Download Drama and the Theatre

Deepen your knowledge. Shape your future.
Come to study in Hungary.
Short-term program for international students
Faculty of Humanities
Eötvös Loránd University
Budapest, Hungary
Academic year 2011/2012
Drama and the Theatre:
a practical and theoretical approach from a European perspective
Overview: The primary aim of the Drama and the Theatre Program is to provide expertise in
what it means to fill the gap between some theoretical and historical approaches to dramatic
works and the point of view of the living theatre, the excitement of the stage. The courses we are
offering aim at providing solid knowledge in both the theory and the history of drama and the
theatre, while being conscious of the potential the stage and the living theatre may possess.
Bringing performance-criticism, performance-analysis and close-reading into focus, students may
gain insight into the complexities and perplexities of the theatre in action, as well as learn about
the work done by actors, directors and other people of the theatre. Although it is not among the
ambitions of the program to give training to future actors, it still expects students to participate in
the production of shorter scenes or complete plays on the stage, thus providing the best possible
view into the internal structure of drama and theatre.
Where will all this take place?
Our classes are held in the rarefied halls of the 375-year-old Faculty of Humanities of Eötvös
Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary’s longest-standing, largest and best faculty of its kind – the
home of Hungarian literature, where generations of writers, poets, philosophers and exalted
statesmen enriched the nation’s well-preserved cultural heritage. In the nationwide university
rankings, our Faculty has held its leading position among all the faculties of Hungary since 2006.
Who can benefit from the program?
Who wishes to devote a year or a semester to learn about
– genres, such as tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy, the Theatre of Cruelty, of the Absurd, etc.
– what comprehensive training means in the history, theory and practice of the dramatic genres
– the work done by actors, directors, dramaturgs, stage-managers, etc.
– theatre-life in Hungary, including the English-speaking theatre in Budapest
– what it means to write drama-reviews, scene-analyses, performance-reviews, and essays on
plays
– how one may conceive of the relationship between the written text and its realization on the
stage
– what it means to be, at least briefly, on stage, creating a character who “is, and is not”
– what it means to be part of a scene on stage with an audience around
– what belonging to a community, a theatrical troupe means
Both in the past and the present of the history of the Department of English Studies, the genre
of drama has always been a prominent topic of research, taught by teachers with great expertise
and experience. The teaching method will include the combination of theoretical approaches with
the tradition of university playacting in order to provide a complex, useful and interesting
program.
Optional activities will include visits to theatrical productions in English, or to Hungarian
performances of English plays the students are familiar with.
Degree: certificate with grades, issued by the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities of ELTE
Assessment: final written and/or oral examinations at the end of the terms
Prerequisites: at least school-leaving exams on the high-school (secondary-school) level
Entrance: there is no “entrance exam” but a semester starts only with a minimum of 12 people
and cannot take more than 40 people
Duration: 3 days of orientation + 2 x 14 weeks (two semesters, including the week of exams at
the end of the semester) (September – December; February-May, respectively)
Tuition fee: EUR 950 / semester
Who will be my professors? What classes are included in the syllabus?
Semester I (20 credits)
Week 1: orientation and sightseeing (starting day: 14 September, Wednesday)
Week 2-14: regular courses supplemented by site visits and extracurricular activities:
19 September – 9 December
Week 15 (12-16 December): exam period
Note: all courses meet once per week for 90 minutes and each course is worth 4 credits:
Géza Kállay, PhD, university professor, head of the Program: The Theory of Drama
Scope: The most significant theories of drama and dramatic genres from Aristotle to Peter
Szondi.
Judit Friedrich, PhD, associate professor, head of the Department of English Studies: Drama
and Some Theories of Literature
Scope: Drama through the prism of postmodern literary theories (feminism, post-colonial
criticism etc.)
Marcell Gellért, PhD, associate professor: The History of Drama I
Scope: The history of drama and stage from Aeschylus to Congreve
Ferenc Takács, PhD, associate professor, English Drama in the World
Scope: Interpretations of drama from countries other than England (Ireland, USA,
Australia, Canada, etc.)
Balázs Szigeti, Drs., Program Assistant: The Dramatic Text and the Stage I
Scope: The possibilities and conditions of staging dramatic texts through the perspective of
the director, including theatrical exercises.
