Expos 20: Contemporary Theatre

MW11 & MW12

Room TBA // Spring 2013
Dr. Ken Urban
Office: Room 24 @ 8 Prescott Street
E-mail: kurban@fas.harvard.edu
Office Hours: Wednesday 1:00pm 2pm & Monday by appointment
** Note: There are no office hours during conference weeks. **
Since the 1950s, theatre has refused to shy away from controversial issues, provoking
audiences to reconsider their beliefs and re-imagine the world. This course will grapple
with the plays of influential and provocative playwrights from the past five decades,
and debate issues of politics, ethics, race and sexuality. We will begin by considering
the ideas of comedy and tragedy. Do these designations still make sense in our time?
We will read The Caretaker by Harold Pinter and The Gnadiges Fraulein by Tennessee
Williams. What happens when a comic story is told as a tragedy, or a tragic plot
(intentionally) yields moments of comedy? The second unit will examine the
relationship between politics and dramatic form. We will read two important plays
from the 1990s: Paula Vogels How I Learned to Drive and Tony Kushners Angels in
America. What are Kushner and Vogels motives in making strange and
defamiliarizing such politically charged issues as AIDS and pedophilia? In our final
unit, we will assess the thorny issue of cruelty and violence on stage. We will read and
watch plays by two of the most radical and troubling playwrights of twentieth-century
theatre: Samuel Beckett and Sarah Kane. Are the cruel displays found in these plays a
reflection of life, a cheap thrill that inures us to real violence, or an ethical catalyst for
change? Since playwrights (with few exceptions) write their plays to be performed, we
must consider our readings not only as literature, but also as texts for the stage, to be
interpreted by actors, directors, designers and audience members. No stage experience
necessary, just imagination.
As a writing course, we will spend the semester mastering the skills of academic
writing. We will talk about the importance of thesis and argument, and how to use
evidence to support your claims. We will also work on other crucial writing skills that
might be new to you: questions of audience, how to avoid assumptions and define
keyterms to ground an argument, the importance of style and tone, the role of counterargument. You will also learn how writing is a process. Rather than writing and
reading being considered separate activities, the course will stress how interconnected
the two are. You will leave the course with an understanding of the elements of a
successful academic essay as well as develop a repertoire of strategies for writing and
revising that will serve you well during your time at Harvard and beyond, regardless
of your concentration or intellectual interests.

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Course Requirements:
Readings
Available for purchase at the Harvard Square Coop, 1400 Mass Ave:
Beckett, Samuel. Collected Shorter Plays (Grove Press)
Kane, Sarah and Ken Urban. Blasted (Student Edition) (Methuen)
Kane, Sarah. Complete Plays (Methuen)
Kushner, Tony. Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches (TCG)
Pinter, Harold. The Caretaker and The Dumb Waiter (Grove Press)
Vogel, Paula. The Mammary Plays: How I Learned to Drive/ The Mineola Twins (TCG)
Williams, Tennessee. The Gnadiges Fraulein (Dramatists Play Service)
There are also additional readings and videos available to download/view online on the
course iSite: http://isites.harvard.edu/k89640
File Name: Unit 2 Readings.PDF: Viktor Shklovsky, Art as Technique and Bertolt
Brecht, Selections from Brecht on Theatre
&
The Harvard Guide to Using Sources: http://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu
A good dictionary and writing handbook are also advised. I recommend The Hodges
Harbrace Handbook.
Writing
You will write three essays this semester. While each essay will focus on a different set
of readings, each one builds off the lessons of the previous paper. You will write a draft
of each paper followed by a revision. For each essay, you will also write a Response
Paper to help you prepare. You will also be reading and commenting on each others
writing throughout the semester. All writing assignments must be turned in on-time.
Conferences
For each essay, we will meet for a conference to discuss your draft and your progress
as a writer. These meetings are a chance to help you strategize and plan your revisions.
You should come to each conference prepared, having re-read your draft and any
comments that I have given you on previous papers.
Email
On occasion, I will be in touch about class-related stuff via email, so please check your
email and the course iSite often. Assignments and essays will be submitted through the
course Dropbox located on the iSite. Please submit all work as a Word document
(either .doc or .docx). No PDFs, though an RTF will work in a pinch.

