THEA 649: THEATRE, PERFORMANCE, AND SPACE
Professor D.J. Hopkins
Office: Dramatic Arts Bldg. Rm. 201
Email: dhopkins@mail.sdsu.edu
Office Hours: By Appointment Only
Students should email me or Angie Parkhurst aparkhur@mail.sdsu.edu to make an appointment.
OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE
Students will be introduced to range of perspectives on the role of performance in the construction of
social space, with an emphasis on theatre space, urban space, and the interaction of the two. We will read
creative text (plays and other documents) and critical writing. Students will be able to identify the textual
forms that suggest dynamic spatial relationships in performance. Critical texts will support: understanding
the spatial complexities of dramatic literature; imagining the dynamics of social and theatrical
performances outside conventional theatre spaces. Students will be familiar with the key concepts in
select critical texts addressing spatial theory, and will be able to apply those concepts in the discussion of
plays and performances — both those introduced in class and new examples of creative activity. The
course will incorporate practice-based research as an additional methodology. Students will be able to
conceive and perform their own performances in response to both creative and critical reading in class,
and then be able to analyze these “performance experiments” in terms of both the creative and critical
results that they produced.
REQUIRED BOOKS
 Land/Scape/Theater (Paperback), Una Chaudhuri, Elinor Fuchs (Eds.)
 Performance and the City (Paperback), D.J. Hopkins, Shelley Orr, Kim Solga (Eds.)
Note: Additional required readings will be posted to Blackboard. If you choose to download and print
this material, anticipate additional cost in printing fees or replacement printer cartridges.
GRADING will be based on a 200-point system:
 Leading discussion, 15 points
 Group Performance I: Dramatic scene: 15 points
 Mini research paper, 3-4 pages: 45 points
 Group Performance II: Site-specific scene, 25 points
 Final project: 80 points
 Preparation, based on weekly homework and consistent participation: 20 points
THE GRADING SCALE FOR THIS CLASS
98–100
A+
83–86
93–97
A
80–82
90–92
A77–79
87–89
B+
73–76
B
BC+
C
70–72
67–69
63–66
60–62
CD+
D
D-
EXPLANATION OF GRADES
A Outstanding achievement; available only for the highest accomplishment; A- Excellent performance;
exceeds course requirements; B+ Praiseworthy achievement; substantially meets course requirements; B
Acceptable performance in a graduate course; meets most course requirements; B- Less than acceptable
performance in a graduate course; work is not meeting some important requirements; C This grade or
below is unacceptable in a graduate class.
SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNED MATERIAL
Students are expected to complete each reading by the date that it appears on the schedule.
The instructor reserves the right to modify the assigned readings, the dates of the assignments,
readings, screenings, and lecture topics as necessary based on the needs of the class.
ABBREVIATIONS
LST: reading from Land/Scape/Theater
PATC: reading from Performance and the City
Bb: reading is available on Blackboard
WEEK
1
DATE
Aug. 27
2
Sept. 3
3
Sept. 10
4
Sept. 17
5
Sept. 24
6
Oct. 1
7
Oct. 8
8
Oct. 15
9
Oct. 22
10
Oct. 29
11
Nov. 5
12
Nov. 12
13
Nov. 19
14
Nov. 26
15
Dec. 3
16
Dec. 10
FINAL
MATERIAL COVERED
Class business. Introduction to subject. Discussion: Ortelius’s frontispiece
(1570), Valk photos; W#LM#RT Nature Trail trailer.
Fuchs, “Reading for Landscape (LST); Parks, America Play and “From
Elements of Style” (Bb).
Stein, Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights (Bb); Bay-Cheng, “Atom and Eve”
(Bb); Bowers, “Composition That All the World Can See” (LST).
>> SCREENING: scenes from House / Lights (1997)
Fordyce (Bb). Peck and Howe (Bb).
>> IN-CLASS PERFORMANCE WORK
Foucault, “Of Other Spaces” (Bb). Hopkins, Rev. of Sleep No More.
SNM promotional video. Add’l reading TBA (Keyword: “immersive.”)
>> CLASS TIME TO START WORK ON DRAMATIC SCENE
>> PRESENTATION OF DRAMATIC SCENES
Jackson, “Performativity and its Addressee.”
>> MINI RESEARCH PAPER DUE
Reading / Activity TBA. Half day…?
