PMA 3758 - Contemporary American Theatre on Stage and Screen

(crosslisted) AMST 3370, ENGL 3370
(LA-AS, ALC-AS, HST-AS)

Fall. 3 credits. Student option grading.

J. E. Gainor.

How has theatre shaped our notion of America and Americans in the second half of the 20th century and beyond? What role has politics played in the theatre? How has performance been used to examine concepts of identity, community, and nationality? And how and why have certain plays in this era been translated to the screen? In this course we will examine major trends in the American theatre from 1960 to the present. We will focus on theatre that responds directly to moments of social turmoil, including: the Vietnam and Iraq Wars, the Civil Rights and Black Lives Matter Movements, Women’s and Gender Equality Movements, and the AIDS epidemic. We will also explore the tensions between Broadway and alternative theatre production. (HTC)