RESUME Denis Calandra is a writer and teacher. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Denis Calandra earned a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska. For 7 years, he taught drama and theatre in Germany (University of Regensburg) and in London, England (Middlesex University). In 1978 he came to the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa. He chaired the Department of Theatre from 1992 to 2001. As chair he was instrumental in establishing the $2 million endowed British International guest artist program (BRIT). Calandra's publications include two books, New German Dramatists, Macmillan; London and New York, 1983; and Rainer Werner Fassbinder: Plays, PAJ, New York, 1985; reissued by Johns Hopkins Press, 1992. The Fassbinder remains in print in 2006. The translations are regularly produced professionally throughout the anglophone world. In 2005 his Petra von Kant translation served as the libretto for Gerald Barry's opera of the same name: premiere in London at English National Opera. A two CD recording of the opera with the Irish National Orchestra is also in print. Calandra has written for numerous professional and academic journals. His chapter on 'reception theory and audiences' appears in New Directions in Theatre, Macmillan, London, 1993. His article on Bertolt Brecht and the popular Bavarian comedian Karl Valentin appears as a chapter in Popular Theatre, Routledge; New York and London, 2003. In 1991, with a grant from the Florida Humanities Council, Calandra conceived, produced and directed the Florida Chautauqua, an interactive chronicle which toured the state. In 1993 Calandra and Jose Yglesias wrote and produced a stage version of Studs Terkel's Race (how blacks and whites think and feel about the American obsession). Calandra's research in 1990/91 with Dr. Nicholas Hall (psychoneuroimmunology, USF) on actors' immune system responses in rehearsal and performance, led to a pilot study during a residency at the Arizona State University Institute for Studies in the Arts. The study was filmed for Healing and the Mind with Bill Moyers (PBS). An article on the project by Hall, Calandra and others appears in Advances, the Journal of Mind-Body Health, Vol 10, # 4, 1994. In 2005 Calandra’s original play with music, Cuban Bread, premiered in Tampa as part of the city wide ARTE 2005 festival. In 2006 Calandra and Matthew Francis’s adaptation of Carl Hiaasen’s novel Lucky You premiered at the Waterfront Playhouse in Key West. It will have a full equity professional production in England in the 2007-2008 season. The chief innovation in Calandra's teaching career has been the establishment of the undergraduate research Theatre Honors Program at USF. For the past 20 years this program - noted as 'exemplary' by the National Association of Schools of Theatre -has attracted motivated students to intensive research in performance and in academic fields under the guidance of top faculty and international artists.

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TWO SUMMER 2009 COURSES AVAILABLE: SHAKESPEARE FOR THE THEATRE AND AMERICAN DRAMA

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SHAKESPEARE FOR THE THEATRE
THE 4330 (3 credits)
Summer 'A' 2009
WEB BASED / ANY TIME ANY PLACE: NO FACE TO FACE MEETINGS REQUIRED

Instructor:  Dr. Denis Calandra
Phone:   813-974-9118
Office: TAR 247
Office Hours:  By arrangement.
E-Mail:calandra@arts.usf.edu

PRE-REQUISITES:

None for non-majors. Script Analysis for majors.


Course Description:

Shakespeare for the Theatre is an EXIT course which satisfies GORDON RULE requirements. The course uses professional films and professional rehearsal sessions as a way of teaching students about Shakespeare’s plays by looking closely at how they are prepared and executed in performance. Readings required are: paperbacks of four plays and excerpts from one historical book. Dr. Denis Calandra with the help of two graduate assistants will offer this class to 90 students. There will be regular feedback on Blackboard writing and discussion sessions. For the past 5 years students have rated this course outstanding. It is highly recommended for non-majors and majors alike.


COURSE RATIONALE:

In this course we will carefully study three complete Shakespeare plays: Much Ado About Nothing; Macbeth; Hamlet. We may also look at isolated scenes from Twelfth Night. The intention is to introduce you to the technical and artistic means used by Shakespeare to achieve his extraordinary dramatic effects and to create his unforgettable characters. In addition, we will explore the themes and ideas expressed in the plays within their historical contexts; and will consider the performance circumstances of different periods.

Shakespeare wrote for performance, and was himself an actor. We will pay special attention to the plays as blueprints for performance. A central feature of the course will be streamed video of a series of professional rehearsals of key Shakespeare scenes. These were produced by Dr. Calandra expressly for this course.

For the purpose of comparative analysis we will also view short excerpts from filmed productions.

