09:30A-10:45A TR (30) 3 cr.
The readings for this course span the history of American theatre from the Civil War to the present. Early in the term, careful attention will be paid to the development and evolution of dramatic forms: melodrama, realism, expressionism, agit-prop theatre, absurdism and so on. Toward the end of the term, we will more fully engage the role of drama in American social and political action: the Black Arts movement of the 1960s, the work of El Teatro Campesino, and performance art. Playwrights considered include Dion Boucicault, James A. Herne, Augustin Daly, Susan Glaspell, Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Lillian Hellmann, Amiri Baraka, Luis Valdez, Marsha Norman, Sam Shepard, Cherie Moraga, David Mamet, and Karen Finley. There will be two papers (a short essay and a longer research paper) and a final exam.