Janet Cardiff, Her Long Black Hair.* Sound clips, images, review;
De Certeau, “Walking” (Bb). *Sound files don’t work on all browsers.
Carlson, “Ways to Walk New York After 9/11” (PATC).
Hopkins, Orr, “Memory / Memorial / Performance” (PATC).
Garner, “Urban Landscapes” (LST); [murmur].
>> IN-CLASS “OFFICE HOURS”: DISCUSS FINAL PROJECTS
Levin, “Can the City Speak?” (PATC); Upper Toronto; Gob Squad,
Super Night Shot.
>> IN-CLASS PERFORMANCE WORK: Using Video
“Introduction” and “Manifesto” by The Office for Soft Architecture (Bb);
“Infinitely Small Things” (Bb).
>> IN-CLASS PERFORMANCE WORK: Creative Documentation
Worthen, “Bordering Space” (LST); Hopkins, “Introduction: Borders and
Performance” (Bb); Alfaro, “Theatre’s Place in Times of Crisis:
A Conversation,” Theatre Topics 25.1 [online via SDSU library].
THANKSGIVING BREAK.
NO CLASS.
>> CLASS TIME TO START WORK ON FINAL PERFORMANCES
>> CLASS TIME TO DISCUSS FINAL PROJECTS
>> PRESENTATION OF FINAL SCENES, PARTY ATMOSPHERE
Tues. Dec. 15 >> FINAL PROJECTS DUE
LEADING DISCUSSION AND SNACKS
Each student will be responsible for leading discussion for an entire class session once in the semester.
Focus will be on assigned readings. The discussion leader should: find time to meet with me in advance
of class, or, if a meeting is not possible, correspond via email; be particularly well prepared for class;
come to class ready to say about five minutes of introduction on one or more specifics of the readings;
provide a handout with discussion questions and key quotations from the readings.
Additionally, we will be observing Emerita Professor A.C. Harvey’s tradition regarding snacks: we will
plan for each student to bring a modest selection of drinks and snacks to class once or twice per semester.
WEEK
1
2
DATE
Aug. 27
Sept. 3
DISCUSSION LEADERS AND SNACK PROVIDERS
3
Sept. 10
4
Sept. 17
5
Sept. 24
6
Oct. 1
7
8
Oct. 8
Oct. 15
9
Oct. 22
10
Oct. 29
11
Nov. 5
12
Nov. 12
13
Nov. 19
14
15
Nov. 26
Dec. 3
Snacks: Claudia
16
Dec. 10
SNACKS!
Discussion leader: Shane
Snacks: Zane
Discussion leader: Zane
Snacks: Shane
Discussion leader: Melissa
Snacks: Desmond
Discussion leader: Desmond
Snacks: Melissa
Discussion leader: Andrea
Snacks: Caitlin
Discussion leader: Caitlin
Snacks: Andrea
Discussion leader: Bernardo
Snacks: Kimberly
Discussion leader: Kimberly
Snacks: Bernardo
Discussion leader: D.J.
Snacks: Rachel
Discussion leader: Rachel
Snacks: D.J.
Discussion leader: Claudia (?),Bernardo
Snacks: Danyun
MINI-RESEARCH PAPER
The haiku of research projects: 750-1000 words, followed by a Works Cited. Content should provide
serious, critical consideration of a specific, focused feature of the spatial and / or landscape dimension of
a single work of dramatic literature. Your paper may not: compare two works, study texts vs. stagings; or
compare a source with contemporary adaptations / restagings. You don’t have enough space. Engagement
with at least four reliable, recent secondary sources required. Do not rely on internet sources (online
access to scholarly journals excepted, of course).
>> DUE DATE: OCTOBER 8 at the start of class, via email AND in hard copy
PERFORMANCES
Two rehearsed small group performances! Each! Required! (Don’t be nervous. You’ll be fine.) The first
scene will draw on a single work of dramatic literature, including Gertrude Stein or Suzan-Lori Parks; this
scene will be performed simply in the classroom. I will provide guidelines; class time will be set aside for
development and rehearsal. My primary interest is that the scene spatialize the dramatic source.
The second scene will be site-specific; it will be presented on the last day of class, performed in or
immediately adjacent to the Theatre Building. As before, guidelines will be provided. Your group should
be prepared to discuss the scene after the performance, briefly. My key concern is that your creative work
provides a clear critical intervention.
Dates on class calendar. In both cases, you will work in groups of 2 to 4 students. I’ll help organize.