Semester II (20 credits)
Week 1: orientation and sighseeing (starting day: 15 February, Wednesday)
Week 2-14: regular courses supplemented by site visits and extracurricular activities:
20 February—18 May
Week 15 (21-25 May): exam period
Marcell Gellért, PhD, associate professor: The History of Drama II
Scope: The history of drama and stage from Fielding to Stoppard
Márta Hargitai, PhD, Lecturer: Shakespeare and his Contemporary Playwrights
Scope: A survey of Shakespeare’s dramatic oeuvre and his most important contemporary
playwrights (Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Kyd, Ben Jonson, John Webster, Thomas
Middleton, Beaumont and Fletcher, John Marston, etc.)
Natália Pikli, PhD, Lecturer: Dramas Line by Line
Scope: Close-reading of one or two dramas (“line by line”)
Eglantina Remport, PhD, Assistant Professor: Drama and Theatre in the 20th – 21st century
Scope: Interpretations of dramas by contemporary, modernist and postmodernist
playwrights; sometimes whole careers, sometimes various themes treated by different
playwrights are in focus.
Balázs Szigeti, Drs., Program Assistant, The Dramatic Text and the Stage II
Scope: A sequel to The Dramatic Text and the Stage I, with new material, dealing further with
the possibilities and conditions of staging dramatic texts through the perspective of the
director, including theatrical exercises
The Theory of Drama
Drama and Some Theories of Literature
The History of Drama I
The History of Drama II
English Drama in the World
The Dramatic Text and the Stage I
Shakespeare and his Contemporary Playwrights
Dramas Line by Line
Drama and Theatre in the 20th-21st century
The Dramatic Text and the Stage II
Géza KÁLLAY
Judit FRIEDRICH
Marcell GELLÉRT
Marcell GELLÉRT
Ferenc TAKÁCS
Balázs SZIGETI
Márta HARGITAI
Natália PIKLI
Eglantina REMPORT
Balázs SZIGETI
What bibliography should I consult during the semesters?
Lee A. Jacobus (ed.), The Bedford Introduction to Drama, Third edition, Boston: Bedford Books, 1996
Sylvan Barnet-William Burto-Leslie Ferris-Gerald Rabkin (eds.), Types of Drama: Plays and Contexts,
Eighth Edition, New York: Longman, 2001
Peter Szondi, Theory of the Modern Drama (Theory and History of Literature, Vol. 29), Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press, 1987
What does the fee cover?
• core academic program (all required lectures and seminars)
• welcome and farewell reception
• meet and assist service at the airport if specific arrival date and time is announced at least two
weeks in advance
• sightseeing and some extracurricular activities
• local student assistance (international student chaperons will help applicants with orientation
after arrival in Hungary)
• the use of the university library, on-campus wifi, student cafeteria and community spaces
What expenses do I have to cover?
• accommodation and meals (dormitories, well-located budget hostels and midrange category
guesthouses are available throughout the city)
• entrance fees for group excursions and sites
• elective courses
• course materials and some extracurricular activities
Useful information (the amounts below refer to monthly expenses):
• Living costs in Hungary: cca. €340
• Public transport: cca €15
Accommodation:
•
•
Dormitory costs: cca €80 (if available, usually in limited numbers)
Apartment rental + overhead expenses: cca. €300 (heating, electricity, gas, internet access,
telephone, water supply, etc.)
What is the application deadline?
Send your application package to [email protected] by 28 June, 2011 to Mr. Rudolf
Sárdi, Head of the International Division. The application package must include as attachments:
(1) a completed application form, (2) a CV in English, and (3) a certificate of completed
secondary education or highest degree you hold (scanned).
Where can I get further information about the technical details of the program?
Send all our inquiries to our dedicated e-mail address: [email protected], or contact
Mr. Rudolf Sárdi at +36 1 485 5296 between 9 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. on weekdays (please note that
Hungary is GMT +1).
Who are my program leaders? Where can I reach them?
Head of the program: Géza Kállay, PhD, university professor, [email protected]
Program Assistant: Balázs Szigeti, MA in English and Hungarian Literature and Linguistics,
PhD student in the Early Modern English Literature (Shakespeare) Program,
[email protected]