FRS 002S —
Sec. 001 —
(2 units) — CRN 65545 — R 10:00-11:20am — 203 Wellman
Shakespeare From Page to Stage
Instructor: Eric Schroeder, Department of English, College of Letters
and Science
Description: I am proposing to teach a freshman seminar in the
spring quarter of 2004 that will focus on the performative aspect of
two of Shakespeare's
plays. The first half of the quarter we'll study Richard III and in the second
half we'll study The Taming of the Shrew. The course will begin with
the students
attending a production of Richard III at the Mondavi Center on April 6. In the
subsequent class meetings, we'll first discuss the production we watched, then
read Shakespeare's text and retrospectively re-examine production issues in the
Mondavi performance, and finally conclude the first half of the
course by examining
two cinematic versions of Richard, Al Pacino's Looking for Richard and Richard
Loncraine's Richard III. The second half of the quarter will begin
with the students
first reading Shakespeare's text. Next we will examine recent
cinematic versions
of the play, including Gil Junger's Ten Things I Hate about You. In
the last three
weeks our attention will shift to the production that I will be directing for
the Integrated Studies Program. I'll have some of my student actors visit the
seminar and talk about the process of moving a play from the page to the stage.
The course will end with the students attending a performance of The Taming of
the Shrew in Wyatt Theater.
Format: This course encourages students to think
about Shakespeare
in different ways. My primary goal is to get them to see that Shakespeare wrote
for the stage and not the page, that his plays were meant to be performed, that
they were (and are) flexible. I also want students in this class to have fun.
The class will meet one a week to discuss the text or production that
we are reading/viewing
that week. Additionally, students will attend two live performances
and will view
four video productions. Grading: Course grading will be
as follows: Short analytical essay 40% Oral Report 40% Class
Discussion 20%.
About the Instructor: