Course Outline

Department of Theatre and Performance Studies Syllabus for MA (2010-11 onwards)

Aim

To create versatile, well rounded and imaginative performers who have the skills to chart their own creative and professional paths, and thus are able to enhance the creative expressivity of performance in Bangladesh. 

Objective

1. To enforce the critical capacity of the students by applying theoretical models drawn from Europe, North America, and Asia. 
2. To strengthen the performance skills of the students by acting in a play by one of the following playwrights of Bengali Theatre: Rabindranath Tagore, Selim Al Deen, Syed Shamsul Haque, Mamunur Rashid, and Abdullah Al Mamun. 

Semester One 

501 (Performance theory)

This is an advanced course on performance theories currently in practice in South Asia, Europe, and North America. Building from Stanislavsky system as the foundation, the analytical skills of the students will be reinforced by re-visiting Grotowski, Eugene Barba, and Richard Schechner, and introducing Michael Chekhov, Tadashi Suzuki, and Allen Kaprow. Central notions drawn from these practitioners will be synthesized with the key aspects of performance theory drawn from the Natyasastra and performance practice applied in the indigenous theatre in Bangladesh. Importantly, the theorizing will be founded on analysis of selected plays by Rabindranath Tagore, Syed Waliullah, Selim Al Deen, Syed Shamsul Haque, and Mamunur Rashid, with emphasis on the play selected for performance in the second semester. As a part of the teaching, the students will be required to attend at least four performances in public (non-university) theatres under the supervision of the course teacher/s and submit two term papers not exceeding 3,000 words critiquing the performances by means of theories discussed in the class-room context. The term-papers will be equivalent to in-course/midterm examinations (30 Marks).

Suggested Readings

1. Tadashi Suzuki The Way of Acting: The Theatre Writings of Tadashi Suzuki
2. Michael Chekhov, On the Technique of Acting
3. Allan Kaprow, Art as Life
4. Eugenio Barba and Nicola Savarese, A Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology: The Secret Art of the Performer
5. Richard Schechner, Performance Studies: An Introduction
6. Michael Huxley and Noel Witts (Eds.), The Twentieth Century Performance Reader The Twentieth Century Performance Reader (এই বইটির সর্বশেষ ৩য় সংস্করনে প্রথম সম্পাদক হিসাবে Michael Huxley এর পরিবর্তে Teresa Brayshaw দায়িত্ব পালন করেছেন।)