Appreciation of the Drama

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Syllabus
Appreciation of the Drama 161
Fall, 2009
Associate Professor Richard Kalinoski

“The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead”
-Aristotle-

Room: CLOW 103. Tuesday and Thursday, 11:30 to 1:00 PM.

Required Textbooks:

The Essential Theatre by Brockett and Ball, 9^th edition (Harcourt and Brace) 2008 ISBN 9780495090373;
King Lear by William Shakespeare (university bookstore)

Required attendance at two main stage plays: Both at the Fredric March Theatre:

Picasso at the Lapin Agile by Steve Martin September 30 thru October 3 7:30 PM and October 4 at 2:00 PM.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. December 2 thru 5 at 7:30 PM and December 6 at 2:00 PM.

Contact Information/ Office hours: 218acw 1:15 to 3 PM Tuesday and Thursday and by appointment. Associate Professor and Resident Playwright Richard Kalinoski
Office Location: 218 ACW (Arts and Communication West, 2^nd floor).
Phone: 424 0937
Email: kalinosk@uwosh.edu

Catalog Description: Theatre 161 Appreciation of the Drama (HU) 3 cr.
A survey of drama as an integral element in human society in its cultural aspects, intended to stimulate and develop an appreciation for drama as literature and theatre. Meets the Humanities requirement for General Education. No prerequisite.

Detailed Course Description: Appreciation of the Drama is a course which seeks to introduce students to the art, practice and craft of theatre through reading, discussion, lecture and attending plays. The two main stage productions of the UW Oshkosh Theatre Department this semester will be fundamental to the content of this class. Attendance at one or more performances of each of these productions is mandatory for those enrolled in Drama 161.

Too, there will up to 6 guest presenters in this class during the course of the semester; primarily faculty from the theatre department. WHAT is presented on stage and what is offered by presenters will be included on tests and/or quizzes during the semester.

Theatre as a part of the Liberal Arts
The liberal arts engage students in the study of the human condition by exploring the disciplines broadly defined by the sciences, the arts, culture, literature and history. THEATRE is a small component of these human endeavors but its reach is ambitious. Theatre has been historically dedicated to the act of imitating, replicating and representing our lives. In many ways it is the ultimate “liberal” art if one understands the word “liberal” to mean generous or broadly encompassing. Theatre’s mandate is to explore any and all facets of lives—it demands intellectual rigor and multifarious artistic abilities because theatre is primarily interested in uncovering the truth about how we live. It is this search for truth that puts theatre into the very core of liberal pursuits. Theatre is a genuine liberal art.

Special Meetings: Special meetings with small groups of students will take place in the first several classes (8 or more sessions). Your professor will set aside ten to fifteen minutes for the purpose of learning more about each of you, since the class is excessively large. This will be a chance for you to ask specific questions should you have them. These smaller sessions will take place near the end of each class period—you will be given a short in-class question during these sessions and you will be asked to write an answer (in class) and hand in that answer. For the ten to fifteen minutes of class time that these special meetings will require—the remaining students can use that time to read their assignments in the text.

Courtesy: Students are expected to attend class having read the assigned material. Further, students should turn off their cell phones, pagers or any other potentially disruptive electronic device during class time including I-PODs.

Objectives of the Class: This class has an overarching super-objective. That super-objective is to enable students to be able to articulate a sophisticated understanding of the art of theatre. The following are the key components of that super-objective.

By performing on quizzes and tests:

Students will demonstrate intellectual understanding of the concepts, traditions and practices of theatre artists.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of details and facts from several eras of theatre history including Greek, Roman, Medieval and Elizabethan.

Students will show an ability to identify practices and concepts of contemporary theatre.

Attendance policy: Come to class and participate. Your steadfast attendance is one way to demonstrate your seriousness as a student. More than fifty percent (50 %) of the material on quizzes and tests will derive from lecture and discussion in class, from the two plays that you will attend and from the films in class. Your class participation grade will derive from short statements that you will make and/or write and hand in (in class). Because it is central to the educational mission of this class your attendance at performances of plays produced by the theatre department is essential.

GRADES:

