230583 Broadway and Beyond: 20th Century American Theater and Drama (S) (WiSe 2008/2009)

In this survey course we will look at developments, themes, and tendencies in American stage drama from the post-World War I era through the 1990s. A reading of selected major plays will be complemented by excurses to alternative theatrical endeavors and set in the context of American theater culture, dramatic theory, developments in stagecraft, as well as societal discourses informing and informed by the pieces under discussion. We will analyze, among others, works by Thornton Wilder, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Lorraine Hansberry, David Henry Hwang, and Tony Kushner.

Requirements for 2 LP include regular class attendance, active participation in the discussions, and a short oral presentation; for 3 LP the above as well as a short written term paper are required.