Twenty-first Century Theatre and Drama

Catalog description

This course focuses on twenty-first century theatre and drama, exploring select dramatic literature, artists, and theatre companies within the framework of the social, cultural, and political changes that have occurred since the year 2000. Though we are just entering the twentieth year in this millennium, they are years shaped by monumental events beginning with the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, to the present moment where we find ourselves in the midst of a global pandemic. These two historical points frame a container where we find the effects of social justice issues such as systemic racism, gender equality, nationalism, climate change, and immigration policies as lived realities. Who are we as individuals, families, and societies as we navigate our world? Where do we struggle in our humanity, and where do we endure - or sometimes, thrive? Our focus in this course is where, how, and why theatre artists in the twenty-first century engage with these societal concerns, and how they take up these questions in the stories, language, rhythms, and spectacles they create.