“Reading Theater: Acting the grotesque, producing the sublime”
What is "grotesque"? Who says so? Why? And most importantly, how is the grotesque performed on stage? The grotesque, offering rich theatrical possibilities for the stage, is a distinguishing mark of theatre written or produced in moments of social unrest and cultural change. The concept is generally understood as corporeal and social deformation, fragmentation, distortion of perspective and disassociation from reality; as the nightmare irruption of the individual and collective unconscious; as well as the carnivalesque use of caricature, even obscene emphasis of bodily functions. The grotesque generates a method of producing estrangement and distancing in social and political theatre, where its use signals a socio-cultural reality without falling into cathartic forms of realism or melodrama.
This course investigates the grotesque tradition in drama and theatre from medieval the mystery play to more contemporary issues of performativity, performance and image. Textual study concentrates on the dramatic text and aesthetic problems of staging the grotesque. Students are encouraged to consider theatricality in broader terms that translate to another form cultural expression. That is, what might seem just too, too ugly or distorted "for words" in the dramatic text, and how it often takes on magical and surprisingly sublime shadings when staged.
Readings and films: Approximately 8 plays and about 4 films; theoretical readings chosen to think, provoke frontiers of discussion regarding the grostesque (psychoanalysis, lit-cultural studies, etc.); some secondary texts on theatre theory and theatrical traditions.
All play texts will be in English translation, although students are encouraged to read in the orignal if they wish. C-L: TS 101S
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