain open, 
however, and you can add to it or raise questions for Wednesday's class. The 
forum participation will be graded on both quantity and quality.

Scenework means actually preparing and performing a short scene from a play. 
This is what we will plan to do each Thursday. When everybody is signed up, 
I'll update this syllabus so that the performance schedule is shown. Everybody 
will be required to prepare two scenes. You may cooperate among yourselves and 
form ad hoc ensembles, and you will have to. After each performance, I will note 
for grading that you participated. One of your scenes will be the basis for a 
short paper (see below). Additional performances beyond your required two will 
enhance your participation grade. The purpose of the scenework is not to 
showcase great acting, though you do need to take it seriously. The main purpose 
is to continually remind ourselves that these texts we are reading were intended 
for performance. Viewing them as playscripts inevitably changes the way we
understand them.

There will be two papers: a short one (3-5 pages) on one of your scenework 
experiences, and a longer, documented paper (6-8 pages) dealing with a critical 
issue in one of more of the assigned plays. The short paper may be handed in at 
any time in the term before Thanksgiving. The long one is due the Monday before 
Thanksgiving.
 
The final exam will be administered out-of-class and will be due at the end of
the designated exam period. There are no midterms -- you will have plenty of 
midterm evaluation by means of the short paper and the scenework. 

Schedule of Assignments:

Wed 8/21 --- Introduction

Mon 8/26 --- Georg Büchner: Woyzeck (Gilbert 9) 
Wed 8/28 --- Continuation and scenework.

Mon 9/2 ---- Henrik Ibsen: A Doll's House (Gilbert 27)  
Wed 9/4 ---- Continuation and scenework.

Mon 9/9 ---- Oscar Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest (paperback)
Wed 9/11 --- Continuation and scenework.

Mon 9/16 --- August Strindberg: Miss Julie (Gilbert 68) 
Wed 9/18 --- Continuation and scenework.

Mon 9/23 --- Luigi Pirandello: Six Characters in Search of an Author 
	     (Gilbert 165) 
Wed 9/25 --- Continuation and scenework.

Mon 9/30 --- Sean O'Casey: Juno and the Paycock (Gilbert 199)
Wed 10/2 --- Continuation and scenework.

Mon 10/7 --- Bertolt Brecht:  
Wed 10/9 --- Continuation and scenework.

Mon 10/14 -- Bertolt Brecht: Galileo (Gilbert 259)
Wed 10/16 -- Continuation and scenework.

Mon 10/21 -- Tennessee Williams: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Gilbert 381) 
Wed 10/23 -- Continuation and scenework.

Mon 10/28 -- Eugene Ionesco: The Lesson (Gilbert 433)
Wed 10/30 -- Continuation and scenework.

Mon 11/4 --- Samuel Beckett: Endgame (Gilbert 453)
Wed 11/6 --- Continuation and scenework.

Mon 11/11 -- Athol Fugard: "Master Harold"...and the Boys" (Gilbert 629)
Wed 11/13 -- Continuation and scenework.

Mon 11/18 -- Caryl Churchill: Top Girls (Gilbert 655)
Wed 11/20 -- Continuation and scenework.

Mon 11/25 -- Sam Shepard: Fool for Love (Gilbert 689). Long paper due.
Wed 11/27 -- THANKSGIVING

Mon 12/4 --- Heiner Müller:  Hamlet Machine; Mauser; Volokolamsk 
	     Highway (Handouts)
Wed 12/6 --- Continuation and scenework.

FINAL EXAMINATION: Out-of-class, due Monday, December 9, at 10 p.m. 
(deliverable by e-mail).