Welcome to English 431: Canadian Drama, a senior-level, three-credit course that surveys Canadian plays from the 1960s to the present. English 431 examines a diversity of theatrical styles and themes, in works from across the country, and interrogates the nature of Canadian drama. The plays are grouped in six “Scenes” according to commonalities in the social, political and philosophical issues they address, rather than according to chronology, although students are encouraged to consider the historiographic context of each play.
English 431 focuses primarily on the analysis of individual plays as theatre and as literature. Special attention will be paid to the use of theatrical innovation or derivation, recurrent themes, sociological or psychological orientation, use of language, and stage imagery.
Students will study sixteen plays by English-and French-Canadian playwrights: George Ryga, Michel Tremblay, John Herbert, John Gray, David French, Sharon Pollock, Michel Marc Bouchard, Joan MacLeod, Morris Panych, George Walker, Tomson Highway, Judith Thompson, Robert Lepage, Guillermo Verdecchia, Djanet Sears, and Lyle Victor Albert.
English 431 comprises a Prologue, six Scenes (units), and an Epilogue. Each Scene presents commentaries on historical and social background and theatre forms and styles, notes on the playwrights and their plays, and analyses of the texts of the plays. These analyses provide only an introduction to the possibilities in the plays, and are not intended as a definitive study. Each Scene also includes Objectives, Reading Assignments, Study Questions, References or Works Cited for the commentaries, and a Supplementary Materials List. The Study Questions will direct analysis, and may form the basis of discussions with the tutor on the telephone or by e-mail. Students are encouraged to read widely from the titles suggested in the Supplementary Materials section of this guide, and from the excellent bibliography provided at the end of the course anthology edited by Jerry Wasserman, Modern Canadian Plays, Volumes I and II.
Prerequisites: English 211 and 212 or an equivalent junior university English course, or permission of the course coordinator. Students should have good reading and writing skills. A knowledge of the history of drama would be an asset.