Quizzes 40%

Tests 50%

Class participation 10%

100%

Schedule

December 17

Date	Topic	Activity
September 10	Introduction Student profiles Short lecture on theatre’s aesthetics. Explanation of course protocols and examination of syllabus.	Assign Chapter 1 on the Nature of Theatre in The Essential Theatre pages 3-20, Basic elements; discussion of play attendance requirements. Short meeting with first small group.
September 15	Lecture and discussion on the Nature of Theatre. What theatre is not. Reference to film and TV. Theatre in the USA today.	Assign King Lear Assign pages 23-thru 32 in text—on audiences and criticism. Short meeting with 2^nd small group
September 17	Announcements and reminders, discussion of criticism’s; function in the theatre—assign 32-34	Quiz 1 to be on September 21 and 22 at the testing center. (Monday and Tuesday) Quiz on pages 3 thru 34 and notes from class Monday/Tues short meeting with 3^rd group
September 22	TBA Guest, Merlaine Angwall, director of Picasso at the Lapin Agile by Steve Martin; lecture and discussion of the director’s role in all phases of producing; sample scene from the play; reminder of Odyssey performances.	Quiz 1 to be on September 21 and 22 at the testing center. Monday and Tuesday Assign: Read pages 36 thru 47.
September 24	Lecture and discussion of CRITICISM in the theatre; the problem of the critic—what is valuable in the theatre and who determines it? Lecture on what makes a play. Aristotle’s classic principles. On the dramatic question. On the challenge of diction for the playwright. (forms of theatre and tragedy)	Assign pages 47 thru 52—the tenets (principles of play structure Short meeting with 4^th group.
September 29	What is a tragedy? What is a melodrama? The challenge of comedy—how do we know what is funny and why? Lecture and notes and discussion.	Assign pages 57-66 (The Greeks) Notes on Picasso at the Lapin Agile—Sept.30 thru Oct. 3 at 7:30 PM; October 4 at 2:00 PM Short meeting with 5^th group.
October 1	Lecture and discussion of Greek Theatre—contribution of the Greeks to the idea of the Western Theatre. In the West theatre evolved from the worship activities of the Greeks.	assign pages 67 thru 79 Quiz2 Oct. 5, 6. Short meeting with 6^th group.
October 6	Notes on King Lear. Lecture on the Romans and introduction to the Middle Ages.	Quiz 2 at testing center (Monday and Tuesday) Quiz will include questions derived from performance of Picasso at the Lapin Agile at the Fredric March Theatre and the Greeks and pages 47 thru 66. Short meeting with 7^th group.
October 8	Discussion/lecture re: King Lear; guest lecture from Roy Hoglund, Set Designer—on the role of the set designer in the production of plays.	King Lear due Short meeting with 8^th group
October 13	Film of King Lear (1997 film, the BBC, directed by Richard Eyre, starring Ian Holm. Screening in class	King Lear film will be included in quiz of October 20.
October 15	Film: King Lear, Lecture on King Lear and Shakespeare, notes on Ian Holm and the problem of portraying age. Why Shakespeare is forever influential---Elizabethan environment. Combination of language, form, character and plot.	Assign pages 79-92 in textbook Quiz3 Monday/Tues, 19,20 Oct.
October 20	Lecture on the Middle Ages and theatre. The slow move outside for liturgical drama….then the move toward the secular.	Quiz 3 (Monday and Tuesday), will cover King Lear and the Romans and pages 67 thru 79.
October 22	Jane Purse Wiedenhoeft is guest lecturer---on the challenges of directing Shakespeare.	Assignment: Pages 95 thru 107—on women acting and Hamlet
October 27	Lecture on the role of women in theatre history. The challenges of acting as a profession for both men and women: making art and making a living.	Assignment in text- pages 107 to 119—the Italian Renaissance
October 29	Guest Lecture on Commedia ‘del Arte, special guest Franca Barricelli, Associate Dean of Letters and Science	Test 1 Nov.2,3,4 Will include all material to date (mid-term). Assignment in text- pages 133 thru 149, Romanticism and Realism
November 3	Lecture on the emergence of Realism. The difference between Realism and Naturalism. The nature of Romanticism.	Test 1 at testing center (Monday thru Weds., test to cover material to date: reading, lecture, guest lectures, performance of Picasso Assignment 149 thru 152—the idea of a director
November 5	Screening of documentary films from the BBC and English Theatre companies on acting Shakespeare
November 10	TBA ( Part 2 of screening documentary films from the BBC/acting Shakespeare)
November 12	Guest lecture, Merlaine Angwall---on the challenges of creating a musical, directing a musical	Quiz 4 Nov.16,17
November 17	Notes and screening of Shakespeare in Love, a film by John Madden (academy award).	Quiz 4 at testing center (Monday and Tuesday) Quiz will include Guest lecture, pages 149-152, BBC acting companies (film) and notes on rise of Realism.
November 19	Screening of Shakespeare in Love. Notes on the creation of the film
November 24	Guest Lecture, Roy Hoglund on design during the Elizabethans	Quiz 5 Nov. 30, Dec.1
December 1	Presentation of dvd on Acting Shakespeare with the Royal Shakespeare Co	Quiz 5 at testing center (Monday and Tuesday), quiz to include Shakespeare in Love and guest lecture. Notes on Midsummer Nights Dream, December 2-5 at 7:30 PM and December 6 at 2 PM (Fredric March Theatre)
December 3	Screening of Royal Shakespeare lessons/actors commentary
December 8	Lecture on costuming and Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kathleen Donnelly, costume designer, Theatre Department
December 10	Guest Lecture: Mick Alderson, on lighting for the stage. Re: Midsummer Night’s Dream	Test 2 Dec. 14,15,16
December 15	Lecture and discussion of theatre traditions in the U.S including the play Uncle Tom’s Cabin	Test 2 at testing center (Monday thru Weds.)
Final class Lecture on theatre in America today. The rise of and the threat to Regional theatre; theatre in Wisconsin