Theatre 366-0-23: The Stage During the Era of Neoliberal Triumph Charles Harmon TIC East Conference Room

T/Th 10:30 A.M. to 11:50 P.M. Office: TIC 228 E-mail: charles.harmon@northwestern.edu Class Description Neoliberalism is the economic belief that unregulated markets and private enterprise lead to prosperity for all. Since the 1980s, neoliberalism has been the dominant strain in Anglo-American political thought. It shouldnt be confused with liberalism, a word that, in the United States, connotes a concern for social fairness. Neoliberalisms overriding concern is not with social fairness. It is with creating free markets. Neoliberals believe that if markets are left alone, they will bring about all the social fairness that anyone has a right to respect. If anyone is poor, a neoliberal (often confusingly called a neoconservative in the United States) believes it is the poor persons responsibility to enter the marketplace, and improve his or her life. If a poor person cannot do this, it is no ones fault but the poor persons. When the Cold War ended in the mid-1990s, neoliberalism spread around the globe. Socialism had been discredited. Capitalism had been vindicated. Large businesses and the financial service industry expanded at a breakneck pace. Governments, especially the government of the United States, reduced social safety nets. The main result, however, was not the universal prosperity that neoliberals promised. The main result was that the rich got much richer, while everyone else either got poorer, or improved their lives only marginally. The world of art, literature, and culture reacted to these changes in a variety of ways. In Theatre 366: The Stage During the Era of Neo-Liberal Triumph, we will read a selection of successful, challenging plays produced during this time. As we do this, we will also read other textsjournalism, economic history, and social theorythat address these social issues in more direct ways than plays do. Comparing and contrasting these various texts, we will try to come to a realistic view of the constraints and the possibilities that exist in contemporary theatre during this time of widening economic inequity. Some of the questions we will ask will be: What is the theatres most valuable role in a society such as ours? Is it to criticize injustice? Is it to justify existing social conditions? Is it to serve as an aesthetically autonomous space where all social questions can be ignored in the pursuit of pure beauty?

Has the not-for-profit theatre worlds reliance upon wealthy donors forced it to change the work it does? As already wealthy donors have become exponentially wealthier, have theatres felt the need to take their donors tastes and values into greater account? What can aspiring theater professionals expect for their careers in the current environment? What are the unspoken rules that now govern the culture that they hope to enter? Do these rules need to be changed? If they do need to be changed, what changes need to be made, and how can these changes be implemented?

Class Requirements: Class Attendance: Required I will allow each student to have two free absences that you dont have to explain to me. That's a complete week of class that I'm letting you miss. If something else comes up, or if you're tired, or if you don't feel well, for two classes, you dont have to come. After that, though, I will lower the boom. For every absence after the second one, I will require paper documentation that explains why you didn't make it. This has to be something like a doctor's written excuse, a letter from a professor, or some other hard evidence. If you can't give me hard evidence that justifies every absence after your second one, I will lower your final grade one full grade level (from A to B, for example) for every absence. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to get class notes and handouts from a classmate, not from me. Class Participation: 35% 20% of this will be based upon my judgment of your contribution to class discussion. Part of your contribution to class discussion will be in the form of doing brief homework assignments. In these assignments I will require you to look up key terms or answer discussion questions. I will have you bring in your findings to class in a typed format that you can share with your classmates, and that I can respond to. 15% of this will be based upon short reading quizzes that I will give at least once a week. These quizzes will be designed to make sure that reading the class materials remains a top priority for you. 2 2-3 page interpretive essays: 30%

