Previous Courses Offered & Course Outlines

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Previous Courses Offered & Course Outlines

Previous Courses Offered & Course Outlines

3206F - Shakespeare in Performance
An historical, theoretical, and analytical introduction to Shakespeare's plays in performance. This course focuses on specific problems related to past productions and to those in the current Stratford Festival season. Class usually meets for three hours a day, six afternoons a week (Mon-Sat, Sun off), and usually includes attendance at Shakespeare productions. THEATRE STUDIES 3206F RUNS CONCURRENTLY WITH THEATRE STUDIES 3207F. Intersession only. 0.5 course

Spring/Summer

1 pm-4 pm

Stratford Festival

Instructor tba

Syllabus

3207F - Voice and Text in the Theatre (co-requisite TS3206F)
A workshop in which students will experience, with simple, practical exercises, the ways in which Festival actors develop and maintain their voices and explore various aspects of the text they are performing. Class usually meets for three hours a day, six mornings a week (Mon-Sat, Sun off). Taught by Stratford Festival staff. THEATRE STUDIES 3207F RUNS CONCURRENTLY WITH THEATRE STUDIES 3206F. STUDENTS TAKING THEATRE STUDIES 3207F MUST ALSO BE REGISTERED IN THEATRE STUDIES 3206F. Intersession only. 0.5 course

Spring/Summer

9 am-12 pm

Stratford Festival

Instructor tba

Syllabus

2023-24 FALL/WINTER

2000-2999 Level Courses

2201F - Understanding Performance
This course will equip students with the primary tools necessary to conduct basic performance analysis. From costumes to lighting and sound effects to textual alterations, students will learn to analyze a production while exploring the social, political, and aesthetic meanings of the required texts. We will study six plays and see live theatre at the Stratford Festival (Richard II and Rent), at the Grand Theatre in London (Kim’s Convenience), and at the Crow’s Theatre in Toronto (Bad Roads). Students will have the opportunity to rehearse and perform a scene and to devise a production concept for a scene from another play on the course. 0.5 course

Fall 2023

M.J. Kidnie

DRAFT Syllabus

2202G - Performance Beyond Theatres
Performance Beyond Theatres introduces students to the fields of performance studies and applied theatre, two disciplines that explore the power of theatre and performance to work for social and political justice. We will examine a wide range of performances in everyday life (think sports, politics, Starbucks, and much more…), and we’ll meet some inspiring theatre practitioners working with equity-owed communities to uplift their voices and tell their stories to a wide audience. Students will have the chance to make a final performance project about a social or political topic meaningful to them, either on their own or in groups. 0.5 course

Winter 2024

K. Solga

Course #	Course Outline	Course Title & Description	Instructor
	600	Shakespeare in Performance An historical, theoretical, and analytical introduction to Shakespeare's plays in performance. This course focuses on specific problems related to past productions and to those in the current Stratford Festival season. Class usually meets for three hours a day, six afternoons a week (Mon-Sat, Sun off), and usually includes attendance at Shakespeare productions. THEATRE STUDIES 3206G RUNS CONCURRENTLY WITH THEATRE STUDIES 3207G	J. Taucar
	600	Voice and Text in the Theatre A workshop in which students will experience, with simple, practical exercises, the ways in which Festival actors develop and maintain their voices and explore various aspects of the text they are performing. Taught by voice, text, and dialect coaches from Stratford Festival. Class usually meets for three hours a day, six mornings a week (Mon-Sat, Sun off). THEATRE STUDIES 3207G RUNS CONCURRENTLY WITH THEATRE STUDIES 3206G. STUDENTS TAKING THEATRE STUDIES 3207G MUST ALSO BE REGISTERED IN THEATRE STUDIES 3206G.	M. Farrell & T. Welham

Course #	Course Outline	Course Title	Instructor
2041F	001	Fall Theatre Production - Women Beware Women	J. Devereux
2201F	001	Understanding Performance	J. Devereux
2202G	001	Performance Beyond Theatres	K. Solga
2203E	001	Forms and Genres of Theatre	J. Devereux
3205F	001	History of Performance Theory	K. Solga

