Thurs. Sept. 7: Opening Class
Why do humans (and others) "perform"? What are theatres? And how do/should/can we limit the terrain of the "theatrical" in relationship to something that might be termed "reality"? Is "theatre theory" a redundancy? The English word “theory” comes from the Greek “theoria,” meaning contemplation, speculation, or sight. It is related to the word “theatron,” or place for viewing – the theater. Theater and theory are kin. Is this the case around the world? What happens to theatre over time? What can we know of prehistoric practices, let alone ancient or medieval. What of performance remains? And, is theatre itself a time machine? We will ask the essential question: Why learn about theatre history and historical theatricality? And what do dance, music, visual art and architecture have to do with what we will be studying this semester?
Section 1: Orienting Questions to "Prehistory" and "Origins"
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Tues. Sept. 12: What is Performance?
Suzan-Lori Parks, The America Play and short remarks by Parks on her style
Also, a brief essay by Shonni Enelow on contemporary film acting styles
Recommended: two essays from American Theatre magazine
Section 2: The Ancient Mediterranean
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Thurs. Oct. 5: Ancient Mediterranean Africa
Malidoma Patrice Some, Ritual: Power, Healing, Community, selection.
N'gugi wa Thiongo, "Enactments of Power: The Politics of Performance Space."
David Kerr, African Popular Theatre, selection
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The Farce of the Fart
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Thurs. Nov. 30: Corpus Christi and the Inka
Carolyn Dean, Inka Bodies and the Body of Christ
Moltolina, History of the Indians of New Spain
Grads: Leo Cabranes Grant, "From Scenarios to Networks"
GROUP SIX TO PERFORM
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Tues. Dec. 5: Old World New World "Visions"
Why do humans (and others) "perform"? What are theatres? And how do/should/can we limit the terrain of the "theatrical" in relationship to something that might be termed "reality"? Is "theatre theory" a redundancy? The English word “theory” comes from the Greek “theoria,” meaning contemplation, speculation, or sight. It is related to the word “theatron,” or place for viewing – the theater. Theater and theory are kin. Is this the case around the world? What happens to theatre over time? What can we know of prehistoric practices, let alone ancient or medieval. What of performance remains? And, is theatre itself a time machine? We will ask the essential question: Why learn about theatre history and historical theatricality? And what do dance, music, visual art and architecture have to do with what we will be studying this semester?
Section 1: Orienting Questions to "Prehistory" and "Origins"
________________________________
Tues. Sept. 12: What is Performance?
Suzan-Lori Parks, The America Play and short remarks by Parks on her style
Also, a brief essay by Shonni Enelow on contemporary film acting styles
Recommended: two essays from American Theatre magazine
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Thurs. Sept. 14: Performance in/as Culture: The Cockfight
Clifford Geertz, selection from The Interpretation of Cultures
John Emigh, selection from The Cambridge Companion to Performance Studies
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Tues. Sept. 19: Counter-Mimicry, or Performance Across Cultures
Wole Soyinka, Death and the King’s Horseman
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Thurs. Sept. 14: Performance in/as Culture: The Cockfight
Clifford Geertz, selection from The Interpretation of Cultures
John Emigh, selection from The Cambridge Companion to Performance Studies
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Tues. Sept. 19: Counter-Mimicry, or Performance Across Cultures
Wole Soyinka, Death and the King’s Horseman
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Thurs. Sept. 21: Are There Performance Universals? What is at
stake in some efforts to find universals and what might be some
problems with or promises in such efforts?
Eugenio Barba, Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology
Eugenio Barba, Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology
A play from the canon of Japanese Noh Theatre: Dojoji
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Thues. Sept. 26: Prehistory, Performance, and “Origin Rituals”
Watch: The Werner Herzog film Cave of Forgotten Dreams through OCRA
An outmoded 1959 theatre history textbook Living Theatre, selection
Watch: The Werner Herzog film Cave of Forgotten Dreams through OCRA
An outmoded 1959 theatre history textbook Living Theatre, selection
a brief selection from Martin Bernal Black Athena
Richard Schechner, selection from Performance Theory
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Thurs. Sept. 28:
Masks, Ancestors, "Primitivity" – Possession vs. Representation
Jean Clottes and David Lewis-Williams, The Shamans of Prehistory, selection
Selection from John Emigh Masked Performance
Chief Robert Joseph, "Behind the Mask," Down from the Shimmering Sky
Selection from John Emigh Masked Performance
Chief Robert Joseph, "Behind the Mask," Down from the Shimmering Sky
Cara McCarty, "Offense/Defense" in Masks: Faces of Culture
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Tues, Oct. 3:
Performance and Economy
David
Kertzer, “The Superbowl’s Strange Tribe”
Maurya Wickstrom on The Lion King
Karl Marx, "The Secret of Commodities"
GROUP ONE TO PERFORM
________________________________Karl Marx, "The Secret of Commodities"
GROUP ONE TO PERFORM
Section 2: The Ancient Mediterranean
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Thurs. Oct. 5: Ancient Mediterranean Africa
Ronald J. Leprohon, "Ritual Drama in Ancient
Egypt."
The Triumph of Horus
Jan Assmann, Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt, selection
Guest visit by Kenneth Molloy
The Triumph of Horus
Jan Assmann, Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt, selection
Guest visit by Kenneth Molloy
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Tues. Oct. 10:
The Theatre of Dionysus
Euripides, The Bakkhai
David Wiles, Greek Theater Performance, chapters 1 and 2.
