Contemporary European Theater: A Comparative study

The Czech novelist Milan Kundera asserts “art must express questions of human existence…which…in Europe in the 20^th Century finds its clarity of expression in the aesthetics of non-realism.” The overall aim of the course is to explore Modern European Theatre in relation to Kundera’s assertion.

What is Modern European Theatre? We will look at the wild visions of Artaud; humour and compassion of Beckett; the social obsessions of Brecht, the extreme passion of Kane and Ravenhill, the laughter and terror of Absurdist Theatre; the outrageous mockery of satire (French, Italian, Russian); Havel and living the absurd; Kundera and the obsessive intellectual; Dada and the impulse to shock, challenge; Surrealism and dreams, archetypes, myths; Weiss and a Total Theatre of music, song, story, character, revolution, madness; Ionesco and how individuals conform; The poetic, mysterious world of Image Theatre – this is the 20^th century.

To greatly deepen our insights between the chosen plays and contemporary Europe, the course will be informed by contextual explorations of psychology, politics, history, culture.

NB. THIS COURSE IS CROSS LISTED FOR CAS AND TSOA STUDENTS AND FULLY ACCREDITED FOR BOTH. (For TSOA the course number is H28.0690 and is a Theatre Studies B course)

NO PREVIOUS THEATRE EXPERIENCE IS REQUIRED.