Introductory description

This module examines the social and political ideas of leading dramatists and theatre practitioners in twentieth-century Ireland, South Africa, and the United States. Students will examine plays to see how changing attitudes to colonialism, class, race and gender have been reflected in drama. At the heart of the module is the shifting relationship between theatre and social change.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

TERM 1
Ireland
Week 1: Introduction
Week 2: Dion Boucicault, The Colleen Bawn (1860); W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory, Cathleen Ni Houlihan (1902)
Week 3: Sean O'Casey, The Plough and the Stars (1926); Sebastian Barry, The Steward of Christendom (1995)
Week 4: Anne Devlin, Ourselves Alone (1985)
Week 5: Marina Carr, By the Bog of Cats (1998); David Ireland, Cyprus Avenue (2016)
Week 6: Reading week
South Africa
Week 7: Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona, Sizwe Bansi is Dead (1972); The Island (1973)
Week 8: Athol Fugard, Statements After an Arrest (1972); 'Master Harold'... and the Boys (1982)
Week 9: Mbongeni Ngema, Sarafina! (1985); Yael Farber, Amajuba (2001)
Week 10: Mongiwekhaya, I See You (2016)
TERM 2
USA
Week 1: Eugene O'Neill, The Hairy Ape (1922); All God's Chillun Got Wings (1924); Sophie Treadwell, Machinal (1928)
Week 2: Arthur Miller, All My Sons (1947); A View from the Bridge (1955)
Week 3: Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955)
Week 4: Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (1959)
Week 5: James Baldwin, Blues for Mister Charlie (1964); Amiri Baraka, Dutchman (1964)
Week 6: Reading week
Week 7: Ntozake Shange, for colored girls... (1976); August Wilson, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1982)
Week 8: Tony Kushner, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika (1992)
Week 9: Anne Washburn, Mr. Burns (2012); Lynn Nottage, Sweat (2015)
Week 10: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, An Octoroon (2014); Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton (2015)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge of major English-language plays written (in Ireland, South Africa, and the United States) since the beginning of the twentieth century in their contexts
• Demonstrate knowledge of the ways in which, why, and to what ends twentieth-century writers have dramatized socio-political issues
• Demonstrate knowledge of the ways in which the work of designers, directors, and actors affect the formation and reception of dramatic texts
• Show awareness of the shifting relationship between theatre and social change

Indicative reading list

Generic Reading lists can be found in Talis

Subject specific skills

Demonstrate knowledge of major English-language plays written (in Ireland, South Africa, and the United States) since the beginning of the twentieth century in their contexts.
Demonstrate knowledge of the ways in which, why, and to what ends twentieth-century writers have dramatized socio-political issues.
Demonstrate knowledge of the ways in which the work of designers, directors, and actors affect the formation and reception of dramatic texts.
Show awareness of the shifting relationship between theatre and social change.

Transferable skills

Develop argumentative skills in academic essays