Twentieth-Century Plays
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| ENGL2019 | English | 2 | 20 | Spring UK |
- Code
- ENGL2019
- School
- English
- Level
- 2
- Credits
- 20
- Semesters
- Spring UK
Summary
Theatre in the long twentieth century has taken audience on a long and involving journey from the intimate theatres of naturalism to the confrontational themes of war, sex and existential doubt. This module aims to provide students with an overview of the key plays and performances from the 1890s and the start of the new millennium. We will be placing those texts in their original political, social and cultural contexts and considering their subsequent reception and afterlife. Students will pay close attention to the textual and performance effects in drama from playwrights such as Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett and Suzan-Lori Parks, and will be encouraged to situate the plays alongside the work of relevant theorists and practitioners.
This module will provide an ideal follow up to the survey of theatrical performances and conventions encountered in the first-year module, Drama, Theatre, Performance. It enables students to develop their understanding of the impact and influence of performed versions of the texts studied; it continues the survey of theatrical history and development into the twentieth century and up to the recent past; and it will develop students' ability to draw on and utilise key critical and theoretical terminology in relation to theatre and performance.
Target Students
Only available for second-year students on SH and JH English programmes, including 2+2 programmes; students participating in exchanges from the School partner institutions; and second or third-year students on the Liberal Arts programme. ENGL1001 Drama, Theatre and Performance is a pre-requisite for this module.
Classes
- One 1-hour seminar each week for 11 weeks
- One 1-hour lecture each week for 11 weeks
- One 1-hour lecture each week for 11 weeks
Assessment
- 100% Coursework 1: 1 x 3,000 word essay
Assessed by end of spring semester
Educational Aims
Module aims:to analyse a selection of plays produced between the 1890s and the 1980s;to place these performances in their historical and cultural contexts;to analyse the complex relationships between drama and issues of gender, class, national identity and philosophy;to apply a range of relevant critical theories to modern plays and performances;Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and understanding of
- a range of critical and theoretical approaches to twentieth-century performance (A1);
- the styles and genres of twentieth-century plays from naturalism to adsurdism (A4, A5);
- the social, political and historical contexts of selected plays (A2).
Intellectual skills
- absorb, articulate and independently analyse texts and arguements (B1)
- an understanding of complex ideas, and their relation to specific problems and questions (B3)
- ability to research in a range of media, and use that material with intelligence to support ideas and arguments (B4, D5)
Professional practical skills
- use of precise critical terminology in analysing a range of performance events (C1);
- the ability to carry out research in a range of media and evaluate or make use of that material (D5)
- write accurately and grammatically, demonstrating awareness of the importance of style and register in communication, and present written material using conventions appropriate to literary or language work including bibliographies (C3);
- to construct and communicate a sustained analysis of texts, verbally and in writing (C4).
Transferable (key) skills
- the ability to communicate effectively in oral and written work; (D2, D3)
- organise and manage working time, including scheduling tasks and meeting deadlines (D4)