Contemporary American Drama

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

In this upper-level seminar, we will discuss works by some of America’s greatest contemporary playwrights, and work they have premiered within the past 10 years. Playwrights whose work we may study include Paula Vogel, Sarah Ruhl, Suzan-Lori Parks, Robert O'Hara, Lauren Yee, Karen Zacarías, Adrienne Kennedy and more. This interactive seminar aims to deepen students' understanding of contemporary theater, examine diverse approaches to dramatic writing, and meditate on current questions, conflicts, and conversations in the industry of new plays. This course will explore the current cultural, social, and historical demands that inform American playwriting and production. Students will engage in seminar-style discussion, critical and creative writing, personal reflection, performance analysis, and attend new plays on campus and in D.C. Together we will ask, what does a playwright make, and why? What engines, themes, forms, and cultures emerge in their writing? What role(s) does the playwright assume in our theatrical and national cultures? What does our country demand of its dramatists? And what do our dramatists demand in return?