INTRODUCTION TO

THEATRE
THE 2180
3 HOURS, 3 CREDITS
AES Core

TEXTBOOK: Wilson and Goldfarb, Theatre: The Lively Art, any Edition will do,
McGraw Hill, Inc.
Course Objectives: This is designed to provide students with a greater and deeper understanding
of the theatre. Students will learn what goes on backstage and onstage. They
will learn about the director and the playwright, read plays, and understand
how plays were influenced by the period in which they were written. In
addition the class will review specific periods of theatre history to see the
development of the theatre. Finally, the class will see three plays.
Assignments: Students will be required to write three production reviews with dramatic and
theatrical criticism of the plays seen. We will discuss the requirements as we
near attendance of the plays. In addition there will be quizzes based on the
text as well the lessons. Students will also make class presentations based on
selected theatre text chapters.
Course Requirements: In addition to the papers and quizzes students will read the designated
chapters, some plays, attend plays, and make class
presentations.
Attendance Requirements: Your attendance required. The college permits 10% absence. Beyond
that students are over cut. Also, excessive lateness will affect your
final grade.

Grading System: Participation/Effort, Improvement, Quizzes, and class Presentations = 25%

Presentations = 75%
100%

ASSESSMENT
Assessment of students progress will be done at each weekly meeting through short quizzes and
in-class response papers. Participation in-group discussions and in classrooms activities will
indicate how well the student is learning to identify and analyze the elements of the theatre.
Deeper understanding will be assessed through students papers written in response to live
productions attended. Objective sections of quizzes will assess understanding of terminology and
basic concepts while essays will assess ability to express analysis and interpretations of plays.

NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY POLICY ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions, and
other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using,
crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the College
recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic
integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to
infractions of academic integrity.
Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and at New
York City of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and
expulsion. The complete text of the College policy on Academic Integrity may be found in the
catalog.

INTRODUCTION TO
THEATRE
THE 2180

SYLLABUS

WEEK
OVERVIEW -- INTRODUCTION (Theatre as an Art from etc.) -PART ONE (Creating Theatre)CHAPTER 1 (The Performers
and the Director). (Pages will differ according to editions students use).
CHAPTER 2 (The Audience and the Critic)Chapter 3
CHAPTER 4 (The Designers: Scenery and Costumes)
CHAPTER 5 (The Designers: Lighting and Sounds)
BACKSTAGE Tour of Metropolitan Opera/Radio City Music Hall
CHAPTER 6 (The Playwright: Focus, Purpose, and Point of View)-CHAPTER 7 (Dramatic Structure and Dramatic Characters)
CHAPTER8 (The Theatre Begins)--Greece, Rome, and The
Middle Ages View Videotapes
CHAPTRER 9 (The Theatres of The Renaissance)--The Theatre
Of The English RenaissanceView Videotapes
THIS WEEK WE WILL GO TO SEE A PLAY
10

CHAPTER 9(The Seventeenth Century)--The Theatre of

Seventeenth-Century France: The Neoclassical ERA--The
Theater of The English RestorationView Videotapes
THIS WEEK WE WILL GO TO SEE A PLAY

12

Chapter 9 (The Nineteenth Century)--Theatre Production

in the Nineteenth Century--View Videotape
CHAPTER 10 (Departures from Realism)--1915-1945-Expressionism, Futurism, Dada, Surrealism, and Antirealist Theorists
1945-1990Existentialism, Theatre of the absurd, Experimental
Theatre Practices, and Postwar Eclectics
CHAPTER 11 (Diversity and Eclecticism)--Overview:
Contemporary Theatre--Musical TheatreView Videotape

15

CHAPTER 11Alternative TheatresAfrican-American Theatre

International TrendsToday And Tomorrow: A Look Ahead
View Videotape

LIST OF PLAY FOR SUGGESTED

READING.
Ancient Greece: Oedipus the King by Sophocles (Tragedy)
The Clouds by Aristophanes (Comedy)
Ancient Rome: The Menaechmi by Plautus (comedy)
Medieval Period: Everyman (anonymous)

(allegory)

Italian Renaissance: Mandragola by Machiavelli

English Renaissance (Elizabethan): Hamlet by William
Shakespeare (Tragedy)
French Neo-Classicism: The school for Wives by Moliere
Spanish Golden Age: Life is a Dream by Calderon
th

Restoration Period: (England-Late 17 century) The

Country Wife by Wycherly
th

18 century English Drama: She Stoops to Conquer by

Oliver Golssmith and The
School for Scandal by Brinsley
Sheridan
th

19 Century Norway: Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen

th

19 Century Sweden: Miss Julie by August Strindberg

th

19 Century Russia: The Seagull by Anton Chekhov

th

19 Century France: Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand

th

19 Century England: The Importance of Being Earnest By

Oscar Wilde
th

20 Century England: Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

th

20 Century Germany: Mother Courage by Bertolt Brecht

th

20 Century Italy: In search of Six Characters by

Pirandello

th

20 Century United States: The Death of a Salesman by

Arthur Miller and A Streetcar
Name Desire by Tennessee Williams
th

20 Century Ireland: Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

SUGGESTED BOOKS FOR

READING
BROOK, Peter. The Empty Space. Athenaeum N.Y. 1978.
Chekhov, Michael. On The Technique of Acting. Harper Collins Publishers
Clurman, Harold. On Directing. Macmillan Pub. Co, Inc. N.Y. 1972
Clurman, Harold. The Divine Pastime. Macmillan pub. Co, Inc. N.Y. 1974.
Grotowski, Jerzy. Towards a Poor Theatre. N.Y.
Hagen, Uta. Respect for Acting. Macmillan pub. Co, Inc. N.Y. 1973
Lewis, Robert. Method or Madness. Samuel French Inc. N.Y. 1958
Shurtleff , Michael. Audition, Bantam Books. N.Y. 1980
Stanislavski, Constantin. An Actor Prepares, Theatre Arts books. N.Y. 1963
Stanislavski, Constantin. Building a Character, Theatre Arts Books, N.Y. 1962.