The course will explore works of Shakespeare with particular
emphasis on their performance, including the problems of staging and their
performance history, focusing on the texts of Shakespeare’s plays, but also
using the critical texts listed below by Brown and Wells. This approach will
also consider related dramatic, cultural, and literary issues. This approach
will provide a basis for comparison and a means of exploring the value of the
study of performative approaches, including those in film, to Shakespeare’s
writings. The course will cover eight plays. These will consist of some early
and some late plays, some comedies, some tragedies, some histories, some
romances. The course will include three short papers, in-class presentations
and brief written assignments, plus a midterm and final exam.
Brown, John Russell. SHAKESPEARE IN PERFORMANCE. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
Greenblatt, Stephen, et al. THE NORTON SHAKESPEARE ESSENTIAL
PLAYS, 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 2009.
Wells, Stanley, et al. THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO SHAKESPEARE ON
STAGE. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002.