| 1 | Introductions; British comedy and you | |
| Travesties and Traditions |
| 2 |
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1966 / 67). | |
| 3 |
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, across media. | Preliminary self-assessment due; Waiting for Godot report due; attend MIT DramaShop's production of Arcadia. |
| 4 |
The Real Inspector Hound (1969 / 70). | |
| 5 |
Travesties (1974 / 75); discussion of Aracdia in performance; exchange of essay on Travesties with a partner. | Essay on Travesties due; exchange essay with a partner. |
| 6 | Presentations of one another's ideas about Travesties, with commentary. | Partner exchange reader's report on Travesties essay due; Dadaism report due. |
| 7 |
Travesties and Top Girls (play first performed in 1982). | Brechtian and feminist theater report. |
| Serious Comedy |
| 8 |
Scenes from an Execution (1985 radio version; 1990 staged). | |
| 9 |
Scenes from an Execution and Serious Money (1987). | |
| 10 |
Serious Money; exchange of essay on Serious Money with a partner. | Draft thesis-driven analytic essay due; exchange essay with a partner. |
| 11 |
Hapgood (1988); exchange of reader's report on partner's essay on Serious Money. | Partner exchange reader's report due. |
| 12 |
Hapgood and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (1994). | |
| 13 |
Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. | |
| Imagining Beyond |
| 14 |
Arcadia (1993). | Revised thesis-driven analytic essay due. |
| 15 |
The Invention of Love (1997). | |
| 16 | Class discussion | |
| 17 | Class discussion | |
| 18 | Labors of love, where we've arrived. | |
| 19 | From Kohout to Cahoot, from Wittgenstein to Dogg. | |
| 20 | Class discussion | |
| 21 |
Rock 'n' Roll (2006); voluntary sharing of students' Stoppardian scenes. | Stoppardian scene due. |
| 22 |
Rock 'n' Roll. | |
| 23 | Exchange of reader's report on partner's major essay / project. | Draft major essay / project due; exchange essay with a partner. |
| 24 |
A Number (2002). | Partner exchange reader's report due. |
| 25 | Student presentations on major project | |
| 26 | Student presentations on major project (cont.) | Final self-assessment due. |
