SE2551: Modern Drama: Page, Stage, Screen

School English Literature
Department Code ENCAP
Module Code SE2551
External Subject Code 100319
Number of Credits 20
Level L6
Language of Delivery English
Module Leader Professor Irene Morra
Semester Autumn Semester
Academic Year 2012/3

Outline Description of Module

This module explores key developments in modern drama, also examining its evolving relationship with film and music-drama.

The first half of the module will discuss the development of an ideal of modern drama both in theory and practice. Our discussion will consider some key European dramas and discussions of the fundamental role and function of drama in society. The focus of the module will then turn toplays representative of twentieth-century trends in British and American theatre. We will pay close attention to the engagement of that theatre with cultural and historical events and to the development of an ideal of drama as a national art.

On completion of the module a student should be able to

  • discuss drama, theatre, and performance from a variety of critical perspectives
  • demonstrate a clear awareness of historical developments and trends in dramatic presentation
  • engage critically with individual dramas to explore such issues as genre, language, race, nation, and gender.
  • develop critical skills in note-taking and independent research
  • formulate unique argumentative conclusions that synthesize a reading of individual texts with consideration of larger issues discussed in class

How the module will be delivered

The module will consist of two lectures a week and a weekly seminar. Lectures will provide students with an introduction to social, cultural, and historical context. They will provide an overview of key critical approaches to these texts, and a close analytical reading of individual works. Seminars will continue to discuss primary texts, will consider key critical readings about stage performance and drama theory, and will occasionally examine excerpts from film adaptations.

Students will be expected to come to class prepared: they will be expected to have read the texts in advance of the lectures and seminars, and be ready to discuss their ideas.They will be encouraged to participate in seminar discussion through small group work, larger group discussion, and voluntary presentations. Films shown in seminars will be available for loan from the library and from the English administrative offices.

Extensive use will be made of film clips and stills. Film clips will be subtitled whenever this is possible and appropriate. It will not be possible to provide transcripts or audio-described versions of the clips or to post clips on Learning Central.

Skills that will be practised and developed

This module will develop and practise skills in close reading and independent scholarly research. It will encourage students to build upon their ability to formulate and articulate an informed analytical opinion. Students will be encouraged to contemplate the connections and tensions between the texts studied, and to formulate original arguments around that relationship. In so doing, they will develop their ability to synthesize information and to push ideas into independent, informed conclusions.

These essential skills will be developed in assessments that will help students to improve and refine writing skills. They will also be developed in group discussions and seminar presentations that will give students the opportunity to practise skills in public speaking.

How the module will be assessed

 

Type of assessment

Title

Duration (exam) / Word length (essay)

Approx. date of assessment

Test

40

 

1 hour

November

Essay

60

 

2400 words

January

The module is assessed according to the Marking Criteria set out in the English Literature Course Guide.There are otherwise no academic or competence standards which limit the availability of adjustments or alternative assessments for students with disabilities.

Assessment Breakdown

Type % Title Duration(hrs)
Class Test 40 Class Test N/A
Written Assessment 60 Essay N/A

Syllabus content

The main texts to be discussed in this module are books and films.

Primary texts:

Krasner, David. Theatre in Theory: An Anthology. Blackwell, 2007.

Ibsen, Hedda Gabler

Strindberg, Miss Julie

Shaw, Candida

Terence Rattigan, The Deep Blue Sea

Beckett, Happy Days

Harold Pinter, The Homecoming

Euripides, The Bacchae and Tennessee Williams, Suddenly Last Summer

Seneca, Phaedra and Sarah Kane,Phaedra’s Love

Suzan-Lori Parks, Topdog/Underdog

Jez Butterworth, Jerusalem

Excerpts from the following may be shown and discussed in class:

Miss Julie

The Threepenny Opera

Separate Tables

Brief Encounter

Happy Days

The Homecoming

Working with Pinter

Suddenly Last Summer

The Deep Blue Sea

Holiday Inn

The Jazz Singer

Essential Reading and Resource List

Students are encouraged to investigate reviews from respected and mainstream newspapers and magazines as well as theatre blogs and websites.  You will find a considerable amount of critical literature available on some of the authors studied in class, but comparatively less on more recent authors and works.

The following texts may be of some use. Texts with asterisks beside them are available on short-term loan from the library. Students are reminded that you can always put a text on reserve if you find that it has been taken out.

