This course offers a comparative prespective on important trends in modern drama.  Through highly participatory pedagogic methods, the students are encouraged to share their special interest in examining specific themes, techniques of theatre representation, acting and writing.

Definitions:  The origin and function of drama.   The connection between drama, literature, theatre, cinema and performing arts.

Historical over-view of various trends in the West: Naturalism in the   plays  of  Chekhov,  Ibsen, Strindberg.    Antinaturalistic movements such as expressionism of Luigi Pirandello, epic theatre of  Bertolt  Brecht, surrealism in the plays of  Samuel  Beckett, Ionesco.   The rise of ritualistic, political theatre  of  Brook, Schechner, Akalitis.

Developments in Post-independence  Indian  drama:   Classical ritualistic theatre of Ramlila, Mahabharata etc.  Intermediary or Political Folk drama, such as Jatra, Nautanki,  Tamasha,  Street Plays.  Modern naturalistic drama of Badal Sircar, Mohan Rakesh, Vijay Tendulkar.

Texts/References

John  Gassner (ed): A Treasury of Theatre: Modern European  Drama from  Henrik  Ibsen To Jean Paul Sartre, Volume  Two.   Simon and Schuster. New York.

Peter Brook (Tr.): Mahabharata, Harper and Row, 1985.

Richard  Schechner:  Performative Circumstances  from  the  Avant-Garde to Ramlila, Seagull Publications, 1983.

Eric Bentley: The Playwright As Thinker, 1967.

Girish Karnad (Ed.): Contemporary Indian Theatre Interviews  with Playwriters and Directors, Sangeet Natak Academi, 1989.