Theater and Dance 154 - Reimagine the Classics

(Offered as CLAS-154 and THDA-154)  How can we look back to classic plays that were written one or two millennia ago and use them as the basis for a new piece of art that will be relevant and inspiring to a contemporary audience?This course will explore how artists from various media--theater, film, TV, dance, music, painting--have interpreted and re-authored classical texts. We will discuss western classics as well as canonical texts from Japan, India, Africa and Latin America.Are there any shared fundamental human elements among these very different continents and cultures? What made these texts enter the eternal dramatic canon of our civilization? Why are artists from various disciplines constantly attracted to re-authoring these classics? How can we build upon these works of the past to create something new, personal and relevant to our time?The course will examine these questions using a variety of audio-visual examples, dramatic and critical texts, and studio exercises.  Students will also re-author a classical text as a contemporary piece, in various artistic media.

Limited to 20 students.  Fall semester.  Professor Eliraz.