2020-2021 Course Description
Prerequisite: There is no prerequisite for Theatre History; this course is open to all grade levels, and is available on a biennial (every other year) schedule. This course may be used to fulfill and arts credit or it may be used as the student's social studies elective course if the student is completing the AP US History option.
In this course, students will be introduced to the hostory o fhteatre from its beginnings as an oral tradition through Renaissance drama, Court Spectables, Minstrel shows, the dawn of Realism & Naturalism, Mega-Musicals, Performance Art and what we identify as Theatre today. Students will also be introduced to rituals, plays and theatrical pasts from other cultures including Africa, India, China and Japan.
The aim of this course is to not only provide students with the chronology, facts and names but also to help the student develop a discerning and questioning eye towards the broader picture of the history of performance. With this discerning eye, students will be invited to look beyond "what happened when" to the larger question of "why what happened when it did." Through selected readings, seminar and research projects, students will be asked to relate this question of "why did this happen" to how it is that we see, create and archive theatre now.
The aim of this course is to not only provide students with the chronology, facts and names but also to help the student develop a discerning and questioning eye towards the broader picture of the history of performance. With this discerning eye, students will be invited to look beyond "what happened when" to the larger question of "why what happened when it did." Through selected readings, seminar and research projects, students will be asked to relate this question of "why did this happen" to how it is that we see, create and archive theatre now.