*The Course Schedules below are subject to change pending enrolment pattern changes. Detailed course descriptions by instructors are added when available and are also subject to change.
**Please consult the Registrar's Time Table for mode of delivery for courses.
[ DRE121H5F | DRE122H5S | DRE200H5S | DRE201H5S | DRE222H5F | DRE305H5S |DRE344H5F | DRE346H5F | DRE347H5F | DRE360H5F | DRE362H5S | DRE463H5F | DRE463H5S ]
Course Title: Traditions of Theatre and Drama
Course Code: DRE121H5F | Lecture MW 11-12 | Tutorials M 12-1, M 2-3
Instructor: Ben Hjorth
An introductory survey of the forms and history of world drama from the classical period to the 19th century in its performance context. May include later works influenced by historical forms and one or more plays in the Theatre Erindale schedule of production. May include a research performance component. This course is also listed as ENG121H5.
Exclusion: DRM100Y1; ENG125Y1
Course Title: Modern and Contemporary Theatre and Drama
Instructor: Nazli Akhtari
Course Code: DRE122H5S | Lecture MW 11-12 | Tutorials W 12-1, W 2-3
An introductory survey of the forms and history of world drama from the late 19th century to the present in its performance context. May include film adaptations and one or more plays in the Theatre Erindale schedule of productions. May include a research performance component. This course is also listed as ENG122H5.
Exclusion: DRM100Y1; ENG125Y1
Course Title: Canadian Theatre History
Course Code: DRE200H5S | Lecture M 11-12, W 11-1
Instructor: Nancy Copeland
A survey of the history of theatre in Canada, with particular emphasis on developments since the mid-20th century.
Exclusion: DRM268H1
Prerequisite: DRE/ENG121H5 and ENG122H5, or permission of the U of T Mississauga program director.
Detailed Description by Instructor:
This course will give an introduction to the history and historiography of theatre in Canada, mainly in the 20th and 21st centuries, through focussing substantially, though not exclusively, on Toronto. Toronto has been a theatre hub since the nineteenth-century, important historical sites are still extant and accessible, and significant companies are still active. We will investigate significant events, institutions, companies, and individuals; we will also critically examine the materials and methods used to construct Canadian theatre histories.
Selected Major Readings: Readings will consist of primary historical documents and critical articles, supplemented by selected, historically-significant plays (tba).
First Three Texts/Authors to be Studied: TBA
Method of Instruction: Lecture and discussion; in person.
Method of Evaluation: Participation, short essay, longer final essay, test, final exam in exam period.
Course Title: Acting
Course Code: DRE201H5S | Lecture T 11-12 | PRAs R 11-1, R 2-4
Instructor: Autumn Smith
A practical introduction to the art and craft of performance, intended for students with little or no previous experience or training. The course uses a range of acting exercises to teach critical thinking, active listening, specificity of action, intention of thought and team building. Students will engage in text analysis, collective creation, storytelling, physical and vocal exercises, and character development, in the process cultivating skills transferable to their chosen career path. This course is ideally suited for any student seeking to enhance their interpersonal and presentation skills.
Exclusion: DRS121H5 or DRS122H5
Course Title: The Performance Text
Course Code: DRE222H5F | Lecture M 12-2, W 12-1
Instructor: Nazli Akhtari
An introduction to the techniques of dramaturgical analysis, through the study of a range of texts to which students might be exposed as theatre practitioners and audience members. Focus will be on the relationship between the performance event and its associated written text. Examples will emphasize modern and contemporary drama, as well as a range of styles, and will include one or more Theatre Erindale productions, and other appropriate productions, as well as a practical workshop component.
Exclusion: DRE240H5, 242H5, 244H5, 246H5
Prerequisite: DRE/ENG121H5, 122H5 or permission of U of T Mississauga program director.
