9/13 - Questions to Consider

Subject: Announcement and Suggestions

Please note that, for Tuesday's class, you need to read Chapter 5 of The Theatrical Imagination only as far as page 185. Read the rest of the chapter for Thursday's class, when we'll discuss dramatic structure and Aristotle's Poetics.

Consider the following questions as possible subjects for this week's meditation. You are not required to address these questions - they are suggested topics only.

~ Consider the structure - not simply the content - of Shakespeare in Love and Samuel Beckett's short play, Catastrophe. How do these structures compare? What are the stylistic differences? What similarities can you discern?

~ Both Shakespeare in Love and Catastrophe depict the production of theatre - and the power of a theatrical moment. How do these depictions overlap, and how do they differ? What model of theatre does one or the other (or both) construct?

~ How would you characterize the experience of spectators in Shakespeare in Love? How many different sorts of spectator does the film depict and in what contexts? Can you relate to that audience's experience?