Course Description
Examines theatre as a cultural form crucially interwoven with systems of ritual as didactic and community bonding events. Exploration of ritual as an origin for theatre, although other theories of theatre origin will be explored. Studies theatrical practices and dramatic literature (global in scope).
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students read more plays than do undergraduates, and
read additional articles or book chapters, as well as
supplementary materials related to their specific area of study
(acting, design, or theatrical theory) including primary sources
and current scholarship; write short analytical papers in place
of the objective quizzes that undergraduates take; complete a
final exam modeled after and graded according to the standards
of the comprehensive exams in their area of study; and carry
out a research and analysis project resulting in a paper twice
the length expected of undergraduates.
Athena Title
THEA HIST RITUAL
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Across time periods, cultures, and places, theatre has been a privileged arena for addressing people's relationship with the supernatural and with human rites of passage. Providing a survey of world theatre history and dramatic literature, this course examines theatre and its relation to ritual in diverse historical and geographical contexts. Expected learning outcomes: Students will demonstrate the ability to: * Read plays from a variety of periods and places as traces of past performances and blueprints for possible productions. * Compare diverse performance traditions and contexts. * Use historical and cultural research to understand plays and their staging, including the research appropriate for a director, actor, or designer. * Write clearly structured essays combining specialized terminology with the student's own voice. * Describe what is known, what is not known, and what is in dispute about the historical interrelation of theatre and ritual.
Topical Outline
TOPICAL OUTLINE: I. What is a ritual? (a form of knowledge; didactic; influence or control events; glorify a supernatural power; bring a community together to bond and pass on knowledge) a. Theories on rituals (cultural Darwinist, functionalists, structualists) b. Victor Turner II. What makes a ritual theatrical? a. Repeated patterns b. Costumes c. Special spaces (African, Egyptian, classical Greek, Roman, Indian, Native American, etc.) d. Special language e. Jerzy Grotowski and Richard Schnechner III. Theory of ritual origin of theatre and some critical texts a. Other origin theories (storytelling, shaman, shaman- clown, etc.) b. Aristotle, mimesis and methexis c. Soyinka: Ogun meets Dionysus d. Natyasastra IV. Ritual, Festival, Performance a. Egungun Festival (Nigeria) b. Barong Dance (Bali) c. Abydos Passion Play (Egypt) d. Indian/Asian e. Native American f. City Dionysia g. Ludi Romani h. Feast of Corpus Christi as well as the Quem Quaeritas Trope i. 1960's rituals The course has four units, and in each unit students will be asked to read a variety of dramatic and critical texts.
Syllabus