FINAL PROJECT
The assignment must include critical writing and must include a bibliography of at least ten reliable,
recent, scholarly secondary sources. You may choose for the project to also be creative in some way by
including one or more of the following elements: non-critical writing style, images (original photos or
illustrations), audio files, or other performance documentation. The project may document a performance,
but the project itself must not be a live performance nor should it be a script (conventional plays are
absolutely banned for the final project, though brief passages of dramatic writing are acceptable).
Personal experience and first-person voice are welcome (perhaps necessary). A paper that is simply a
conventional critical research paper on a subject related to the engagements of the course is certainly
acceptable. I’m looking for eight to twelve pages of writing (2500 words, give or take), whether or not
you include images or other oddities, and a robust engagement with secondary sources.
For those of you who prefer to be given a more finite assignment, consider this:
Document a graveyard in an unconventional way (perhaps you will start by identifying something as a
graveyard that is not conventionally thought of as one). This documentation will take the form of a short
creative-critical essay (with the option of including additional media), with full bibliography as above.
>> DUE DATE: TUESDAY DECEMBER 15 by 4pm, via email AND in hard copy
HOMEWORK (HW)
There is homework due every week. Answer the following questions for each assigned reading:




What are the author’s main points?
What do I know about this text?
What do I not know about this text?
What is challenging about this? Alternatively or additionally: What is exciting about this?
Note 1. HW can be “homely.” Homework is your notes and responses to the reading; it’s your “rehearsal”
for class discussion. Thus, the HW is really for you (the student), so I don’t care what it looks like, if it’s
spelled right, or if it’s formatted neatly. What I care about is a lively discussion in class.
Note 2. However, HW is for me (the instructor) in the sense that I’ll be collecting it and evaluating it.
HW will always receive full point credit, graded only check, check plus, or check minus, based on how
much I see you engaging with new ideas in a positive, productive way.
PARTICIPATION
This is not a lecture class: students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the material.
Your engagement with these ideas is essential. Interesting tangents will come up, but staying on topic and
discussing reading in detail is valued. Students are expected to bring assigned readings to class and to
talk in class about the assigned readings. I value contributions that involve listening and responding to
classmates, and contributions that move the discussion forward. For the record: participation at a grade
level of B- means contributing one full sentence three times in a typical three-hour class session.
ABSENCE, TARDINESS, DISRUPTIONS, LATE PAPERS
Attendance and participation will be important to keeping the class lively and interesting; participation is
a part of your grade. As this is a graduate seminar, any absences are frowned upon. Contact me about a
need to miss class, preferably in advance. Late arrivals are ok, but please don’t disrupt the class or make a
habit of coming late. Consistent, disruptive side-talking will be discouraged and if necessary penalized.
Penalties for missed deadlines will be waived for students with a legitimate excuse. Legitimate excuses
take the form of a note from a medical professional, university administrator, military commanding
officer, or other authority recognized by the university. (This class is small. Let me know if something is
going on, and we’ll work something out.)
Laptops are valuable tools. Make sure that if you are using a laptop in class, you are using it to take notes
or look something up in response to class discussion. Misuse of laptops is disrespectful to everyone in the
room. If you are checking email, IMing, Facebooking, or engaging in other online skullduggery during a
graduate seminar, I will scold you; in the event of subsequent offenses, I will ask you to leave.
CONTACTING ME
If you need to let me know about a conflict or to make an appointment to meet, send me an email. If you
have a question that can be answered briefly (= one sentence or less), email me. If you would like a more
substantial response, make an appointment and we will talk face to face.
FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
The language of this section is provided by SDSU’s Student Disability Services Office.
If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, it is your
responsibility to contact Student Disability Services at (619) 594-6473. To avoid any delay in the receipt
of your accommodations, you should contact Student Disability Services as soon as possible. Please note
that accommodations are not retroactive, and that accommodations based upon disability cannot be
provided until you have presented your instructor with an accommodation letter from Student Disability
Services. Your cooperation is appreciated.
NOTE ABOUT ACADEMIC HONESTY
Academic honesty is an important tenet of the university community, one that I take seriously. Plagiarism
(including another’s writing as your own) in an essay or paper will be grounds for failing that assignment.
Flagrant or repeated plagiarism will be grounds for failing the course and referral to the Center for
Student Rights and Responsibilities. I use the internet to confirm the originality of students’ work.