10:10A-11:00A  MWF  (40) 3 cr

This is a course on modern drama and theater, with the emphasis on recent and contemporary
plays from Europe, England and America.  We will survey some of the most exciting
developments of the modern stage in recent years.  As an introduction, we'll read plays by Ibsen,
Strindberg and Chekhov, masters of realism from the end of the last century, who each seemed to
capture human life with a photographer's objectivity, but all of whom introduce elements of
poetry, dreamtime or nightmare into their theatrical "naturalism."  After this, we'll look at two
mid-Twentieth Century schools of "anti-naturalistic" experimental theater, the epic theater
movement of Bertolt Brecht and absurdist theater as perfected by Samuel Beckett and Eugene
Ionesco.  Both movements sought to combat conventional dramatic realism and restore political
awareness and philosophical inquiry to the stage. These styles have partly merged to produce
some of the most remarkable theater since World War II, but this drama has also re-embraced
realism and used it to promote political engagement and postmodern philosophical inquiry from
the stage.

To suggest some of the themes found in recent drama, we'll read contemporary plays that deal
with issues of race in Africa and America (Fugard's MASTER HAROLD AND THE BOYS,
Wilson's MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM); feminism and gender roles (Fornes' FEFU AND
HER FRIENDS, Churchill's TOP GIRLS); and conflicts between the sexes and the sex-roles
(Pinter's THE HOMECOMING, Shepard's FOOL FOR LOVE). Several plays use the theater
itself as a metaphor for social interaction (Hwang's M. BUTTERFLY, Wertenbaker's OUR
COUNTRY'S GOOD).  Our course text is the Gilbert, Klaus & Field anthology MODERN AND
CONTEMPORARY DRAMA.

Course goals include learning to appreciate plays as drama and as theater, and with this in mind,
I'll expect you to view several performances at the IU Theatre and on local stages, and write
responses in your journals.  Students may also volunteer to stage scenes from some plays in class
for journal credit.  Class format will be lectures on MW and discussion on Fridays.  Students will
keep journals via e-mail, write two essays and take two exams.