Shakespearean Dramaturgy

ajhartle@email.uncc.edu

Office: Robinson 371

Office hours: Tues/Thurs: 8.30-9.30, 1.30-4.00 and by appointment

 Production Dramaturgy for The Tempest (dir. Vesce, UNCC 2006). Click here for student-generated character research and other dramaturgical background material as it becomes available. This link will also lead to the program notes generated by the class.

The following syllabus is subject to change. The definitive schedule and policies will be maintained on-line and through notifications sent to your web CT e-mail addresses (see “Communication,” below).

This syllabus contains the policies and expectations I have established for Shakespearean Dramaturgy. Please read the entire syllabus carefully before continuing in this course. These policies and expectations are intended to create a productive learning atmosphere for all students. Unless you are prepared to abide by these policies and expectations, you risk losing the opportunity to participate further in the course.  

Class policies:

What follows is a detailed description of the policies for this class. They may strike you as draconian or condescending. They are both. I do not believe students should need this degree of structure or regimentation, but my experience has suggested otherwise. These rules are designed to give as clear a statement as I can manage about my expectations of your behavior, professionalism and diligence, and the consequences of failure in these areas. Most of you will not need such rules spelled out and I regret the need to do so because of those who do. Please do not expect the rules to be bent or broken except in the most extraordinary and tragic of circumstances (in which category, temperamental cars, damaged or capricious computer equipment, belligerent room mates, non-life threatening ailments, over indulgence of any kind, or being busy or “stressed out” because of other classes/activities, do not qualify).

Required texts and reading:

All have been ordered through the school book store in specific editions. If you wish to use a different edition you must show it to me first. All are different and many (esp. the cheaper, older editions, or complete works volumes based on very old editions which are usually 100 years old in order for the present publisher to sidestep copyright) are inadequate, inaccurate or unnecessarily difficult to use. Only the editions I have recommended will contain all the extra material (sources, original documents, essays etc.) which the class will dip into periodically.

We will not be assigning class time to the discussion of every page of every book assigned. Much of what we don’t specifically deal with, however, will underlie the way we approach the plays throughout the semester and you should thus read them all and keep them to hand as references.

Don’t sell your books at the end of the semester! They are an invaluable investment in your development as actors, thinks and critics which you will want to revisit if you continue to be intellectually alive after college!

Be sure to HAVE READ any text assigned for class PRIOR to our meeting. Failure to stay up with the reading (and that means having read it thoughtfully, attentively and critically so that you have things to say about it) renders you present only in body and I will thus mark you absent. You cannot possibly grasp the material effectively if you rely on other people’s discussion of it in the classroom.

Attendance, tardiness and participation:

Attendance is mandatory. A class like this depends on active participation for its success. Non attendance thus has a negative impact on everyone involved. You are permitted two excused absences after which you will merely be considered absent regardless of the validity of your excuse unless the circumstances are extraordinary (e.g. a documented death in the family). You should thus save your absences for genuine emergencies. For each absence beyond the two allowed, you will lose one letter of your participation grade. You can fail the participation portion by any combination of absences, tardiness (see below) unpreparedness (see above), and failing to be actively engaged in class discussion and activities. Mere attendance is not enough to pass this portion of your grade.

Tardiness is defined as not being present when class begins. You will be considered tardy if you arrive up to 10 minutes late unless a valid excuse has been submitted in advance of the class. Three tardies equal one absence. If you are more than 10 minutes late you will be considered absent.

If your absences (including tardies and unpreparedness) totals 20% or more of the total class time for the semester, you will automatically fail the course. Since presence in class is vital to a course like this, even legitimate excuses can not compensate for your not being present.

I will conduct this class in an atmosphere of mutual respect. I encourage your active participation in class discussions. Each of us may have strongly differing opinions on the various topics of class discussions. The conflict of ideas is encouraged and welcome. The orderly questioning of the ideas of others, including mine, is similarly welcome. However, I will exercise my responsibility to manage the discussions so that ideas and argument can proceed in an orderly fashion. You should expect that if your conduct during class discussions seriously disrupts the atmosphere of mutual respect I expect in this class, you will not be permitted to participate further.

If I am late in arriving to class, you must wait a full 20 minutes after the start of class before you may leave without being counted absent, or you must follow any written instructions I may give you about my anticipated tardiness.  

Students in this course seeking accommodations to disabilities must first consult with the Office of Disability Services and follow the instructions of that office for obtaining accommodations

All students are required to abide by the UNC Charlotte Sexual Harassment Policy (http://www.legal.uncc.edu/policies/ps-61.html) and the policy on Responsible Use of University Computing and Electronic Communication Resources (http://www.legal.uncc.edu/policies/ps-66.html). Sexual harassment, as defined in the UNC Charlotte Sexual Harassment Policy, is prohibited, even when carried out through computers or other electronic communications systems, including course-based chat rooms or message boards.

Communication:

I will maintain the syllabus on my own web site: http://www.dancetheatre.uncc.edu/ajhartle

My e-mail address is: ajhartle@email.uncc.edu

I will also make use of the e-mail lists provided through web CT. It is imperative that you check this e-mail address regularly (at least once a day) in order to stay up to date with announcements, instructions etc. Failure to complete required work according to guidelines, deadlines etc. which were sent to you because you did not get the message in time will not be considered an adequate excuse. If you don’t use the e-mail address the school has on file for you, you need to start doing so. Changing the address to one you do use will only solve the problem if the school can make those changes to web CT immediately.

