DRA 40 — Theater on Theater: Euripides to Noël Coward and Beyond
Summer
Wednesdays
7:00—8:50 pm
Date(s)
Jun 24—Aug 12
6 sessions
Drop By
Jul 7
1 Units
Fees
$310
Open
As Shakespeare’s Hamlet reminds us, “The play’s the thing...” Playwrights often turn to the theater for their subject matter, use plays within plays to further their plots, and explore the theatricality that underlies many aspects of human behavior. This course will explore that phenomenon, offering new insights into some great plays that deal with theater in a significant self-referential way.
We will read and discuss Euripides’s Bacchae (405 bce), where Dionysus (the god of theater) plays a major role; Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1599), which uses the theater to expose a nefarious murder; Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull (1895), where a psychological battle finds its analogue in the clash between the theater of the future and the drama of the past; Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921), where benighted characters search for direction in the half-finished drama in which they find themselves; and Noël Coward’s Hay Fever (1924), Present Laughter (1939), and Star Quality (1967), where the drama of the theater invades the “real world” with wonderfully comic results. We will also discuss Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman’s Stage Door (1936), Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser (1980), Stephen Jeffreys’ The Libertine (1994), and Amy Freed’s The Beard of Avon (2001).
The course will be built around Stanford Repertory Theater’s 17th season. In addition to six class meetings, students will attend special preview performances of Noël Coward’s Hay Fever and Cowardy Custard. Students will also attend the free film series on Monday nights and receive a free ticket to the Stanford Repertory Theater symposium, “Art, Style, and Decadence in the Work of Noël Coward."
Full schedule:
Class sessions: 6 Wednesdays, June 24, July 1, July 8, July 22, July 29, and August 5, 7:00 – 8:50 pm
Preview Performances (Students receive free admission):
Hay Fever, Wednesday, July 15
Cowardy Custard, Wednesday, August 12
Symposium (Students will receive free admission): Saturday, August 1, 9:30 am – 5:00 pm
Free Film series: Mondays, June 29 – August 10, 7:00 pm
We will read and discuss Euripides’s Bacchae (405 bce), where Dionysus (the god of theater) plays a major role; Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1599), which uses the theater to expose a nefarious murder; Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull (1895), where a psychological battle finds its analogue in the clash between the theater of the future and the drama of the past; Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921), where benighted characters search for direction in the half-finished drama in which they find themselves; and Noël Coward’s Hay Fever (1924), Present Laughter (1939), and Star Quality (1967), where the drama of the theater invades the “real world” with wonderfully comic results. We will also discuss Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman’s Stage Door (1936), Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser (1980), Stephen Jeffreys’ The Libertine (1994), and Amy Freed’s The Beard of Avon (2001).
The course will be built around Stanford Repertory Theater’s 17th season. In addition to six class meetings, students will attend special preview performances of Noël Coward’s Hay Fever and Cowardy Custard. Students will also attend the free film series on Monday nights and receive a free ticket to the Stanford Repertory Theater symposium, “Art, Style, and Decadence in the Work of Noël Coward."
Full schedule:
Class sessions: 6 Wednesdays, June 24, July 1, July 8, July 22, July 29, and August 5, 7:00 – 8:50 pm
Preview Performances (Students receive free admission):
Hay Fever, Wednesday, July 15
Cowardy Custard, Wednesday, August 12
Symposium (Students will receive free admission): Saturday, August 1, 9:30 am – 5:00 pm
Free Film series: Mondays, June 29 – August 10, 7:00 pm
The course includes a ticket to the symposium (August 1) and a reserved seat at the preview performances (July 15 and August 12, no substitutions).
Rush Rehm, Professor of Theater and Performance Studies and of Classics, Stanford; Founder and Artistic Director, Stanford Repertory Theater
Rush Rehm received a PhD in drama and humanities from Stanford, and has written several books on Greek tragedy, including The Play of Space and Radical Theatre: Greek Tragedy and the Modern World. He recently directed Stanford Repertory Theater’s productions of Moby-Dick—Rehearsed and The War of the Worlds.Textbooks for this course:
(Required) Luigi Pirandello, Eric Bentley (Translator), Six Characters in Search of an Author (ISBN 0451526880)
(Required) Amy Freed, The Beard of Avon (ISBN 978-0573602580)
(Required) Shakespeare, Hamlet (ISBN 978-0451526922)
(Required) Shakespeare, Richard III (ISBN 978-0451526953)
(Required) Anton Chekhov, Laurence Senelick (Translator), The Seagull (ISBN 978-0393338171)
(Recommended) Noël Coward, Hay Fever (ISBN 9780573610042)
(Recommended) Noël Coward, Present Laughter (ISBN 978-1-4081-0148-3)
(Recommended) Ronald Harwood, The Dresser (ISBN 9780573608438)
(Recommended) Edna Ferber, Stage Door (ISBN 978-0822210696)
(Recommended) Stephen Jeffreys, The Libertine (ISBN 978-1854592774)
(Required) Amy Freed, The Beard of Avon (ISBN 978-0573602580)
(Required) Shakespeare, Hamlet (ISBN 978-0451526922)
(Required) Shakespeare, Richard III (ISBN 978-0451526953)
(Required) Anton Chekhov, Laurence Senelick (Translator), The Seagull (ISBN 978-0393338171)
(Recommended) Noël Coward, Hay Fever (ISBN 9780573610042)
(Recommended) Noël Coward, Present Laughter (ISBN 978-1-4081-0148-3)
(Recommended) Ronald Harwood, The Dresser (ISBN 9780573608438)
(Recommended) Edna Ferber, Stage Door (ISBN 978-0822210696)
(Recommended) Stephen Jeffreys, The Libertine (ISBN 978-1854592774)