6AAEC007 Experimental Theatre
Credit value: 15
Module convenor: Dr Kelina Gotman
Assessment: 1 x 1,000 word performanc review (15%) and 1 x 3,000 word essay (85%)
Teaching pattern: One lecture and one seminar weekly
Pre-requisites (if applicable): N/A
Module description:
This module introduces you to key movements in avant-garde and experimental theatre from the late 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, including pataphysics and the theatre of cruelty, laboratory theatre, Fluxus, Happenings, puppetry and performing objects, electronic and digital art, and trans-border crossings. We will think through questions of language and translation, politics, revolution, non-theatrical spaces, and the status of the play text. Readings include Jarry, Mallarmé, Artaud, Brecht, Müller, Grotowski, Barba, Gómez-Peña, Critical Art Ensemble, Anderson, Lepage, and others. You will be expected to attend at least one performance over the course of the semester, and engage in critical research.
Primary/introductory reading:
Artaud, Antonin. The Theatre and its Double (any edition)
Brecht, Bertolt. Galileo (any edition)
Grotowski, Jerzy. Towards a Poor Theatre (any edition)
Jarry, Alfred. Ubu Roi (any edition)
Lepage, Robert and Ex-Machina. The Seven Streams of the River Ota
NB: Additional readings to be supplied in course reader at the start of the semester.