Shakespeare: Yesterday. Today and Tomorrow

Course Description

Course Content:

In this module four of Shakespeare?s plays are studied in depth, two in the autumn
semester and 2 in the spring semester. Others used for reference. The plays are studied
in a practical way, to explore their form and elicit their changing meanings in different
theatrical and cultural contexts and at key historical moments.

The module explores changing approaches to production since the first performances in
Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre and evaluates the impact which players and directors
and their methods have had on the reception of Shakespeare at different particular
moments. The module seeks to pinpoint how the social/ cultural/ political concerns of
any given time have been dramatised in productions of the plays. Changing themes are
explored to see how they might have been dramatised at different times, as a means of
defining what has been meant and what is meant by ?Shakespeare?.

Topics covered include:
? understanding the language of the plays: practical work on form and
feeling
? what is character, what is plot and how does tension between characters
in particular contexts create drama?
? the expression of the human condition: the ?Elizabethan world order?; changing contexts
? the social, political and cultural contexts of the original performances of
Shakespeare?s plays
? universal themes: for instance, family, love, jealousy, domestic/ national/
international rivalries
? shifting themes: for instance, gender, politics, government, authority,
philosophy, religion
? the plays in performance on stage and screen: actors? and directors?
interpretations; interpretations in different key political and cultural
contexts

Autumn Semester:
Students study two plays by Shakespeare. Classes combine the historical and cultural
contexts of these plays, theoretical perspectives upon them and practical exploration of
them.
Spring Semester:
Students study two plays by Shakespeare. Classes combine the historical and cultural
contexts of these plays, theoretical perspectives upon them and practical exploration of
them.

Teaching: 2 hour weekly sessions

Assessment:
STUDY OPTION 1:
? Collaborative scene study (15 minutes)
? 2500 ? 3000 word Research Essay
STUDY OPTION 2 OR STUDY OPTION 3: a practical element and a short essay. The
practical demonstration is either a monologue or a speech analysis. The essay is 2000
words about the themes and dramatic ideas of the play

Study Option 1 = Whole Year
Study Option 2 = Autumn
Study Option 3 = Spring/summer