Course Syllabus
Course: THEA 2031
Division: Fine Arts, Comm, and New Media
Department: Theater Arts
Title: Theatre History and Literature: Classical
Semester Approved: Spring 2022
Five-Year Review Semester: Fall 2026
End Semester: Fall 2027
Catalog Description: This course is an exploration of the principal literary periods and styles of drama from the ancient Greeks through the late Renaissance. Students will examine the evolution of Western theatre from its rise in antiquity to its more familiar modern form, investigating how it has changed in its structure, subject matter, and manner and place of performance, as well as how those changes reflect and relate to the roles theater has played in various societies and the changing cultural attitudes toward theater itself. Course may be taken out of sequence.
Semesters Offered: Spring
Credit/Time Requirement: Credit: 3; Lecture: 3; Lab: 0
Prerequisites: None
Corequisites: None
Justification: Similar courses are offered by most theatre departments throughout the state. Theatre is the art and craft of play production. It includes the study of dramatic literature and theory, theatre history, acting, set design, lighting design, costume design and film. In addition to the scholarly exploration of these subjects, the theatre program emphasizes the practical application of knowledge gained and skills learned through annual performances before live audiences. Theatre also explores the historical, cultural and social milieu that produced significant works of dramatic literature.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will be able to articulate the dynamics of the creative process including the development of a lifetime sensibility as it applies to the disciplines of dance, music, theater, or visual arts Students will be introduced to the larger scope of theatre from a historical perspective, and thereby come to understand the intertwining chronicle of society and art. Students will read selected plays representative of each dramatic period covered in class, academic articles exploring the plays’ historical rather than literary content (e.g., theatre architecture and construction, costume design, use of the mask), and contemporaneous texts that shed light onto historical attitudes toward theatre (e.g., Aristotle’s Poetics). They will demonstrate their understanding of these readings through corresponding quizzes, two exams, two research assignments, presentations and class discussions. Second, the course will guide students in the skill of script analysis. Students will also learn to analyze a play as a unique art form and to break down its components from the perspectives of various participants in a theatrical production (audience, actor, and designer). They will demonstrate this understanding through participation in class discussions, short essays, exams, and a “Style-Swap” research project where they will explore the effects of recasting one of the plays discussed in class in the style and conventions of another period. Additionally, each student will attend two Snow College Theatre Productions and write a formal response essay detailing the notable historical elements they observed and their relevance to the production.
Students will be able to provide an informed synopsis of the performing and/or visual arts in the context of culture and history through reading and interpreting pertinent information using a variety of traditional and electronic media. Throughout the course, students will find answers to questions such as where theatre came from and how it came to be presented in its current form. Students will understand the cultural and historical development of the Western world from the Classical era to the late Renaissance through the lens of representative plays and academic discussion of contemporaneous attitudes and theories toward theatre. Through the study of period-specific texts, supplemental academic articles, and discussion of significant parallel events and movements ranging from the artistic to the scientific, the political to the philosophic, students will explore the relationship of history and theatre. They will demonstrate understanding of theatre’s impact upon the dynamics of western history and its relevance to contemporary culture through Socratic class discussions, a “Style-Swap” project, quizzes, written assignments, and exams.
Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the conceptual and elemental principles fundamental to the creation of various forms of artistic expression. Students will read from the selected text (and, when applicable, additional academic articles) before reading and discussing each play, which is selected as an exemplar of the era and style. Students will demonstrate their understanding through regular quizzes and class discussion debating significant performative elements and their uses, technological and architectural features, and the changing written structures of plays. This process will allow students to demonstrate that they understand, can articulate, and can apply fundamental principles of theatre both for period plays as well as how they relate to our contemporary entertainments. In addition, students will demonstrate their facility with terminology and approach through a fully-cited research paper and presentation on an aspect not covered in normal class discussion, which will the culminate in extensive projects involving month-long group collaboration..
Students will be able to exhibit an ability to critically analyze artistic works using appropriate techniques, vocabulary, and methodologies. Through the study of plays, playwrights, and the history and cultures surrounding them from dithyrambic poems in Ancient Greece to the comedy of the High Renaissance, students will understand the genesis of western theatre, its evolution, and its relevance to contemporary life. Students will demonstrate their grasp of pertinent vocabulary (historical, architectural, and sociological), major events that impacted the art form, and key performative elements of the significant eras and styles of theatre through class lectures and discussion, responses to related academic articles, and two exams. Students will read from a representative list of plays of important eras, movements, and authors and demonstrate their ability to critically analyze each play within its individual historical context and its relationships to similar plays through Socratic discussions and an online quiz. Furthermore, students will synthesize their understanding of how theatre has evolved through discussion, a research paper, and a “style swap” essay.
Content:
Students will explore how and why both the physical and dramatic structures of theatre were created, the cultural and societal forces that shaped or tore them down, and how theatre evolved to remain relevant through millennia. This course uses a selection of core historic artifacts—period-specific plays—to examine both major cultural forces that shaped the content written and seen on stage and how the theatrical art from mirrored such changes or challenged conventions. Students will demonstrate critical thinking, text analysis, and research of these concepts through quizzes, exams, and two projects throughout the semester. Students will be required to read plays representative of each dramatic period covered in class. Such plays could include but not be limited to: • Oepidus Rex, by Sophocles• Lysistrata, by Aristophanes • The Twin Menaechmi, by Plautus• The Brothers, by Terence• The Second Shepard’s Pageant, by Wakefield Master• Everyman, by Anonymous• Dulcitius, by Hrosvitha• The Servant of Two Masters, by Carlos Goldoni • Doctor Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe • Henry V, by William Shakespeare • The Tempest, by William Shakespeare • Tartuffe, by Moliere • Phedre, by Jean Racine • The Rivals, by Richard Brinsley Sheridan Beyond the exploration of these periods and their representative styles, this class will present genres and theatrical conventions from around the world. Examples of these non-Western theatrical forms may include: Noh theatre, Bunraku, and Kabuki from Japanese traditions; Kathakali from the Asian subcontinent; Korean Talchum mask dance; and shadow theatre from various regions of the world.
Key Performance Indicators:
Each student will be evaluated on:
Attendance/participation. 15 to 20%
Reading and lecture quizzes. 10 to 25%
Exams. 20 to 25%
Group presentation. 10 to 15%
Live performance responses. 5 to 10%
Research projects. 15 to 20%
Representative Text and/or Supplies:
The text will vary according to departmental decisions and instructors’ wishes. See the fallowing recommend text. The instructor may also include representative novel(s) and script(s) as part of the reading curriculum.
The Bedford Introduction to Drama, by Lee A. Jacobus
Aristotle’s Poetics, translated by S. H. Butcher.
Pedagogy Statement:
Through lecture, Socratic discussions, research projects, quizzes, and examinations, this course covers the invention of theatre in the western hemisphere and its consequent reinventions until the dawn of its current recognizable from during the Post-Renaissance. Though white male voices often predominate this period theatrical history, this class does not subscribe to taking one singular perspective. Rather it considers the voices and perspectives of all those in a society and how theatre may reflect them. As such, trhough discussions and research students are encouraged to express and explore views to past prevailing narratives of theatre history. All students will be welcomed and respected as the class engages in topics throughout theatre history.
Instructional Mediums:
Lecture
Maximum Class Size: 30
Optimum Class Size: 20