This list is by no means exhaustive, and students are encouraged to develop their own research skills by visiting the library and by availing themselves of electronic resources. 

*Aston, Elaine. Feminist Views on the English Stage: Women Playwrights, 1990-2000. Cambridge, 2003.

*Berkowitz, Gerald M. American Drama of the Twentieth Century. Longman, 1992.

*Bigsby, C.W.E. Modern American Drama, 1945-1990. Cambridge UP, 1992.

*Billington, Michael. State of the Nation: British Theatre Since 1945. Faber and Faber, 2007.

Brandt, G. ‘Cinematic Structure in the Work of Tennessee Williams.’ American Theatre. Edward Arnold, 1967.

Bratton, Jacky. New Readings in Theatre History. Cambridge, 2003.

Cohn, Ruby. Retreats from Realism in Recent English Drama. Cambridge, 1991.

Devlin, Albert J. Conversations with Tennessee Williams. U of Mississippi, 1986.

Dukore, Bernard F. Where Laughter Stops: Pinter’s Tragicomedy. U of Missouri Press, 1977.

Esslin, Martin. Pinter: The Playwright. Methuen, 1992.

Eyre, Richard and Nicholas Wright. Changing Stages: A View of British Theatre in the Twentieth Century. Bloomsbury, 2001.

Heintzelman, Greta and Alycia Smith Howard, A Critical Companion to Tennessee Williams. Facts on File, 2005.

Hinchcliffe, Arnold P. Harold Pinter. Macmillan, 1976.

*Innes, Christopher. Modern British Drama: The Twentieth Century. Cambridge UP, 2002.

Kennedy, Andrew K. Six Dramatists in Search of a Language: Studies in Dramatic Language. Cambridge, 1975.

Keyssar, Helene, ed. Feminist Theatre and Theory. Macmillan, 1996.

Kolin, Philip C. Suzan-Lori Parks: Essays on the Plays and Other Works. McFarland and Co, 2010.

*Krasner, David ed. A Companion to Twentieth-Century American Drama. Blackwell, 2007.

Krasner, David. American Drama 1945-2000: An Introduction. Blackwell, 2006.

Luckhurst, Mary. ‘The Death of the Author: Sarah Kane and the 1990s.’ Theatre and Celebrity in Britain, 1660-2000. Ed. Mary Luckhurst and Jane Moody. Palgrave, 2005.

*Luckhurst, Mary, ed. A Companion to Modern British and Irish Drama. Blackwell, 2006.

Martin, Robert K. and Eric Savoy. American Gothic : New Interventions in a National Narrative. University of Iowa P, 2009.

*Raby, Peter, ed. Cambridge Companion to Harold Pinter. Cambridge UP, 2000.

*Rebellato, Dan. 1956 and All That: The Making of Modern British Drama. Routledge, 1999.

*Saddik, Annette J. Contemporary American Drama. Edinburgh UP, 2007.

Schroeder, Patricia R. The Presence of the Past in American Drama. Associated UP, 1989.

Saunders, Graham. Love Me Or Kill Me: Sarah Kane and the Theatre of Extremes. Manchester UP, 2002.

Shellard, Dominic. British Theatre Since the War. Yale UP, 2000.

*Shepherd, Simon and Peter Womack. English Drama: A Cultural History. Blackwell, 1996.

*Sierz, Aleks, ed. The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary British Playwrights. Methuen, 2011.

Sierz, Aleks. In-Yer-Face Theatre. Faber, 2001.

Sierz, Aleks. Rewriting the Nation: British Theatre Today. Methuen, 2011.

Stanton, Stephen S. Tennessee Williams: A Collection of Critical Essays. Prentice-Hall, 1977.

Some prominent journals:

Contemporary Theatre Review                Modern Drama              

Contemporary English Drama                  American Drama                       

Theatre Notebook

Electronic Texts:

David Krasner, ed. A Companion to Twentieth-Century American Drama

Greta Heintzelman and Alycia Smith Howard, A Critical Companion to Tennessee Williams.

Kevin J. Wetmore and Alycia Smith Howard,Suzan-Lori Parks: A Casebook.

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Kevin J. Wetmore and Alycia Smith Howard,Suzan-Lori Parks: A Casebook.


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