Course #	Course Outline	Course Title & Description	Instructor
	001	Understanding Performance This course will equip students with the primary tools necessary to conduct basic performance analysis. From costumes to lighting and sound effects to textual alterations, students will learn to analyze a production while exploring the social, political, and aesthetic meanings of the required texts.
	001	Performance Beyond Theatres This course introduces students in the Theatre Studies major and minor to the interdisciplinary field of Performance Studies, which gathers knowledge and practices from anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, literary studies, and more. Performance Studies investigates the performative nature of everyday life, examining such phenomena as walking and moving in the city, sports events, religious services, political protests, and the development of neighbourhood cultures (for example, gentrification practices). The goal of TS2202 is to help students understand how performance structures everyday interactions in the public sphere and shapes the ways in which our citizenship is actualized; it is an example of "performance as a public practice", something that has grown ever more urgent to explore with the arrival of COVID-19. In Fall 2021, TS2202 will partner once again with City Studio London – and with students in Psychology 3895, Social Science in the Community – as we create performance actions both live and online to support the City of London’s anti-oppression and anti-racism mandates. To view past work and learn more about City Studio, visit .
	001	Forms and Genres: The Greeks to Shakespeare This course will introduce students to the range of plays and theatre practices that shaped the first two millennia of theatre. Landmark texts will be studied in the context of the diverse theatre spaces, festivals, and political cultures in which the drama first came into being.	J. Devereux
	001	Indigenous Theatre and Performance This course examines Indigenous drama and performance practices, combining an attention to aesthetic traditions, Indigenous storytelling and innovation with an awareness of the cultural and political contexts shaping dramatic texts and performances.
	001	Toronto: Culture and Performance (cross-listed with English Studies 3581G and Arts & Humanities 3390G) How does the theatre that appears on Toronto’s stages reflect, extend, challenge and question the City of Toronto’s global-city aspirations? This is just one of a host of questions we’ll be asking in this exciting new course, as we see live theatre of all kinds, talk with actors, directors, and reviewers, and explore the city’s contemporary theatre ecology through readings drawn from performance studies as well as urban studies. Students can expect to make at least four class trips into the city to see live performance, and to read a handful of scripts from the city’s most recent theatre seasons alongside some contextual materials. COVID-19 update: in the event we are not able to travel to Toronto for live theatre events, we will instead view a series of Toronto-based performances online; students can also look forward to virtual visits from artists and culture workers in the sector, including those from Toronto, Stratford, and London, ON. In the event live theatre and travel are not permitted, students will also be refunded their supplementary course fee of $150
	001	Destination Theatre Experiential learning - part of the course is in a classroom setting; the other part is a trip to London, England or New York, NY during Intersession 2021. This is a capstone course in the Theatre Studies Major and Minor program. This half-course equivalent offers undergraduates the opportunity to learn about contemporary theatre and performance in a major international city. A two-week intensive learning experience in London, England is included as a core component of the course, and our study abroad will incorporate guest lectures, tours, post-performance discussion, and practice-based learning alongside theatre outings. See more details here. .

Course #	Course Outline	Course Title & Description	Instructor
	001	Understanding Performance This course will equip students with the primary tools necessary to conduct basic performance analysis. From costumes to lighting and sound effects to textual alterations, students will learn to analyze a production while exploring the social, political, and aesthetic meanings of the required texts.
	001	Performance Beyond Theatres In this course we think about how performance impacts our everyday lives: how we perform for one another, at school, at home, at work, and on the street; how public figures perform for us (think politicians, celebs, sports stars); and how alternative performance practices can be used to change the shape of our social worlds (protests! marches! parades and carnivals!). We will read a selection of essays from The Performance Studies Reader, 3rd edition, your required text for this course; it’s not cheap but it’s the only book you’ll need to buy, and we’ll use it every week. We’ll also watch a lot of stuff on film and online, and you can look forward to a fantastic field trip to Nuit Blanche in Toronto, the all-night arts festival that takes place the last weekend in September. Finally, you’ll have the opportunity to make a performance action of your own for your final project, and to create video or audio blogs to report on your research findings. We’ll do some writing too... but if you’re a creative soul and like to use a lot of different media to express yourself, this is definitely the course for you!
	001	Forms and Genres: The Modern Context This course traces developments in playwriting, acting, and playhouse design from the Restoration to the present day. This introductory course will explore the theatrical innovations and political interventions of the work of such dramatists as Aphra Behn, George Lillo, Ibsen, Brecht, Pinter, Caryl Churchill, and Sarah Kane.	J. Devereux
	001	History of Performance Theory Theatre is as old as the hills – and for as long as it’s been around, it’s been a source of controversy! What does it mean to represent our world on stage? What does it mean to show “real life” as an embodied story in front of a live audience? Who decides what’s “real life”, anyway? And how many different ways are there to stage “the real world”? This class takes you on a tour of the history of theatre and performance theory, asking along the way why this theory has always been so political, so risky, so emotionally charged. Before reading week we will visit the hot topics of centuries past, and after the break we’ll read a handful of contemporary theorists who are continuing age-old lines of inquiry in new and exciting ways. Your text is Theatre/Theory/Theatre, edited by Daniel Gerould, but from it we will decide together, in week one, which authors we’d like to read. (No, really!) Work by contemporary theorists will be provided to you free of charge as PDF files; again, we’ll decide together, from a curated short-list, what we’d like to read. In addition to reading one or two theory texts per week, you’ll also have the chance to watch performance work on film and online that will illustrate some of the key ideas we will explore.
	001	Toronto: Culture and Performance (cross-listed with English Studies 3581F and Arts & Humanities 3390F) How does the theatre that appears on Toronto’s stages reflect, extend, challenge and question the City of Toronto’s global-city aspirations? This is just one of a host of questions we’ll be asking in this exciting new course, as we travel to Toronto regularly to see live theatre of all kinds, talk with actors, directors, and reviewers, and explore the city’s contemporary theatre ecology through readings drawn from performance studies as well as urban studies. Students can expect to make at least four class trips into the city to see live performance, and to read a handful of scripts from the city’s most recent theatre seasons alongside some contextual materials.
	001	Destination Theatre Experiential learning - part of the course is in a classroom setting; the other part is a trip to London, England during Intersession 2020. This is a capstone course in the Theatre Studies Major and Minor program. This half-course equivalent offers undergraduates the opportunity to learn about contemporary theatre and performance in a major international city. A two-week intensive learning experience in London, England is included as a core component of the course, and our study abroad will incorporate guest lectures, tours, post-performance discussion, and practice-based learning alongside theatre outings. See more details here. .

