Syllabus
Course descriptions are available at http://ualk.ff.cuni.cz/current-students.html
Please note: students must enroll in the course by week two of the semester. Students attempting to enroll on week 3 or later will not be accepted.
Annotation
The course will investigate the development of contemporary American drama since the 1970s. C.W.E. Bigsby observes that it is only when we reach the twentieth century that American drama begins to “test its own boundaries and possibilities.” We will explore the ways in which its key playwrights address these boundaries and possibilities in particular through recurrent themes of social and individual alienation as well as through formal experiment. The playwrights in focus this semester will include: David Mamet, Sam Shepard, Luis Valdez, Marsha Norman, Paula Vogel, Tony Kushner, Suzan-Lori Parks, Wallace Shawn, Anne Washburn, Lynn Nottage, Bruce Norris and Jackie Sibblies Drury.
Schedule:
Week 1 (3.10) Introduction
Week 2 (10.10) David Mamet American Buffalo (1977) & Oleanna (1992)
Week 3 (17.10) Luis Valdez Zoot Suit (1978) & I Don’t Have to Show You No Stinking Badges! (1986)
Week 4 (24.10) Sam Shepard Buried Child (1978) & True West (1980)
Week 5 (31.10) Marsha Norman ‘night Mother (1982) & Paula Vogel How I Learned to Drive (1997)
Week 6 (7.11) Tony Kushner Angels in America (1990, 1991)
Week 7 (14.11) Suzan-Lori Parks Top Dog/Underdog (2001)
Week 8 (21.11) Bruce Norris Clybourne Park (2010)
Week 9 (28.11) Wallace Shawn Grasses of a Thousand Colors (2009) & Anne Washburn Mr Burns (2012)
Week 10 (5.12) Lynn Nottage Sweat (2015)
Week 11 (12.12) Tracy Letts August: Osage County (2007) & Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins Appropriate (2014)
Week 12 (19.12) Jackie Sibblies Drury Fairview (2018)
Week 13 (2.1) Reserve
Week 14 (9.1) Conclusion, feedback session, discussion of final research projects
Please note: students must enroll in the course by week two of the semester. Students attempting to enroll on week 3 or later will not be accepted.