Participation
Our course will be run as a seminar and therefore, all participants are expected to have
come to class having completed all the reading and assignments, and ready to talk.
There will be a performance/presentation to correspond with your second essay.
Course Policies:
Grades will be determined this way:
Essay #1: 20%
Essay #2: 30%
Essay #3: 40%
Participation, Class Presentation and Attendance: 10%
Attendance and Submission of Work:
Because Expos has fewer classes than other courses, and because instruction in Expos
proceeds by sequential writing activities, your consistent attendance is essential.
Students are expected to contact me promptly if they will miss or have just missed a
class because of illness or religious holiday. Only these absences will be excused. If you
are absent without medical or religious excuse more than twice, you are eligible to
officially excluded from the course and failed. On your second unexcused absence, you
will receive a letter of warning.
Late work will be marked down half a letter grade each day it is late. If something
comes up and you need an extension, please speak to me in advance of the due date.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is presenting the words or ideas of someone elses as your own. It is illegal
and carries with it serious academic consequences. We will spend time this semester
discussing citation and the proper use of sources. If you have questions about the fine
line between influence and plagiarism, a good rule of thumb is when in doubt, cite.
Please also consult The Harvard Guide to Using Sources: http://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu
Completion of the Course
You can only successful complete and receive credit for the course if you complete all
the assigned essays during the scheduled time allotted for the work. If you fail to
submit at least a substantial draft of an essay by the due date, you are eligible to be
officially excluded from the course and failed.

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FALL 2012 CLASS SCHEDULE (FOR REFERENCE):
** Readings marked with PDF and assignments are available from Readings and
Assignments on the courses iSite. **
** Dropbox, Shared Documents and Conference Sign-Up are available on courses
iSite. **
UNIT ONE:

COMEDY AND TRAGEDY

Week 1
M 9/10

Introduction and Course Overview

How to Close Read Plays
Opening Monologue of Williams, The Gnadiges Fraulein

W 9/12

Williams, The Gnadiges Fraulein, continued

Week 2
M 9/17

Unit 1 Reading: Pinter, The Caretaker

W 9/19

Pinter, continued
Assignment for Essay #1

** Response Paper #1 Due on Friday 9/21 by 4pm via Dropbox. **

Week 3
M 9/24

Discussion of Student Writing

Sign-up for Conferences

W 9/26

Sample Essay & Discussion: Argument & Evidence

** Draft of Essay #1 Due on Friday 9/28 by 4PM via Dropbox. **

UNIT TWO:

POLITICS AND FORM

Week 4
M 10/1

Unit 2 Reading: Shklovsky, Art as Technique (PDF)

W 10/3

Unit 2 Reading: Selection from Brecht on Theatre (PDF)

** Individual Conferences on Monday 10/1 (Seminar Room) and Thursday 10/4

(Office). **
** Revision of Essay #1 Due on Friday 10/5 by 4PM via Dropbox. **

Week 5
M 10/8

NO CLASS // COLUMBUS DAY

W 10/10

Unit 2 Reading: Kushner, Angels in America Pt. 1

Assignment for Essay #2

** Response Paper #2 Due on Friday 10/12 via Dropbox. **

Week 6
M 10/15

Unit 2 Reading: Vogel, How I Learned to Drive

Sign-up for Conferences

W 10/17

Discussion: Vogel, continued

** Draft of Essay #2 Due on Friday 10/19 at 4PM via Dropbox. **

Week 7
M 10/22

Dramatic Presentations

W 10/24

Dramatic Presentations

** Individual Conferences on Monday 10/22 and Tuesday 10/23 (Seminar Room). **

UNIT THREE:

CRUELTY AND ETHICS

Week 8
** Peer Review of Essay #2 Due on Monday 10/29. **
M 10/29

Unit 3 Readings: Beckett, Selection from Collected Short Plays

(Krapps Last Tape, Not I, Play, and Catastrophe)

W 10/31

Discussion: Beckett, continued

** Revision of Essay #2 Due on Friday 11/2 by 4PM via Dropbox. **

Week 9
M 11/5

Unit 3 Reading: Kane, Blasted

Assignment for Essay #3

W 11/7

Unit 3 Reading: Kane, Cleansed

Week 10
M 11/12

Workshop: Analytical Question

** Analytical Question for Essay #3 Due in Class **

W 11/14

Workshop: Analytical Question, continued

Week 11
M 11/19

Library Visit
Class Meets with Librarian Stephen Kuehler (Room B30,
Lamont Library)

** Draft of Essay #3 Due on Tuesday by 4PM sent via Shared Document. **

W 11/21

NO CLASS // THANKSGIVING

Week 12
M 11/26

Workshop: Sample Essays

W 11/28

Discussion of Sources
** Annotated Bibliography Due in class. **

** Group Conferences on Monday 11/26 and Tuesday 11/27 (Seminar Room). **

Week 13
M 12/3

Final Class // Wrap-Up

** Revision of Essay #3 Due on Monday 12/10 by 4pm sent to me via Dropbox. **