Course for international guest/part time students
- Faculty
- Faculty of Humanities
- Organization
- BTK Department of English Studies
- Code
- BMI-ANGD17-CI8aE.05
- Title
- Modern Drama - Foundations and Perspectives: Contemporary Drama and Theatre after 1990
- Usual semester
- Spring
- ECTS
- 3
- Language
- Learning outcomes
- The seminar course offers a comparative and pragmatic approach to plays, written after 1990 in the UK and Ireland, highlighting the variety of topics, authors, dramatic forms and performative options present on the contemporary English stage. The aim of the course is twofold: to lead to a better understanding of how drama and theatre work and to help students familiarize themselves with the cultural and theatrical contexts of contemporary English drama, which inspired these plays.
- Course content
- During the seminar several contemporary plays are analysed in depth from dramaturgical and aesthetic perspectives, however, this approach is always supported and complemented by an outlook on relevant theatrical and socio-cultural contexts. The classes will also focus on how written drama is realized in theatrical production, therefore, some performances of given plays (both in UK and in Hungary) will be analysed in detail. The specific content of the seminar and the list of compulsory readings is defined by the instructor for each semester to reflect on current issues, so the reading list is subject to change.
- Assessment method
- Reading of set texts and participation in discussion are essential. Short presentation(s) on one play/performance, based on original research and/or close reading to introduce one problem/aspect of the play. Final essay (6-8 pp).
- Bibliography
- The following plays are usually discussed in class but the specific list of set texts varies each semester. Jezz Butterworth: Jerusalem (2009) Marina Carr: The Mai (1995) Caryl Churchill: The Skriker (1993) Caryl Churchill: Far Away (2000) Maggie O’Farrell, adapted by Lolita Chakrabati: Hamnet (2023) David Greig: The Strange Undoing of Prudentia Hart (2017) Sarah Kane: Blasted (1995) Martin McDonagh: The Lonesome West (1996) Martin McDonagh: Pillowman (2003) Martin McDonagh: A very, very, very dark matter (2018) Tom Stoppard: The Hard Problem (2015) Tom Stoppard: Leopoldstadt (2020) SUGGESTED SECONDARY READINGS Eliane Aston and Elin Diamond, eds. The Cambride Companion to Caryl Churchill. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2009. Vicky Angeliaki, ed. Contemporary British Theatre. Breaking New Ground. Houndmills-New York, Palgrave-Macmillan, 2013 Amelia Howe Kritzer. Political Theatre in Post-Thatcher Britain: New Writing 1995-2005. Houndmills-New York, Palgrave-Macmillan, 2008. K.E. Kelly, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Tom Stoppard. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001. R Darren Gobert. The Theatre of Caryl Churchill. London, Methuen, 2014. Patrick Lonergan. The Theatre and Films of Martin McDonagh. London, Methuen, 2012. Michael Patterson. Strategies of Political Theatre. Post-War British Playwrights. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2006. Ondrej Pilny. Irony and Identity in Modern Irish Drama. Prague, Litteraria Pragensia, 2006. Dab Rebellato. Modern British Playwriting 2000-2009. London, Methuen, 2013. Philip Roberts. The Royal Court Thatre and the Modern Stage. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004. Aleks Sierz. In-yer-face theatre. British Drama Today. Ondon, Faber and Faber, 2001. Aleks Sierz. Rewriting the Nation. British Theatre Today. London, 2011. Clare Wallace. Suspect Cultures. Narrative, Identity and Citation in 1990s New Drama. London, Methuen, 2006.