The unit explores significant drama texts from the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in their social, philosophical and theatrical contexts, with specific focus on the relations between ideological factors and dramatic themes and forms. Topics include: sexual politics; obscenity; the desire for utopia; the instability of identity; theatrical space and form; the nature of social justice; the catastrophe of history; relationships between language and power; experiments in dramatic structure; and aspects of staging and performance. Playtexts studied are selected from works by Ibsen, O'Neill, Brecht, Pirandello, Genet, Beckett, Stoppard and Kane. -- Course Website
Instructor: Dr Paul Sheehan
Prerequisites: ENGL120
