Course Outline

"Theatre is Life; Film is Art; Television is Furniture”

If the notable saying in our course title is true, millions of us would rather furnish than live. But then, for as long as there have been plays, there has been someone else to write about what plays mean. In this course we join in the fun. We find out for ourselves whether or not theatre is indeed superior to film and television. We will read, study and enjoy four very famous (and still influential) plays – one ancient, one middle-aged, one modern, one foreign – alongside four equally famous critical commentaries, one from each period. We then study the screenplay of a popular recent film in comparison with what we will have learned in class. And while this is going on, you and a group of your class fellows will be watching your choice of a weekly television series, writing down your personal opinions (abusive or laudatory), and preparing for a dramatic presentation in seminar that acts your Group’s conclusion on TV’s relative worth. At that, we can say that we will have been properly introduced to Drama.


REQUIRED TEXTS:
Aristotle  The Poetics  Penguin
Æschylus  Prometheus Bound  Oxford
Johnson, Samuel  Preface to Shakespeare  On-Line
Shakespeare, William  Henry V  Oxford
Shaw, Bernard  Saint Joan  Penguin
Mishima, Yukio  Madame de Sade  Courseware
Christie, Agatha The Mousetrap 


COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
10%   Productive participation
20%   Mid-Term Essay
15%   Mid-Term Essay Revision
20%   Group Television Project
35%   Final Examination

To receive credit for this course, students must complete all requirements.

TUTORIALS WILL BE HELD THE FIRST WEEK OF CLASSES