Students will be offered the tools to inquire into the process of making the plays live in performance and to inquire into the complex ideas expressed in the plays over time. Students will write increasingly sophisticated critical analyses of plays, rehearsal processes, performances.

Using web and USF Virtual Library resources in addition to several of the essays published in your texts, we will consider Shakespeare as a cultural and historical phenomenon.


COURSE TOPICS:

Will include:

1. Generation of texts.
2. Shakespeare’s social and historical conditions.
3. Original practices of Shakespearean theatre.
4. Relationship of theatre practice to understanding Shakespeare.
5. Multiplicity of approaches to interpretation, expression, performance.
6. Cultural markers in performance through the ages.
7. Significance of choice in theatre practice as it affects meaning: age of actors, gender of actors, ethnicity of actors.
8. Performance space, setting, media as these affect meaning: stage, film, TV.
9. All topics are tied to the underlying basic questions of how and why Shakespeare’s astonishing characters and dramatic effects remain nearly universally appealing.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

To help students:

1. Learn to read Shakespeare texts with fluency and understanding.
2. Learn to analyze texts creatively in order to speculate on meaningful choices for actors, directors, designers.
3. Learn to research original theatrical practices of Shakespeare’s day as a means of understanding texts and making refined speculations about how to ‘embody’ the plays in performance.
4. Learn to articulate judgments about choices made in different media by professional actors, directors, designers.
5. Learn to use research tools relevant to Shakespeare’s plays and to their contemporary relevance.
6. Learn to express ideas about character, theme, and historical/contemporary relevance through critical essays and/or portfolios and performance.
7. Learn to inquire about Shakespeare performance collaboratively in discussion and group projects.

WRITING COMPONENT (GORDON RULE)

Students are expected to complete a series of 750 word critical essays on very specific assignments. These will be read, graded, and several will be returned for revision. These essays form the backbone of inquiry and criticism in the course. Students will share the insights in these essays in group projects and in discussion.

Students will also be required to formulate critical ideas in group presentations and portfolio projects.


BOOKS/RESOURCES:

1. Most recent Signet paperback editions of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING; MACBETH; HAMLET; TWELFTH NIGHT.
2. Short scholarly essays in the Signet volumes.
3. Selections from paperback: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599, James Shapiro (Harper Collins, 2005).
4. Web sites as posted on Blackboard.
5. Streamed professional rehearsals, interviews, workshops.
6. Streamed excerpts from professional productions.
7. Commercial DVD (rented or purchased) TBA.

ASSIGNMENTS:

1. Short critical analyses of scenes, professional rehearsals and performances.
2. Short weekly discussion responses to questions on select chapters of SHAPIRO.
3. Research project in Wiki or written format.
4. Final Exam.

SCHEDULE:

A precise schedule will appear on the course Blackboard site.


TESTIMONIALS:

The class was highly rated by students in summer '07 as engaging and at the right level for an exit course. TYPICAL QUOTES:

1. This online class was perfect! My only disappointment - no Part 2.
2. So, I am emailing you that your class was awesome. You gave us clear and direct instructions that were able to be followed by anyone. I would recommend your class to others. Thanks.
3. I just wanted to let you know how much I thoroughly enjoyed this class. I knew very little about Shakespeare before starting the class and now I feel like I have a really good appreciation for, and understanding of, his works.

Course Description:

Using play texts, historical and scholarly documents, and films this course will survey 20th century American drama in socio-political and aesthetic contexts. We will consider writers, directors, actors, designers. Among the topics are the development of the art of the American drama; censorship; the relationship between ideology and public art; politics, civil rights, and popular arts as they influence the art of the theatre; film scripts vs. stage scripts. Dr. Denis Calandra with the help of two graduate assistants will offer this GORDON RULE/EXIT course to 90 students. The course has been rated outstanding in previous years.


Required Text:

NOTE: You must acquire the specific editions listed here. For the most part these are the editions theatre professionals use. They are also the least expensive paperback editions and the ones with the pagination I will use in all assignments.

1. Tennessee Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire. 1981. Dramatists Play Service. ISBN: 0-8222-1089-4.
2. Arthur Miller: Death of a Salesman. 1980. Dramatists Play Service. ISBN: 0-8222-0290-5.
3. Edward Albee: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 2004. ISBN: 0-8222-1249-8
4. August Wilson: Piano Lesson. 1984. Plume. ISBN: 0-452-26534-7.
5. David Mamet: Oleanna. 1993. Dramatists Play Service. ISBN: 0-8222-1343-5.
6. Tony Kushner: Angels in America. 1995. Theatre Communications Group. ISBN: 1-55936.231.6.
7. Margaret Edson: Wit. 1999. Dramatists Play Service. ISBN: 0-8222-1704.

