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Module Content and Indicative TopicsÌý

Most plays were not written to be read but to be performed on stage by live actors and to be received by an audience. ‘From Page to Stage’ explores this distinctive feature of drama and develops the analytical skills needed to study dramatic texts, as literature and as one element in a collaborative theatrical event. The module gives students the opportunity to read plays that are drawn from a range of cultures and historical periods and that, vitally, continue to be performed. It introduces key theoretical approaches to drama and theatre as well as reflecting on questions of character, action and genre; on staging and theatrical spaces; and on the relationship between audience and performers.Ìý

The following eight plays are proposed for study:Ìý

³§´Ç±è³ó´Ç³¦±ô±ð²õ, AntigoneÌý

William Shakespeare, The TempestÌý

²Ñ´Ç±ô¾±Ã¨°ù±ð, The MisanthropeÌý

Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s HouseÌý

W. B. Yeats, Plays for Dancers (At the Hawk’s Well; The Dreaming of the Bones; The Only Jealousy of Emer)Ìý

Bertolt Brecht, The Caucasian Chalk CircleÌý

Caryl Churchill, Top GirlsÌý

Florian Zeller, The FatherÌý

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Teaching Delivery Ìý

Teaching will comprise 10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars. Lectures will contextualize and reflect on ways of approaching each play, while the seminars, which will take place in smaller groups, will focus on close reading and student-led discussion. Students will be expected to read each play in advance of the classes and to give one 10-minute presentation, in pairs. Ìý

Having completed the module, students will: Ìý

1. Be able to reflect critically on the relationship between drama and theatreÌý

2. Be able to read and analyse a play both as a work of literature and as a text to be performedÌý

3. Be able to think comparatively about play textsÌý

4. Be familiar with some key developments in theatre history and with a number of representative textsÌý

5. Have developed their own powers of appreciation and be able to respond thoughtfully to both primary sources and scholarly materials. Ìý

Recommended Reading Ìý

In preparation for the module, students are advised to read the plays listed above. Ìý

Background reading: Ìý

Martin Meisel, How Plays Work. Reading and Performance (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007). Ìý

Simon Shepherd and Mick Wallis, Studying Plays, 4th edn (London: Bloomsbury, 2018). Ìý

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For plays that were not originally written in English, please read a recent scholarly translation of the original text, such as those in the Penguin Classics series, or in the ‘World’s Classics’ series published by Oxford University Press. Versions or adaptations produced for specific theatre productions should not be used. Please read Brecht in the Methuen Student Edition. In most cases the original text or an appropriate translation is available electronically via the ‘Drama Online’ database, which can be accessed from the UCL Library website. Ìý