230233 The Royal Court Theatre, 1956-2022 (S) (SoSe 2022)

"The Royal Court Theatre is the writers’ theatre. It is a leading force in world theatre for cultivating and supporting writers – undiscovered, emerging and established. Through the writers, the Royal Court is at the forefront of creating restless, alert, provocative theatre about now. We open our doors to the unheard voices and free thinkers that, through their writing, change our way of seeing." (RCT website)
We will read a play from almost each decade since the Royal Court was founded in 1956, try to understand the debates to which they contributed and ask whether and how they still speak to us today.

CONTENT WARNING: These plays were all written to address controversial political and socio-cultural issues and to provoke debate. Almost all of them contain strong language and imply or show scenes of (sexual) violence/abuse and dramatise toxic relationships of different kinds. If in doubt whether you want to read and discuss these plays, please read summaries of their plots and staging on Wikipedia or elsewhere before you sign up for this class!
PLEASE NOTE: This class will only take place if we are back to full face-to-face teaching in summer. I will not teach these plays via zoom.

Bibliography

Martin Sherman, Bent (1979)
Caryl Churchill, Top Girls (1982)
Timberlake Wertenbaker, Our Country's Good (1988)
Sarah Kane, Crave (1998)
Jez Butterworth, Jerusalem (2009)
Martin McDonagh, Hangmen (2015)