LIT 3043 - Spring 2025 - Gontarski

This class will focus modern and contemporary plays and other forms of dramatic writing. We will read them as literary works with thematic and cultural content, but also perform short scenes, since theatre is an embodied art. American poet Ezra Pound reminds us that, "Theater is not words on a page but people moving about on stage using words." Moreover, in our contemporary world that embodiment is not restricted to theaters. We will spend most of our time reading plays as literary texts, but also performing and even writing short scenes. We will also move into the electronic era, with the hybrid genre of performance art and social media sites that feature performance.