English Department - Additional Information About ENL 338
British and Commonwealth Drama (Spring Day 2010)
"Imperial Insiders and Outsiders"
Professor Doug Green
Officially, ENL 338 is a variable survey of drama in English by British and Commonwealth playwrights, organized historically and/or thematically. Sample topics include “Mysteries and Moralities,” “London Onstage,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” and “What Is My Nation?” Readings range from the Middle Ages to the present. The course satisfies a requirement in British literature. (Prereq.: ENL 220 or 221, or a 200-level literature course or THR 250, or consent of instructor.)
This year we will be reading older British plays—from the Renaissance to the 19th century—in conjunction with British and Commonwealth works from the 20th and 21st centuries. The pairings will be loosely organized around the theme: Imperial Insiders and Outsiders. Likely pairs and groups include Marlowe’s Edward II (1592) and Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman (2003); Middleton and Rowley’s The Roaring Girl (1611), Aphra Behn’s The Rover (1677), and Caryl Churchill’s Cloud Nine (1979); and Farquhar’s The Recruiting Officer (1706) and Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good (1988-89). In addition we will read dramas by modern Anglophone Irish and African playwrights. We may also be seeing some contemporary films—such as An Ideal Husband, based on Oscar Wilde’s play, and Stage Beauty—as well as going to stage productions, like Park Square’s Rock ‘n’ Roll by Stoppard, the Guthrie’s Macbeth, and Augsburg’s production of The Taming of the Shrew.