Course Title: Studies in Indigenous Performance
Course Code: DRE305H5S | Lecture M 11-1
Instructor: Maria Hupfield
Topic for this course vary from year to year, depending on faculty research interests. The course may cover such matters as interdisciplinary approaches to Indigenous storytelling in experimental film, new media, digital arts and performance, including community collaboration, public spaces, archival or historical content, participatory performance, and decentralized theatre. It may include a practical workshop component and attending a rehearsal for an Indigenous lead production in Toronto.
Prerequisites: 4.0 full credits, including (DRE121H5 or ENG121H5) and (DRE122H5 or ENG122H5) or permission of the UTM program director
Course Title: Studies in Theatre and Drama 1 (Performing Canada)
Course Code: DRE344H5F | Lecture W 11-1
Instructor: Nancy Copeland
Topic varies from year to year, depending on faculty research interests.
Prerequisites: 4.0 full credits, including DRE/ENG121H5 and DRE/ENG122H5; or permission of the UTM program director.
Detailed Description by Instructor:
How has the history of Canada been represented in the theatre? This course will look at plays that challenge conventional accounts of Canadian history and demonstrate a range of approaches to putting history on stage. Plays are selected from the works of Indigenous, Black, Asian-Canadian, and women playwrights among others.
Selected Major Readings: Plays by Carmen Aguirre, George Boyd, Marie Clements, Lorena Gale, Michael Hollingsworth, Hannah Moscovitch, Daniel David Moses, Andrea Scott, Annabel Soutar, David Yee
First Three Texts/Authors to be Studied: Hollingsworth, Confederation and Riel; Moses, Almighty Voice and His Wife; Gale, Angélique
Method of Instruction: lecture and discussion; online synchronous
Method of Evaluation: Brief response essays; final essay; class discussion.
Course Title: Studes in Theatre and Drama 2 (Performing Science Fiction)
Course Code: DRE346H5F | Lecture M 11-1
Instructor: Sanja Vodovnik
Topic varies from year to year, depending on faculty research interests.
Prerequisites: 4.0 full credits, including (DRE121H5 or ENG121H5) and (DRE122H5 or ENG122H5) or permission of the UTM program director
Detailed Description by Instructor:
Although often omitted from discussions on SF, theatre, and performance, science fictional performances have been around for at least a century, contributing to our understanding of what science fiction is, how it looks and how it feels. This course addresses a broad spectrum of SF performances, from SF theatre plays to World Expositions, and covers a range of different themes and approaches in SF. In lectures we will introduce and discuss the key icons and concepts in SF performance and SF scholarship, such as space travel, robots, and aliens. In reading, analysing, and comparing selected SF performance texts, we will be considering their dramaturgical approaches and explore how they relate to their techno-cultural contexts.
Course Title: Studies in Theatre and Drama 3 (Performing Diaspora)
Course Code: DRE347H5S | Lecture M 12-2
Instructor: Nazli Akhtari
Topic varies from year to year, depending on faculty research interests.
Prerequisite: 4.0 full credits, including DRE/ENG121H5 and DRE/ENG122H5; or permission of the UTM program director.
Detailed Description by Instructor:
This course focuses on the reflections of diasporic experience in theatre and performance. We will explore how reoccurring themes of home, belonging, trauma, nostalgia, displacement, border, and identity have inspired performances in and about diaspora(s). We will also look at the role performance plays in better recognition of diasporic experience. Through reading representative plays and watching video excerpts of performance on stage and outside the theatre, we will examine the process in which diaspora(s) are imagined and materialized by selected artists and collectives. We will ask how theatre and performance contribute to representations of diasporic life, and how artists push the conventions of genre and assumptions about identity and cross-border experience. Areas of emphasis will vary but will spotlight around the geographic context of Canada, and will foreground one or more form including theatre, performance, video art, and performative text.
Method of Instruction: Mini Lectures, Class Discussion, Group Assignments
Method of Evaluation: Attendance 25% Project Pitch 20% Individual Reflection Piece (500 words) 10% Review Essay (1250 words) 20% Group project: Grant Proposal 25%
Course Title: Developmental Dramaturgy
Course Code: DRE360H5F | Lecture W 1-3
Instructor: Lawrence Switzky
A theoretical, historical, and practical study of the process of developmental dramaturgy. The course will include a survey and analysis of historical and contemporary interpretations of the role of dramaturgy in the creation of new work. Students will also participate in the practical application of dramaturgical strategies and techniques.
