THTR 3392 It's Not a Moment it's a Movement: BIPOC Plays for the 21st Century

In this course, students will analyze dramatic scripts, performances, and manifestos created by BIPOC dramatists and theatre makers of the 21stcentury. Lectures, group work, writing assignments, and in-class discussions will explore how theatre can offer insight into the most salient challenges facing our world. Focusing on new North American works, students will read plays that address racism, police brutality, sexism, queerphobia, climate change, gun violence, classism, and xenophobia. Of equal importance, many of the plays we will read will also imagine more equitable futures, offer solace of community, and create space for liberation. To understand the significance of the playwrights thematic and stylistic choices, we must understand the cultural and political contexts in which they write. To this end, we will critically engage with selected historical and contemporary commentary that illuminate key aspects of the works.