ENGL 197H
Shakespeare: Text and Performance
Dr. Garrett Sullivan
A 1-credit special topics course, offered in Spring 2014 (January 13-February 3, 2014)
Monday evenings, 7:30-8:45 pm, January 13 and 20, February 3;
Monday PSU play performance, 7:00-9:30, January 27;
Saturday field trip to Blackfriars Theater, Staunton VA, Feb 1
For 25 years, the American Shakespeare Center (ASC) has been an internationally renowned source for lively and innovative productions of Shakespeare and other English Renaissance dramatists. Located in Staunton, VA, the ASC performs in a beautiful, historically accurate reconstruction of the Blackfriars Theater, a 17th-century London playhouse. They also replicate many of the original conditions of Renaissance theatrical performance: plays are performed with the lights up and with a handful of audience members on stage. This is Shakespeare like you’ve never seen him.
For this course, we will experience the ASC both at home and on the road. On January 27, the ASC touring company will bring Othello to the HUB Auditorium, while on February 1 we will take a day-trip to the Blackfriars Theater for a production of As You Like It. The class will meet in advance of these performances to discuss the literary dimensions of these Shakespearean masterworks as well as afterwards to consider our shared theatrical experience.
Requirements: Students will be required to read Othello and As You Like It, as well as attend all classes and performances. Admission to Othello and As You Like It will be free, as will round-trip transportation to Staunton, VA. The class will be capped at 20.