HUMS 651
Irish Plays and Politics
Gay Smith
Course Description | |
On this “Island of Saints and Traitors” (a title given to Ireland by defrocked priest Keegan in G.B. Shaw’s play, John Bull’s Other Island), the tumultuous relations between the Irish and the British, through colonialism to the establishment of an independent Irish Republic, are reflected in Irish plays and politics of the last three centuries. Most significantly theatrical and political activity heats up at the time of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, then a hundred years later with the Celtic Renaissance and the founding of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, and finally during the decades of the Uprising, Civil War, and formation of the Irish Republic in the twentieth century. We will track these developments through Irish plays, histories, and films. The seminars will include in-depth lectures, live play readings, and lively discussions. |
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Assignments | |
Students participate in live readings and discussions, write a response paper (3 pages) at the end of each of the first two weeks, and at the end of the third week, turn in and present to the class a 7-page paper researching a contemporary Irish playwright’s theater work and its political implications. | |
Grading | |
Grading: |
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Schedule of Classes | |
Week One: Irish Rebellion 1798: Origins and Players | |
July 17 |
Introduction: BBC Film Overview of Irish Theatre |
July 18 |
The Stage Irish Stereotype(s): |
July 19 |
United Irishmen and Seeds of Revolution: |
July 20 |
Short Presentations on Key Players and Politicians: |
Week Two: Celtic Renaissance | |
July 24 |
Myth and Legend |
July 25 |
Three One-Acts: Yeats’ Cathleen Ni Hoolihan; Lady Gregory’s,The Rising of the Moon; |
July 26 |
“Man of Aran,” Film; Synge’s Riders to the Sea; Playboy of the Western World |
July 27 |
The Debate: Capitalism vs. Democracy |
Week Three: Strife Continues: Irish and English, Church and State | |
July 31 |
Easter Uprising to Civil War: |
August 1 | Irish in Exile: Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Krapp’s Last Tape; Morash 6 |
August 2 | Back in Ireland: Friel’s Translations, Morash 7 |
August 3 | Last Class: Presentations of Student Papers |
Books on Order | |
John Harrington, MODERN IRISH DRAMA (W.W. Norton & Company), Paperback Christopher Morash, A HISTORY OF IRISH THEATRE 1601-2000 (Cambridge University Press), Paperback Richard Sheridan, THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL AND OTHER PLAYS (Oxford University Press), Paperback J.M. Synge, THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD AND OTHER PLAYS (Dover Publications), Paperbaack Reading materials available at Broad Street Books, 45 Broad Street, Middletown, 860-685-7323 |