SYLLABUS
FALL 2008
INSTRUCTOR: GENE MUTO
PHONE: 395-2671
EMAIL: mutoet@longwood.edu
THEA 431
AMERICAN DRAMA
OFFICE: 023 JARMAN
HOURS: T & R: 10 - 12
O.B.A.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course is a study of the major developments of
American theatre and drama, from the early 20th century to today. We will study the
major playwrights, stylistic developments, and briefly review the history of staging
practices during the period. We will also explore areas such as the American musical
theatre, Broadway, off-Broadway, and regional theatre movements.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1. To introduce students to American dramatic literature and staging practices of the
American stage from the early 20th century to today
2. To introduce students to this period’s dramatic forms and determine the literary and
dramatic strategies and resources used by the playwrights of this period
3. To explore the cultural, social, and associative characteristics of the period as seen
through a broad and diverse spectrum of American playwrights
4. To relate some of the ideas explored in these plays to contemporary life and theatre
5. To train students to think critically and express themselves effectively through
discussion research, and written assignments
6. To explore and develop research and writing skills, techniques, and strategies
TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE: (Subject to change)
Week 1:
Introduction, explanation, reading and performance
Assignments; The origins of Modern American drama
Eugene O’Neill: Desire Under the Elms
Week 2:
O’Neill: The Emperor Jones; Long Day’s Journey Into
Night
Week 3:
Experimentation
Elmer Rice: The Adding Machine; Street Scene
Week 4:
Social Commentary
Maxwell Anderson: What Price Glory?
Clifford Odets: Waiting for Lefty; Awake and Sing
Week 5:
Robert E. Sherwood: Idiot’s Delight
William Saroyan: The Time of Your Life
Week 6:
Pioneer Women Writers
Susan Glaspell: Trifles
Lillian Hellman: The Children’s Hour; The Little Foxes
Week 7:
Week 8:
Marsha Norman: Getting Out; ‘Night, Mother
MID-TERM EXAM
(Tuesday)
The Middle Period
Thornton Wilder: Our Town; The Skin of Our Teeth
Week 9:
Tennessee Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire; Night of
the Iguana
ABSTRACT DUE
(Thursday; No lates, so don’t ask)
Week 10:
Arthur Miller: All My Sons; Death of a Salesman; A View
from the Bridge
Week 11:
Edward Albee: The Sandbox; The Zoo Story;
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Week 12:
African-American Theatre and Drama
Lorraine Hansberry: A Raisin in the Sun
James Baldwin: Blues for Mr. Charlie
(The Price of the Ticket—DVD)
Week 13:
Amiri Baraka: Dutchman
August Wilson: Fences
Week 14:
Other Voices and Voices of the Other
Mart Crowley: The Boys in the Band
Tony Kushner: Angels in America: Parts I & II
David Henry Wang, M. Butterfly
(PAPER DUE; No lates, so don’t ask)
Week 15:
Brief Oral Presentations of Research and Scholarship
Final review and summary
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1. Students are expected to keep abreast of the readings and be prepared for discussions,
quizzes, and tests.
2. Students are required to attend the main stage performances this semester and write
three-page reviews of them, analyzing such components as dramatic form, structure,
content, and style. The reviews are due on the Wednesday, following the final
performance.
3. Students are required to provide an abstract for their term paper, which will include
such items as a topic, a methodology, and identified resources.
4. Students are required to write a 15-page research paper, with proper bibliographic
sources and citations, on a pre-determined topic on the American theatre.
5. All pre-assigned written work is to be word-processed and handed in on time.
Unfortunately, there will be no extensions, so plan your semester's work (including
extracurricular activities) well in advance of deadlines.
DESCRIPTION OF GRADED ASSIGNMENTS:
Review of Longwood Theatre productions: Word-processed, neatly presented
with clarity of thought and form, using vocabulary established in class. 2 pp.
minimum. Due on the Tuesday after closing: Dates T.B.A.
Quizzes: These will be unannounced and cover readings, discussions, and lecture
material.
Abstract: A 3-page description of your final project, which will include the
topic, methodology, and a bibliography of at least 15 valid sources, both
traditional and Internet. All Internet resources need to be approved before
inclusion in the paper. The abstract needs to be word-processed, with clarity of
thought and form.
Research Paper: 15-pp., with at least 15 - 20 relevant and established sources,
which should mainly include reviews, biographies, journal articles, published
essays, etc. Your topic will be a re-creation of an important production of an
historic American play.
Midterm Exam: Comprehensive review of readings and lecture material from
beginning to midterm.
Final Exam: Comprehensive review of readings and lecture material from
beginning of term to the end.
No late work will be accepted
GRADING GRID:
Category
Total points
Points received
1) review #1
review #2
180 - 200 = A
10
10
20 total
2) quiz #1
5
quiz #2
5
quiz #3
5
quiz #4
5
quiz #5
5
quiz #6
5
quiz #7
5
quiz #8
5
40 total
3) mid-term
40
4) final
40
5) abstract
20
6) paper
40
course total = 200 total received =
160 - 179 = B
140 - 159 = C
120 - 139 = D
ATTENDANCE POLICY: Regular and prompt attendance is necessary for doing well
in this course. If you miss class, you will be in jeopardy: assignments are due on time
and cannot be turned in late. We will abide by the Attendance Policy as it is outlined in
the Longwood University Catalog.
HONOR CODE: Students are expected to live up to the letter and spirit of the Honor
Code as it is outlined in the current Longwood catalog.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Atkinson, Brooks, Broadway
Clurman, Harold, The Fervent Years
Kirby, Michael,Happenings
Shivers, Alfred S.,The Life of
Maxwell Anderson
Engel, Lehman, The American Musical Theatre Schneider, Alan, Entrances
Flanigan, Hallie, Arena
Rollyson, Carl Lillian Hellman
Goldman, William, The Season
Williams, Tennessee, Memoirs
Gelb, Arthur and Barbara, O’Neill
Wilson, Garff B., Three Hundred
Years of American Drama and Theatre
Goldstone, Richard H., Thorton Wilder
Rasky, Harry, Tennessee Williams
Hellman, Lillian, An Unfinished Woman
Pasolli, Robert , A Book on the Open
Theatre
Hornsblow, Arthur, A History of the Theatre in America Orzel, Nick & Michael
Smith, eds., Eight Plays
Hughes, Glenn, A History of the American Theatre
From Off-Off Broadway