(Be sure to note the assignment )
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Euripides, The Bakkhai
David Wiles, Greek Theater Performance, chapters 1 and 2.
(Be sure to note the assignment )
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Thurs. Oct. 12: Greek Comedy
Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae
Wiles, chapters 3 and 4, and Sue-Ellen Case on "Classic Drag"
GROUP THREE TO PERFORM
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Tues. Oct. 17: Plato and Aristotle on Mimesis
Plato, The Republic: Books 7 and 10.
Plato, Ion (excerpt on OCRA)
Aristotle, The Poetics of Aristotle
Wiles, chapter 5.
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Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae
Wiles, chapters 3 and 4, and Sue-Ellen Case on "Classic Drag"
GROUP THREE TO PERFORM
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Tues. Oct. 17: Plato and Aristotle on Mimesis
Plato, The Republic: Books 7 and 10.
Plato, Ion (excerpt on OCRA)
Aristotle, The Poetics of Aristotle
Wiles, chapter 5.
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Thurs. Oct. 19: Multiple Medeas
Euripides Medea
Seneca Medea
GROUP FOUR TO PERFORM
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Thurs, Oct. 26: MIDTERM EXAM
Midterm study sheet now posted!!
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Section 3: South Asia
Euripides Medea
Seneca Medea
GROUP FOUR TO PERFORM
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Odai Johnson, "Unspeakable Histories: Terror, Spectacle, and Genocidal Memory"
Plautus, The Captives
___________________________Plautus, The Captives
Thurs, Oct. 26: MIDTERM EXAM
Midterm study sheet now posted!!
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Section 3: South Asia
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Tues. Oct. 31: The Performative Bases of Ancient Indian Theatre and Dance
Thurs. Nov. 2: Kuttiyattam and Kathakali
Reread Natyasastra from the last class.
Suresh Awasthi, “The Temple as Theatre”
Phillip B. Zarrilli, Kathakali: Dance-Drama
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Tues. Nov. 7: Kalidasa's Sakuntala
Reread Natyasastra from the last class.
Suresh Awasthi, “The Temple as Theatre”
Phillip B. Zarrilli, Kathakali: Dance-Drama
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Tues. Nov. 7: Kalidasa's Sakuntala
Kalidasa, Sakuntala in Theater for Memory
Barbara Stoler Miller, Theater of Memory, selection
GROUP FIVE TO PERFORMBarbara Stoler Miller, Theater of Memory, selection
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Section 4: Africa
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Tues. Nov. 14: Performance Legacies of Pre-Colonial Africa 2Section 4: Africa
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Thurs. Nov. 9:
Performance Legacies of Pre-Colonial Africa 1
Kole Omotoso, "Concepts of History and Theatre in Africa"
Wole Soyinka, "The Fourth Stage" in Art, Dialogue, and Outrage.
Margaret Thompson Drewal, Yoruba Ritual, selection
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Kole Omotoso, "Concepts of History and Theatre in Africa"
Wole Soyinka, "The Fourth Stage" in Art, Dialogue, and Outrage.
Margaret Thompson Drewal, Yoruba Ritual, selection
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Malidoma Patrice Some, Ritual: Power, Healing, Community, selection.
N'gugi wa Thiongo, "Enactments of Power: The Politics of Performance Space."
David Kerr, African Popular Theatre, selection
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Thursday. Nov 16: African Performance in Global Perspective
Visit from Professor Jasmine Johnson
Read: Doris Green, "Traditional Dance in Africa"
GROUP SIX TO PERFORM (Group six also asks that you watch this video before class)
________________________________Visit from Professor Jasmine Johnson
Read: Doris Green, "Traditional Dance in Africa"
GROUP SIX TO PERFORM (Group six also asks that you watch this video before class)
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Section 5: Medieval Europe and the "New" World
Section 5: Medieval Europe and the "New" World
Tues. Nov. 21: Holy Roman Empire
Saint Augustine and Tertullian
Quem Quertis and Hrosvit
Saint Augustine and Tertullian
Quem Quertis and Hrosvit
John Spaulding Gatton, "There Must Be Blood"
Andrew Sofer, The Stage Life of Props
Andrew Sofer, The Stage Life of Props
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Tues. Nov. 28: Carnival, Mumming, Farce The Farce of the Fart
A
Christmas Mumming, The Play of St. George
Mikail Bahktin, "On Popular Festive Forms"in Rabelais and His World
Final paper option proposal due.
Mikail Bahktin, "On Popular Festive Forms"in Rabelais and His World
Final paper option proposal due.
Thurs. Nov. 30: Corpus Christi and the Inka
Carolyn Dean, Inka Bodies and the Body of Christ
Moltolina, History of the Indians of New Spain
Grads: Leo Cabranes Grant, "From Scenarios to Networks"
GROUP SIX TO PERFORM
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Tues. Dec. 5: Old World New World "Visions"
Shakespeare, The Tempest and Black Elk Speaks
Recommended: Dancing on Our Turtle's Back, by Leanne Simpson
Grads, "This Thing of Darkness I Acknowledge Mine"
Recommended: Dancing on Our Turtle's Back, by Leanne Simpson
Grads, "This Thing of Darkness I Acknowledge Mine"
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December 12: Final Exam, 10:30 in 007 Lyman Hall.
Study sheet will IS NOW AVAILABLE HERE!
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Study sheet will IS NOW AVAILABLE HERE!
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