Theater and Revolution

This class explores how theater and dramatic literature question and shape our understanding of “revolution” as a radical turn, incisive rupture, and profound shift in the way we perceive and organize our social and cultural life. How does drama accompany revolutionary movements, and how do revolutions compel political theater to transform itself? Readings include Aristophanes’s Lysistrata, Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, Büchner’s Danton’s Death, Brecht’s Life of Galileo, and Parks’s The America Play. We will analyze plays and performances, write our own dramatic scenes, and discuss key concepts of theater theory and practice.