Each of these essays will be worth 15%. I will hand out writing prompts that will allow you to provide brief interpretations of the plays that we are reading. 1 10-12 page final project: 35% For this longer project, I will give you some options on how to do it. 1) You can write a critical and interpretive essay on two or more of the plays we are reading in the class, incorporating the texts and ideas we will be discussing. Ill provide writing prompts to help you with this. With my OK, you can provide a critical and interpretive review of at least two contemporary plays in current production in Chicago, using the texts and ideas we will read in the class to frame your interpretations. Also with my OK, you can submit creative work to fulfill this requirement. A brand-new one-act play that responds to the themes raised in the class, for example, might work. Or a thorough discussion of how you would go about directing at least two of the plays might work. Or an essay discussing the production histories of a couple of the plays we have read, and how that elucidates the themes of the class, might work. In other words, Im not promising anything, but if you have an idea for something else you want to do besides write an interpretive essay to fulfill this requirement, I will consider it. Class Rule: No Screens Phones Must Be Turned Off and Put Away Unless You Have a Note From the Offices of Services for Students With Disabilities, Computers Must Be Turned Off and Put Away Required Texts: Plays: Baker, Annie. Circle Mirror Transformation. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2010. Bogosian, Eric. subUrbia. 1994. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2009. Burke, Gregory. The National Theatre of Scotlands Black Watch. London: Faber and Faber, 2007.

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Churchill, Caryl. Top Girls. New York: Samuel French, 1982. Guare, John. Six Degrees of Separation. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1992. Guirgis, Stephen Adly. The Motherfucker With The Hat. 2011. Unpublished: Available on Classs Blackboard Site. Haidle, Noah. Mr. Marmalade. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2006. Jackson, Nathan Louis. Broke-ology. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2010. Kane, Sarah. Blasted. 1995. Complete Plays. London: Methuen, 2001. Lindsay-Abaire, David. Good People. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2011. McPherson, Conor. The Weir. 1997. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2000. Nottage, Lynn. Ruined. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2009. Parks, Suzan-Lori. Topdog/Underdog. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2004. Prebble, Lucy. Enron. London: Methuen, 2009. Shawn, Wallace. The Designated Mourner. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2009. Stoppard, Tom. Rock N Roll. New York: Grove, 2006. Other Texts: London, Todd, with Ben Pessner and Zannie Giraud Voss. Outrageous Fortune: The Life and Times of the New American Play. New York: Theatre Development Fund, 2009. Other Essays, Journalism, and Cultural Criticism Posted on the Classs Blackboard Site at https://courses.northwestern.edu/.

Class Schedule Reminder: I will post an announcement on Blackboard and email you if anything you need to know comes up, like re-scheduling class, adjusting the scheduled readings, or events of general interest.

I will try to remember to announce such things in class, but please check the Blackboard site at least once a week to keep in touch. Week 1 Tuesday, March 27Class Overview. Thursday, March 29Caryl Churchill, Top Girls; Milton Friedman, The Social Responsibility of a Business Is To Increase Its Profits, (on Blackboard). Week 2 Tuesday, April 3finish Caryl Churchill, Top Girls; Thomas Palley, Americas Exhausted Paradigm: Macroeconomic Causes of The Financial Crisis and Great Recession (on Blackboard, in New School Economic Review, Volume 4 (1), 2010, 15-43). Thursday, April 5John Guare, Six Degrees of Separation; Outrageous Fortune, pages 1-31; First 2-3 Page Paper Assigned. Week 3 Tuesday, April 10Eric Bogosian, subUrbia; Excerpts from Antonio Gramscis Prison Notebooks (on Blackboard); T. J. Jackson Lears, The Concept of Cultural Hegemony: Problems and Possibilities (on Blackboard). Thursday, April 12Sarah Kane, Blasted; First 2-3 Page Paper Due. Week 4 Tuesday, April 17Wallace Shawn, The Designated Mourner; Outrageous Fortune, pages 31-48. Thursday, April 19Conor McPherson, The Weir; Outrageous Fortune, pages 49-76. Week 5 Tuesday, April 24Suzan-Lori Parks, Topdog/Underdog; Outrageous Fortune, pages 76-96. Thursday, April 26Tom Stoppard, Rock and Roll; 2nd 2-3 Page Paper Assigned. Week 6

