Shakespeare and Performance

This course, which is open to both undergraduate and graduate students, connects performance and critical studies. No acting experience or training is required, as long as one is willing to try. Preexisting knowledge of the historical, political, and social dynamics of Shakespeare's world is not necessary, as long as one is willing to learn. Scenes and monologues read aloud and performed in class can be informed by critical "takes" on the world. And the physical, embodied, and tactile knowledge that one acquired by doing Shakespeare, makes us understand his plays in entirely new ways. Iambic pentameter is both an idea and a beating heart. Topics of study will include the performance of Shakespeare's plays in his own day, speaking Shakespeare's prose and verse, metaphor and other figures of speech, class relationships, gender difference and power, race, the queering of gender binaries, Shakespeare's creative use of his sources, and global Shakespeare. Assignments will address both dimensions of the course, including critical writing, as well as performance work on sonnets, monologues, and scenes. This course satisfies the prerequisite for the Shakespeare's Globe Study Abroad Program in London.
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM

Shakespeare and Performance

DRAMA 5309

Section 01