Download Letteratura del teatro inglese – Prof

Letteratura del teatro inglese – Prof. Roberta Mullini - a.a. 2010/2011
Primo semestre, primo e secondo modulo
CFU: 10 (60 ore, CLA via Budassi 28)
Places for Plays: English Theatre and Drama from the Market Place to The Globe and
Blackfriars (Chester Noah's Flood, Everyman, Dr Faustus, The Tempest)
The aim of the course is to show students the tight relationship between plays and performance place, along
the transformation of English drama. The plays taken into consideration, therefore, go from the late Middle
Ages to the early modern times, i.e. from Biblical drama to Shakespeare. Even if only some texts are
studied, they will be taken as examples in a course that will focus on the more general contexts connected to
performance, including such features as actors, companies, costumes, props, stage conditions. The course
will also profit from the large amount of information derived from the publication of the Records of Early
English Drama (this rich collection is present in the University Library). The course will be held in English
0) Introduction to theatre studies and the relevance of the REED publication
1) Medieval English theatre
1.1 The Cycles and the organization of outdoor productions
1.2 Parish drama
1.3 Morality plays: outdoor and indoor productions
2) The Cycles and contemporary research. The Chester Cycle
2.1 The Pre- and Post-Reformation Banns and the involvement of the guilds in the production
2.2 Performing on pageants and the audience
2.3 Noah's Flood: the biblical episode and its themes
2.4 Noah's Flood: the performance and its props
3) Everyman and its continental origins
3.1 Religious and existential themes
3.2 The performance in Urbino in 2004
4) The rise of Elizabethan drama and the first theatres
4.1 Transformations of existing buildings and their location in London
4.2 Elizabeth's laws against and in favour of players. The Puritan censorship
4.3 The main Elizabethan companies
4.4. The building of new theatres up to the Globe, and their audiences
4.5 The private houses and their audiences
5) Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus
5.1 Themes of the play text
5.2 Analysis of possible performance conditions in a public house
6) William Shakespeare's The Tempest
6.1 Themes of the play text
6.2 Staging at Court and at Blackfriars (the masque)
6.3 Staging at the Globe.
Excerpts from videos will be shown during classes. Students are advised to avail themselves of the facilities
of CLA in order to see the complete versions.
READINGS AND VIDEOS
Since some videos of performances are part of the programme, students must know them together
with the primary and secondary texts.
Primary texts:
Anon. Noah's Flood (from the Chester Cycle)*
Anon., Everyman*
Christopher Marlowe, Dr. Faustus (any bilingual edition)
William Shakespeare, The Tempest (any bilingual edition)
Videos: Everyman, Dr. Faustus, The Tempest (BBC) (at CLA)
* The two texts are available either in the Norton Anthology of English Literature, vol 1 OR in
A.C. Cawley (ed.), Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays, London, Phoenix, 1993, OR in other
anthologies (D. Bevington, G. Walker...)
Secondary texts:
R. Mullini, R. Zacchi (2003), Introduzione allo studio del teatro inglese, Napoli, Liguori (parti I e
II)
R. Mullini (2009), "Staging Everyman in 2004 Urbino: A Classroom Experiment", in Véronique
Dominguez (éd.), Renaissance du theatre médiéval, Presses Universitaires de Louvain, pp.
97-109.
R. Beadle, A. Fletcher (eds. 2008), The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Theatre,
Cambridge, CUP, (chapters 1, 2, 5, 9) [the first edition (1994, chs. 1, 2, 4, 9) can also be used
but with integrations]
S. Wells (2004), "Shakespeare's Theatrical Scene", Linguæ &, 2004: 2, pp. 7-22
(http://www.ledonline.it/linguae/allegati/linguae0402Wells.pdf)
PROGRAMME REQUIRED FROM NON ATTENDING STUDENTS (Oral exams in English)
Non attending students are warmly invited to get in touch with professor Mullini either by phone
during the office hours or by e-mail.
READINGS AND VIDEOS
Since some videos of performances are part of the programme, students must know them together
with the primary and secondary texts.
Primary texts (see above)
Secondary texts:
R. Mullini, R. Zacchi (2003), (see above)
R. Mullini (1989), "'A most majestic vision': il masque in The Tempest e The Tempest come
masque", in M. Tempera (a cura di), The Tempest dal testo alla scena, Bologna, Clueb, pp.
21-40.
R. Mullini (2009), (see above)
R. Beadle, A. Fletcher (eds. 2008), (see above; chapters 1, 2, 5, 9, 11) [the first edition (1994, chs.
1, 2, 4, 9, 11) can also be used but with integrations]
The REVELS History of Drama in English (general eds. Clifford Leech, T. W. Craik), (1996), vol
III 1576-1613, London, Routledge, (pp. 97-135; 346-53; 465-75).
S. Wells (2004), (see above)
Possible further indications will be given during the course and posted on professor Mullini's
‘Materiale didattico' web page.