As with regular checking of your e-mail account, you are responsible for communicating directly with me if you have problems or issues which cause you to be behind, delayed or in any way unprepared for class or related assignments. E-mail is the best way of reaching me. That said, e-mail can be temperamental, so you should always check back with me to ensure I received what you sent if you have not had some kind of receipt from me within 12 hours of sending. This is particularly important where late papers are concerned. You will not be given credit for papers you thought you had sent but which never reached me.

Papers:

All papers should be turned in on the day specified on the syllabus. Unless there are extraordinary extenuating circumstances, late papers will be penalized at the rate of one entire letter grade per day of lateness. I will accept late papers up to 5 days late (that 5 days includes weekends, holidays, and the day the paper was due). Papers reduced to a failing grade which are turned in within those 5 days will receive an F like any other failing work, thus getting partial (but not passing) credit. Papers turned in after the late period is over will receive a zero.

Late papers should be e-mailed to me as Word attachments so I have a clear sense of exactly when they came in, with hard copies left in my Theatre dept mail box as soon after as is possible. See above (‘Communication’) for further details about electronic submissions.

All papers must be adequately documented according to MLA style, with parenthetical citation and full works cited page.

Course Requirements:

Participation: 20%

Final paper: 20%

Papers 1-4: 40% (10% each)

Final exam: 20%

Required Texts:

The Shakespearean Dramaturg, by Andrew James Hartley. Palgrave/Macmillan. Paperback

ISBN 1-4039-7007-6

The Merchant of Venice : Texts and Contexts (The Bedford Shakespeare Series) (Paperback)
by William Shakespeare, M. Lindsay Kaplan (

·                                 Paperback: 377 pages

·                                 Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's (March 4, 2002)

·                                 Language: English

·                                 ISBN: 0312256248

All page references are to the Shakespearean Dramaturg book unless otherwise specified.

T 10^th Jan Introduction. This class will focus on two plays: The Tempest and The Merchant of Venice. Read both right away.

R 12^th Jan Introduction continued: pp. 1-14

T 17^th Jan What is dramaturgy? Pp. 15-27 Text, performance and collaboration. Pp. 29-42.

R 19^th Jan. The Tempest initial discussion.

T 24^th Jan. The Tempest continued. pp. 151-159 (degree of involvement and research packets) Paper 1 assigned: character research.

R 26^th Jan The Tempest. Preliminary discussion concluded.

T 31^st Jan The Merchant of Venice.

R 2^nd Feb The Merchant of Venice. paper 1 due.

T 7^th Feb The Merchant of Venice. Paper 2 assigned.

R 9^th Feb Visit by Actors from the London Stage

[F 10^th Feb Merchant Colloquium]

T 14^th Feb The Merchant of Venice post-performance discussion and analysis. In rehearsal. Pp. 160-180

R 16^th Feb. Adaptation, authenticity and history. Pp. 43-55 Paper 2 due. Grades to be e-mailed out.

[F 17^th Feb. Last day to withdraw with W]

T 21^st Feb. Ambiguity and Authority pp. 56- 64. The Shakespeare problem(s) pp. 65-72

R 23^rd Feb. The Tempest. Show preliminaries pp. 73-87 Preparing Script pp. 88-114. Paper 3 (script editing) assigned

T 28^th Feb The Tempest. Script examples pp.115-147. In class work on Tempest script.

R 2^nd Mar The Tempest. Guest visit by James Vesce (director) to discuss the production concept.

 Spring Break

T 14^th Mar Opening lectures and notes pp.181-208. Paper 4 (program notes) assigned (note that these will be publicly displayed during the performance). Paper 3. due.

W-F 15-17th Mar Rehearsal stumble throughs.

R 16^th Mar. No class.  Students should all attend at least one of the above stumble-through rehearsals and use what they see there to inform their ideas for paper 4.

T 21^st Mar. Paper 3 returned. Iambic pentameter reconsidered.

R 23^rd Mar. Group discussion of paper 4 topics, format and content.

T 28^th Mar.  Paper 4 assignments and demarcation of responsibilities on group basis.

R 30^th Mar. Research/Drafting session.

T 4^th April. Assigment 4 (lobby display and program notes) due in class as presentation for first round teacher/peer review and editing.

Students should revisit rehearsals this week.

R 6^th April. Final paper (critical review of Tempest production) assigned. Round table with Melnikoff and Huskey.

T 11^th  April. Progress report on the show (students need to have attended rehearsal to participate). 2nd assessment session on assignment 4 (lobby display and program notes).

R 13^th April SAA. No class.

[ 17^th April deadline to withdraw from all courses with W]

M 17th 11-12. Lab Theatre. "Facing Prospero" special class session with three actors who have played the role. 

T 18^th April. Post "Facing Prospero" discussion. Final version of lobby display (assignment 4) to be turned in.

April 19^th-22^nd Campus production of The Tempest

R 20^th April TBA

T 25^th April Tempest production post mortem

R 27^th April Final paper editing session

T May 2^nd Last Class. Final paper due. Exam discussion.

Exams May 4-11 Final exam: brief essays on dramaturgical principles.