Tuesday, May 1Tom Stoppard, Rock and Roll; Henry Giroux, Beyond the Biopolitics of Disposability: Rethinking Neoliberalism in the New Gilded Age (on Blackboard). Thursday, May 3Gregory Burke, The National Theatre of Scotlands Black Watch; 2nd 2-3 Page Paper Due. Week 7 Tuesday, May 8Lucy Prebble, Enron; Paul M. Healy and Krishna G. Palepu, The Fall of Enron (on Blackboard). Thursday, May 10Lucy Prebble, Enron. Week 8 Tuesday, May 15Noah Haidle, Mr. Marmalade; Excerpts from Pierre Bourdieu, The Field of Cultural Reproduction (on Blackboard). Tuesday, May 17Annie Baker, Circle Mirror Transformation; William Osborne, Marketplace of Ideas (on Blackboard). Week 9 Tuesday, May 22Nathan Louis Jackson, Broke-ology; Richard G. Wilkinson and Kate E. Pickett, Income Inequality and Social Dysfunction (on Blackboard). Thursday, May 24Lynn Nottage, Ruined. Week 10 Tuesday, May 29David Lindsay-Abaire, Good People; Excerpts from Jeffrey A. Winters, Oligarchy (on Blackboard). Thursday May 31Stephen Adly Guirgis, The Motherfucker With The Hat (on Blackboard, in two parts); Jaan Whitehead, Art Will Out (on Blackboard); Class Review. Tuesday, June 5, 12:00 NoonFinal Projects Due ***********

Students with Disabilities

In compliance with Northwestern University policy and equal access laws, I am available to discuss appropriate academic accommodations that you may require as a student with a disability. Request for academic accommodations need to be made during the first week of the quarter, except for unusual circumstances, so arrangements can be made. Students are required to register with Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) for disability verification and for determination of reasonable academic accommodations. For more information, visit: http://www.northwestern.edu/disability/ Academic Integrity at Northwestern Students are expected to comply with University regulations regarding academic integrity. If you are in doubt about what constitutes academic dishonesty, speak to the instructor before the assignment is due and/or examine the University web site. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to cheating on an exam (e.g., copying others answers, providing information to others, using a crib sheet) or plagiarism of a paper (e.g., taking material from sources without citation, copying another students paper). Failure to maintain academic integrity on an assignment will result in a loss of credit for that assignmentat a minimum. Other penalties may also apply. The guidelines for determining academic dishonesty and procedures followed in a suspected incident of academic dishonesty are detailed on the university and school websites. For more information, visit: http://www.communication.northwestern.edu/programs/undergraduate/policies_ procedures/academic_integrity/ Sexual Harassment Policy It is the policy of Northwestern University that no male or female member of the Northwestern communitystudents, faculty, administrators, or staffmay sexually harass any other member of the community. Sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute harassment when: submission to such conduct is made or threatened to be made, either explicitly or implicitly, a term or condition of an individual's employment or education; or submission to or rejection of such conduct is used or threatened to be used as the basis for academic or employment decisions affecting that individual; or such conduct has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with an individual's academic or professional performance or creating what a

reasonable person would sense as an intimidating, hostile, or offensive employment, educational, or living environment. For more information, visit: http://www.northwestern.edu/sexualharassment/policy/index.html School of Communication General Student Policy All students enrolled in Communication courses are accountable for knowing and adhering to the NU and SoC Academic integrity policies found in the Undergraduate Catalog and on the university and SoC websites. Students are also responsible for the following standards: (1) Attendance is required in all Communication courses, and excessive absence is a cause for failure. (2) Credit will not be given for two courses which meet at the same time. (3) To receive credit for a course, students must complete all the work assigned. (4) Assignments must be turned in on time and examinations must be taken as scheduled. Students are not entitled to make-up assignments or to grades of Incomplete unless the instructor has approved such arrangements in advance.