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.
Texts:
- Dobson, Michael.
PERFORMING SHAKESPEAREʻS TRAGEDIES TODAY. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2006 ISBN 13 978-0-521-67122-4 (paperback) - 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.