LIT6014   Texts, Politics and Performance   (30 credits)

Description

This module will examine attempts to use theatre and performance to reflect and influence society (primarily in Britain and Europe) during the 20th (and 21st) centuries. It will explore theory and practice within historical, cultural, philosophical and aesthetic contexts, drawing on material and forms rooted in contrasting political agendas. Typical areas for focus include; post-revolutionary theatre in the Soviet Union; agit-prop, the Workers' Theatre Movement and Unity Theatre; theatre censorship; right-wing satires and melodramas of the 1930s; Living Newspapers and Documentary Drama; Community Theatre in Northern Ireland; practitioners such as Boal, Brecht and Littlewood; companies such as Theatre Workshop, Gay Sweatshop and 7:84; playwrights such as Sarah Daniels, Howard Brenton and Mark Ravenhill.

Reading List