Required DVD's:

Purchase the DVDs new or used from whichever source is least expensive. Most of them are also available from Netflix and other rental services. There will, however, be no allowances for late papers because of problems with Netflix or another rental service. I will also order enough copies for the class through USF Tampa's Barnes and Noble. It is essential you buy the specific editions listed here. Comparing specific texts and specific performances is at the heart of the course.

1. A Streetcar Named Desire. (Marlon Brando) UPC 085393893224
2. Death of a Salesman. (Dustin Hoffman) UPC 014381140620
3. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Elizabeth Taylor) UPC 012569821095
4. Piano Lesson (Charles Dutton) VHS if available.
5. Oleanna (William Macy Jr.) UPC 027616895363
6. Wit (Emma Thompson) UPC 026359178122
7. Angels in America (Al Pacino) UPC 02635922992

Suggested DVD's:

1. The Cradle Will Rock (Bill Murray)
2. West Side Story (Natalie Wood)
3. Zoot Suit (Edward James Olmos)
4. PBS: the American Musical. (3 part documentary)

Course Topics:

1. Introduction to 20th century American theatre.
2. Generation and distinctive features of texts and productions by key theatre artists.
3. Collaborative processes: the 'road to Broadway (or equivalent)' of writers working with directors, designers, actors, producers; the 'road to Hollywood (or equivalent)' for select plays.
4. Special topics: ethnic theatre; alternative theatre; feminist theatre; formalist theatre; censorship; commerce and theatre; technology and theatre; acting 'schools' and styles; American culture and public performance.

Course Objectives:

To help students:

1. Learn to read and understand the great American play texts.
2. Learn to analyze American plays with an eye to performance and production.
3. Learn to study documents and videos about premieres of American plays and their derivative films as a means of making critical judgments of the acting and directing of the plays.
4. Learn to critique performance choices made by directors and actors of classic American plays.
5. Learn to express ideas about plays and their film versions as they relate to key issues of 20th/21st century U.S.

Student Outcomes:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the essential differences of style of key American playwrights and how that understanding might affect performance and production.
2. Demonstrate a critical awareness of the need to understand the cultural bases whichcontribute to the shaping of American plays, films, performances.
3. Demonstrate knowledge of the different artistic processes important American playwrights have gone through to bring their work to the public.
4. Demonstrate a critical awareness of the complex interconnection between artistic work and cultural context. How to compare similar works in different performance circumstances.

ASSIGNMENTS:

NOTE: Complete scheduling and grading details for assignments will be posted by the first day of class.

1. SIX RESPONSES TO SECONDARY READINGS

Responses to questions on posted readings in BLOG or another journal format. The nature of this writing is less formal than the critical papers, but you need to be clear and to the point. Though you will be graded individually, select entries may at some point in the semester be opened for all to see. Each report will have questions from the CAMBRIDGE GUIDE. There will only be three videos to watch online for this assignment. The 'biographical and professional' and 'historical document' information required will vary from assignment to assignment.


1. Cambridge Guide to American Theatre. Entries in the guide range from one paragraph to three pages. Instructor will set questions. Items to read will be posted.
2. Author biographical and professional information. Instructor will set questions related to linked online reserve and web site sources.
3. Brief ‘historical documents’. One to three page readings from documents related to the ideas in the plays. Instructor will post these in the Course Documents section of the course site.
4. Short video interviews/documentaries on the writers and theatre practices covered in the course. Instructor will link students to Theatre in Video, a USF library online resource.



2. SIX CRITICAL ANALYSIS PAPERS (750 to 1000 words)

These assignments will be graded for content and style. This is formal writing rather than a short test or blog entry. For each paper you are to use questions set by your instructor to help you organize a short fluent analysis of a key scene as published and as acted in the film.


3. ONE WIKI

A series of questions will be set for each group to divide among its members. You will be required to: a) read the play; b.) watch the film and documentary; c) do research as assigned; d.) present a report in Wiki format. There will be two weeks for the completion of the task. Simple directions for using Wikis will be provided. The Wiki tool the inclusion of visual and aural material.


4. RESEARCH PROJECT

The topics and potential formats for the project will be assigned in week six. It is due in week fifteen. The project will include some aspect of American Musical Theatre as it relates to the rest of the course. One of West Side Story; Zoot Suit; and The Cradle Will Rock will feature in your project.


5. FINAL EXAM

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