Drama 647 (English 603 Topic 13) - Studies in Modern Drama I

Fall 2009
Tuesday 1:00-3:50pm
Instructor:  Dr. Penny Farfan
farfan [at] ucalgary [dot] ca

Course Description:

This course will trace the development of drama from the late nineteenth century through to the mid-twentieth century, identifying key concerns and strategies of a range of different playwrights and performing artists.  Play readings will be supplemented by related interdisciplinary historical, critical, theoretical readings and audiovisual materials.  By the end of the course, students will have achieved an overview of the historical development of modern drama and will be familiar with key texts and issues in, and theoretical and critical approaches to, the field of modern drama.

Play readings may include the following (subject to revision):

Henrik Ibsen, A Doll's House (1879), Ghosts (1881), Hedda Gabler (1890)
George Bernard Shaw, Mrs. Warren's Profession (1893)
Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard (1904)
Elizabeth Robins, Votes for Women (1907)
Cicely Hamilton and Christopher St. John, How the Vote Was Won (1909)
Susan Glaspell, Trifles (1916)
Angelina Weld Grimké, Rachel (1916)
Djuna Barnes, The Dove (1923)
Sean O'Casey, Juno and the Paycock (1924)
Sophie Treadwell, Machinal (1928)
Georgia Douglas Johnson, Safe (c. 1929)
Noël Coward, Private Lives (1930)
Gwen Pharis Ringwood, Still Stands the House (1938)
Bertolt Brecht, The Measures Taken (1929-30), The Good Woman of Szechwan (1938-41)
Eugene O'Neill, The Iceman Cometh (1939)
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire (1947)
Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman (1949)

Students will be evaluated on the basis of a variety of assignments, including essays, seminar presentations, and class discussion.

Note: Graduate students should be advised that DRAMA 647, counts towards English graduate course requirements "in writing from the twentieth-century and after."  We are not able to cross-list this course with ENGL 603 Topic 13 because ENGL graduate courses are all topics courses.