OVERVIEW

This course provides students with a basis of knowledge on the history of Western Theater and performing arts. Throughout the lessons, seeing images and videos, watching performances, meeting with artists and conducting independent study, this course introduces students to the concepts of “Theater” and “performing arts” in their complexity, focuses on the forms and functions the theater has taken in different times and places and offers models for analyzing contemporary spectacle.  There is no prerequisite for this course.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

This course is meant to provide students with a basis of knowledge on the history of the Theater and performing arts. The aim is to connect knowledge of historical events to an understanding of the various forms, meanings and functions the terms “Theater” and “Spectacle” have taken in different times and places. A special focus is on the relationship that, at times, has been established between the original text of a play, where present, and the performed version (the spectacle, which can be broken down into many elements: playwriting, acting, the stage and the set). The ultimate goal of seeing and analyzing plays is to provide students with the skills to describe, analyze and interpret contemporary theater.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

6 cfu course program

A brief introduction to this discipline and its objects of study will familiarize students with the complexity of the term “Theater” and teach them the main characteristics and components of what we call a “performance”. Afterward, the first two modules will be dedicated to studying the main events and periods of the history of Theater and spectacle in the West from the 5th century B.C. to the 19th century A.D. In collaboration with the theaters of Genoa, students will have “guided” viewings of plays during class time along with the artists and theater companies.

9 cfu course program

The third module will be focused on the 20th century theater

TEACHING METHODS

In-class lectures with slides and video projections with optional attendance at the theatre evenings.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

LIVIA CAVAGLIERI (President)

EMANUELA CHICHIRICCO'

ROBERTO CUPPONE

RAFFAELE MELLACE

MATTEO PAOLETTI

LESSONS

Class schedule

HISTORY OF THE THEATRE AND ENTERTAINMENT

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam is oral. Attending students only can take a written test at the end of the semester (roughly between May 16th and 25th, 2018) for the 6 cfu program.  Students taking the 9 cfu program will complete the program with an oral exam following the written test.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The written exam for attending students is divided into two sections: a) four multiple choice questions on the Alonge-Perrelli, b) two essay questions on topics covered in class, handobook and materials from Aulaweb.

6 cfu oral exam:

• Two questions on the handbook and/or on Aulaweb materials.
• One question on topics covered in class or in the text for not attending students.

9 cfu oral exam:

• Two questions on the handbook and/or on Aulaweb materials
• One question on topics covered in class or in the text for not attending students.
• Two questions on a text of the student’s choice

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

The following workshops are optional (for more information, see the individual pages in the Course section):

• Analysis of Performance: from the text to the stage
• Theater workshop
• Analysis of the components of dramaturgy, set design and directing at the Opera.
• Analysis of the music of the Opera.