Undergraduate Course: Solid Performances: Theatricality on the Early Modern Stage (ENLI10100)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course offers the opportunity for students to engage with a number of early modern plays, masques and entertainments while exploring the significance of theatricality in both early modern and contemporary critical discourse. The course will introduce students to a range of dramatic writing from the early modern period, including work in a variety of forms and genres by Jonson, Middleton, Dekker, Milton, Daniel and Shakespeare. These works will be examined primarily as performance texts, and attention will be paid to modes of staging in early modern England. It will seek to extend students' knowledge and understanding of the concept of theatrical performance, as that concept is developed both in the self-reflexive theatre of early modernity and in critical writing on that theatre from early modern and contemporary standpoints. |
| Course description |
How do the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries work in performance? How can their original function as ¿performance texts¿ be made visible for the contemporary reader and theatregoer? In what ways are the possibilities and constraints of early modern theatrical practice acknowledged or exploited by the dramatic writers of the time? This course will introduce students to a range of theatrical writing from the early modern period, including work in a variety of genres by Jonson, Beaumont, Massinger, Middleton, Dekker and Shakespeare. It will seek to explore early modern plays as a set of active performance possibilities, and to develop an understanding of the concepts of theatricality and performance, as these are developed both in the self-reflexive theatre of early modernity and in debates over the nature and function of theatre in society.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | A MINIMUM of 4 college/university level literature courses at grade B or above (should include no more than one introductory level literature course). Related courses such as cross disciplinary, "Freshman Seminars", civilisation or creative writing classes are not considered for admission to this course.
Applicants should also note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. In making admissions decisions preference will be given to students who achieve above the minimum requirement with the typical visiting student admitted to this course
having four or more literature classes at grade A.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course **
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| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be expected to:
Have a working knowledge and understanding of early modern practices of theatrical performance;
Demonstrate a basic familiarity with early modern and contemporary theories of performance and performativity;
Be able to identify and analyse a variety of kinds of performance text;
Be able to critically assess a range of writing on early modern theatricality by modern and contemporary critics.
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Reading List
Primary Texts:
Shakespeare, Hamlet
Shakespeare, Richard II
Middleton and Dekker, The Roaring Girl (Revels Plays)
Ben Jonson, The Alchemist and Other Plays, ed. Gordon Campbell (Oxford)
Francis Beaumont, The Knight of the Burning Pestle (Revels Plays)
Philip Massinger, The Roman Actor (Revels Plays)
Secondary Reading:
Henry Bial and Sara Brady, eds., The Performance Studies Reader (2016)
Jean-Christophe Agnew, Worlds Apart (1986)
Jonas Barish, The Antitheatrical Prejudice (1981)
Michael Bristol, Carnival and Theatre (1985)
Marvin Carlson, Performance: A Critical Introduction (2003)
Stephen Orgel, Impersonations (1996)
Tanya Pollard, ed., Shakespeare¿s Theater: A Sourcebook (2004)
Richard Schechner, Performance Studies: An Introduction (2002)
Robert Weimann, Author's Pen and Actor's Voice (2000)
James Loxley and Mark Robson, Shakespeare, Jonson and the Claims of the Performative (2013) |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof James Loxley
Tel: (0131 6)50 3610
Email: James.Loxley@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms June Cahongo
Tel: (0131 6)50 3620
Email: J.Cahongo@ed.ac.uk |
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