LIT 321 Recent Trends in Anglophone Drama

The course surveys some of the most exciting developments in contemporary British, US, and Irish drama and theatre, revolving around the politics of representation and the ways in which recent playwrights and theatre makers have addressed the alleged marginality of theatre as an art form. It commences by examining the legacy of realism as the most popular - and at the same time most conservative - form of modern theatre, and proceeds to discuss a variety of genres such as Brechtian theatre, present-day tragedy, political comedy, in-yer-face theatre, monologue drama, verbatim theatre, and site-specific work. Moreover, the plays selected for discussion demonstrate the wide range of topics addressed by contemporary Anglophone drama and theatre, including international and national politics, colonialism, global capitalism, war, terrorism, racism, identity politics, and social injustice on the one hand, as well as the relevance of art to the present moment. The overall objective of the course is to provide the students with a basic 'road map' of contemporary theatre in the UK, US, and Ireland that would navigate them to the most germane areas for further exploration and scholarly research.