Course #	Course Outline	Course Title & Description	Instructor
	001	Understanding Performance This course will equip students with the primary tools necessary to conduct basic performance analysis. From costumes to lighting and sound effects to textual alterations, students will learn to analyze a production while exploring the social, political, and aesthetic meanings of the required texts.
	001	Performance Beyond Theatres In this course we think about how performance impacts our everyday lives: how we perform for one another, at school, at home, at work, and on the street; how public figures perform for us (think politicians, celebs, sports stars); and how alternative performance practices can be used to change the shape of our social worlds (protests! marches! parades and carnivals!). We will read a selection of essays from The Performance Studies Reader, 3rd edition, your required text for this course; it’s not cheap but it’s the only book you’ll need to buy, and we’ll use it every week. We’ll also watch a lot of stuff on film and online, and you can look forward to a fantastic field trip to Nuit Blanche in Toronto, the all-night arts festival that takes place the last weekend in September. Finally, you’ll have the opportunity to make a performance action of your own for your final project, and to create video or audio blogs to report on your research findings. We’ll do some writing too... but if you’re a creative soul and like to use a lot of different media to express yourself, this is definitely the course for you!
	001	Forms and Genres: The Greeks to Shakespeare This course will introduce students to the range of plays and theatre practices that shaped the first two millennia of theatre. Landmark texts will be studied in the context of the diverse theatre spaces, festivals, and political cultures in which the drama first came into being.
	001	History of Performance Theory Theatre is as old as the hills – and for as long as it’s been around, it’s been a source of controversy! What does it mean to represent our world on stage? What does it mean to show “real life” as an embodied story in front of a live audience? Who decides what’s “real life”, anyway? And how many different ways are there to stage “the real world”? This class takes you on a tour of the history of theatre and performance theory, asking along the way why this theory has always been so political, so risky, so emotionally charged. Before reading week we will visit the hot topics of centuries past, and after the break we’ll read a handful of contemporary theorists who are continuing age-old lines of inquiry in new and exciting ways. Your text is Theatre/Theory/Theatre, edited by Daniel Gerould, but from it we will decide together, in week one, which authors we’d like to read. (No, really!) Work by contemporary theorists will be provided to you free of charge as PDF files; again, we’ll decide together, from a curated short-list, what we’d like to read. In addition to reading one or two theory texts per week, you’ll also have the chance to watch performance work on film and online that will illustrate some of the key ideas we will explore.
	DR 001	Remediated Shakespeare (cross-listed with English Studies 3327A) (NEW!) Be creative! This intensive hands-on study of four Shakespeare plays gives you the opportunity to explore the drama from the inside out. Students edit their own texts, stage short live performances, and transfer their work to digital media.
		Toronto: Culture and Performance (cross-listed with English Studies 3581F and Arts & Humanities 3393F) (NEW!) How does the theatre that appears on Toronto’s stages reflect, extend, challenge and question the City of Toronto’s global-city aspirations? This is just one of a host of questions we’ll be asking in this exciting new course, as we travel to Toronto regularly to see live theatre of all kinds, talk with actors, directors, and reviewers, and explore the city’s contemporary theatre ecology through readings drawn from performance studies as well as urban studies. Students can expect to make at least four class trips into the city to see live performance, and to read a handful of scripts from the city’s most recent theatre seasons alongside some contextual materials.
	001	Destination Theatre Experiential learning - part of the course is in a classroom setting; the other part is a trip to London, England during Intersession 2019. This is a capstone course in the new Theatre Studies Major and Minor program. This half-course equivalent offers undergraduates the opportunity to learn about contemporary theatre and performance in a major international city. A two-week intensive learning experience in London, England is included as a core component of the course, and our study abroad will incorporate guest lectures, tours, post-performance discussion, and practice-based learning alongside theatre outings. .

Questions?