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Theatre, Audience and Society Harry Eyres Students will study a substantial series of texts and attend at least six plays in this course, each challenging students to think critically about theatre and its ability to shape the thinking of its audience. The course is a journey through different theories of theatre, including: Tragedy in which the feelings are purged through catharsis Social theatre, in which problems and abuses are addressed Political theatre, designed to promote awareness of or opposition to the political and economic system Avante-garde, which probes the divide between life and the stage The theatre of gender, race and sexual orientation. Course Outline This is a course which focuses not so much on what theatre (in some timeless sense) is, or on providing a snapshot of the London theatrical offering at a particular moment, but on the potentially life-changing effect theatre can have on its audience. Implicit is a concern with theatre not as bland, escapist entertainment but as a powerful social, political or therapeutic tool. The course is divided into five blocks: 1. Theories of tragedy: Plato vs. Aristotle Plato’s attack on theatre; Aristotle on catharsis: therapeutic purgation of feeling in the theatre. Texts: Plato, Republic Book 10 (extract) Aristotle, Poetics (extracts) Sophocles, Oedipus the King 2. Social theatre: Ibsen and Shaw Theatre investigates social problems and abuses. Texts: Ibsen, Enemy of the People Shaw, Mrs Warren’s Profession 3. Political theatre: Brecht Theatre makes the audience aware of a living in a rotten political and economic system, and of the connections between capitalism and war. Texts: Brecht, Selected Writings on Theatre Brecht, Mother Courage 4. The Theatre of Gender, Race, Sexual Orientation Texts: Churchill, Top Girls Kushner, Angels in America 5. The theatre/life divide: avant-garde theatre Texts: Artaud, The Theatre and its Double Gregory/Shawn/Malle. My Dinner with Andre Theatre Visits The class will attend five London stage productions, illustrating at least three of the five categories of theatre covered in the course. Presented Work Students will write two papers, one in each half of the semester, and there will a mid-term and a final examination. A portion of the grade will be awarded on participation.