Modern and Contemporary Theatre (ENGL20030)

This subject explores the questions animating the major movements in 20^th- and 21^st-century theatre and drama. What does it mean to try to represent the world “as it really is”? Should the theatre entertain, educate, incite, reassure? How should it do these things? The diverse ways in which solutions to these problems have been pursued inform its conception and reception in any given historical context. We will examine key texts and practices in Western theatre from the last 150 years, with particular attention paid to the ways in which theatre artists have chosen (or been compelled) to respond to shifting social, political, and economic dynamics. While the syllabus is primarily organised chronologically, we will place equal emphasis on tracing themes and “problems” as they resurface in disparate geographical locations and historical periods.