Drama and Dance

The first play published by an African American, "The Escape" is the work of the escaped slave William Wells Brown. This reinterpretation of the work makes use of Brown's original performance practice of playing all the roles himself as he offered his play in lieu of a speech at Northern abolitionist meetings. Actor DeVon Jackson takes on thirty roles, exploring, much as Brown did, the flexibility of identity and the construction of race in the country. This project attempts to find modern resonance in this play from our American past.

Produced by the Center for Jewish History and the American Jewish Historical Society, Jews and the Great War is an evening of performance that enlivens the words of Jewish soldiers and civilians, politicians and poets.
Five actors will read a letters from the front, speeches, poems, and memoirs from Jews who lived through the First World War. Accompanied by music and images from the period, the evening provides a glimpse of Jewish life on both sides of the global conflict that birthed the modern world.

Produced by the Center for Jewish History and the American Jewish Historical Society. Native Genius is an evening of entertainment featuring the great Jewish poets, playwrights, and musicians that made significant contributions to American culture prior to the Civil War. In conjunction with the exhibit "By Dawns Early Light," this performance enlivens this period in American history. Featuring the work of Mordecai Manuel Noah, Herman Moos, and Rebekah Hyneman with music by Louis Moreau Gottschalk.

Enthusiasts of theatre history often remind us that Shakespeare was originally performed by men only. This cannot be disputed, but it might be amended slightly. Though prohibitory laws of the Elizabethan period kept women off Shakespeare's stage, the original Lady Macbeth's and Cleopatra's were not men in flowing robes and corsets, but young boys. These boys, selected and prized for

Introduction to Theatre Arts is an exploration into the versatility of theatre. Through our reading and discussion of representative plays, we will explore the cultural and historical significance of drama, comedy, and other modes of performance. A brief overview of the history and development of theatre will be explored. The roles of the director, producer, actors, designers, dramatists, and audience are identified and defined. Finally a theatrical production will be attended by all students and a scholarly critique will be written on the event.

This course provides an overview of world theatre and performance traditions from ancient times through the early 17 th Century. We will focus on traditional performance forms, classical drama, and national performance traditions. We begin with the paradigm that theatre is an institution with deep ties to social, political, and religious institutions. We will examine historical documents and artifacts, dramatic and performance texts and reconstructions (including taped and live performances), and major theories of early theatre. Emphasis will be placed on the discipline of theatre research as a vital area of scholarship, as well as its relevance and applications to contemporary socio-cultural processes.

Introduction to Theatre Arts is an exploration into the versatility of theatre. Through our reading and discussion of representative plays, we will explore the cultural and historical significance of drama, comedy, and other modes of performance. A brief overview of the history and development of theatre will be explored. The roles of the director, producer, actors, designers, dramatists, and audience are identified and defined. Finally a theatrical production will be attended by all students and a scholarly critique will be written on the event.

Introduction to Theatre Arts is an exploration into the versatility of theatre. Through our reading and discussion of representative plays, we will explore the cultural and historical significance of drama, comedy, and other modes of performance. A brief overview of the history and development of theatre will be explored. The roles of the director, producer, actors, designers, dramatists, and audience are identified and defined. Finally several theatrical productions will be attended by students and scholarly critiques will be written on the events.

This paper explores Iranian Shakespeare – its history, its utility, and the ways cultural scholars in the West have framed Iranians’ love of the Bard. Within such framing, I trace a recurring trend in which Middle Eastern cultural production is normatively positioned through a lens of politicism and narratives of resistance, an act which I argue merely substantiates the systems of power in which discourse and cultural values are controlled by Western societies, akin to Orientalism. Using Greenblatt’s “Shakespeare in Tehran” as a case study in this style of scholarship, I argue that such thinking stems from dehumanizing philosophies of neoliberalism, which grant subjectivity within conditional limitations. In response, I propose a new methodology for cultural criticism within the Middle East, one that does not impose Western narratives and stereotypes upon groups of people but is instead aware of historical and cultural nuance and attentive to the ways in which performance analysis must be accomplished from within. I then put this methodology into practice with a close reading of three recent versions of Hamlet staged in Tehran, exploring the divergent ways in which these playwrights and directors appropriate the beloved text for Iranian audiences. Ultimately, I argue that Shakespeare, theatre, Western culture, and even censorship play complex and multifaceted roles in Iran, and they do not easily conform to our established narratives in which Shakespeare and Western modes of theatre act subversively to dismantle authoritarian power.