Prerequisites: (DRE121H5 or ENG121H5) and (DRE122H5 or ENG122H5) and (DRE200H5 or DRE220H5) and DRE222H5
Detailed Description by Instructor:
This class invites students to learn new play dramaturgy by contributing their artistic and analytical skills to the creation of an original play by a major Canadian playwright, Matthew Mackenzie, that will be performed in an upcoming season at Theatre Erindale. As a project of the UTM Centre for New Theatre, a play commissioning and development initiative based in the department of English and Drama, this course will be both about the process of developmental dramaturgy and an actual developmental process in itself. In addition to Matthew Mackenzie, who will participate regularly in our class sessions, we will be joined by guest artists from Soulpepper Theatre and Factory Theatre in Toronto and Punctuate! Theatre in Edmonton (an award-winning indigenous-led theatre company that Mackenzie founded). Some of the topics we’ll discuss will include: the role of the dramaturg in Canadian theatre and in new play development and interpretation in general; the adaptation of life writing (letters, diaries) into dramatic form; ethical uses of real people and historical characters in theatre; performing the animal; collaborations among institutions, artists, and cultures; scripting movement and dance.
Selected Major Readings: TBD
First Three Texts/Authors to be Studied: TBD
Method of Instruction: Workshops, lectures, presentations, performances
Method of Evaluation: TBD
Course Title: Playwriting
Course Code: DRE362H5S | Lecture M 2-5
Instructor: Ansuree Roy
An introduction to the art and craft of writing for the stage. Through a variety of practical exercises, students will be encouraged to explore the unique properties of the theatrical environment. Topics for investigation will include general issues (such as language, plot structure, characterization, metaphor and symbolism, etc.) as well as issues specific to the theatrical context (such as theatrical time and space, movement, engagement with an audience, relationship to other theatre practitioners, etc.). The class will involve writing in and out of class, as well as exercises in effective and constructive critique of one another's work.
Prerequisite: 4.0 full credits, including DRE/ENG121H5 and DRE/ENG122H5; permission of instructor. Admission to this limited enrolment course will be determined by the evaluation of a portfolio to be submitted by May 15 for an "F" course, by November 1 for an "S" course. Contact the Department for further information.
Course Title: Senior Seminar 1 (Bertolt Brecht)
Course Code: DRE463H5F | Lecture F 11-1
Instructor: Martin Revermann
A senior research seminar in performance and popular culture. Topic will vary with instructor.
Prerequisite: 9 credits, including (DRE121H5 or ENG121H5) and (DRE122H5 or ENG122H5) and (DRE200H5 or DRE222H5); or permission of the U of T Mississauga program director
Course Title: Senior Seminar 2 (The Archive in Performance)
Course Code: DRE463H5S | Lecture W 1-3
Instructor: Nazli Akhtari
Prerequisites: 9 credits, including (DRE121H5 or ENG121H5) and (DRE122H5 or ENG122H5) and (DRE200H5 or DRE222H5); or permission of the U of T Mississauga program director
Detailed Description by Instructor:
In the past decade, familial, personal and institutional archives have been instrumental in shaping contemporary performance scene in Canada and internationally. This course will prepare students to conceive of their own performance projects using archival materials. Returning to archives helps to identify source material for artistic research and creative process. But more prominently, archives appear as performing subjects in some of the key theatre and performance works that explore the urgent social and political questions of our time. In this course, students will learn about some of these works and expand their notions of performance and archive on stage and in documentation and beyond.
Method of Instruction: Mini Lectures, Class Discussion, Praxis
Method of Evaluation:
Course Participation- 20%
Case-study Presentation- 20%
Group Performance (Multiple points of assessment totaling 60%)
Archival Material Pitch and Rational (10%)
Project Proposal (10%)