HISPANIC STUDIES 687; HISPANIC GENRE STUDIES
Topic: Spanish Golden Age Theater: Text and
Performance
Prof. Eduardo Urbina
Course description:
The course will approach the study of the Spanish Comedia from an interdisciplinary perspective, as written texts and as theater to be staged. Selected plays by Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, Ruiz de Alarcón, Calderón de la Barca, and other key dramatists of the Golden Age, will be read as texts focusing on their historical, ideological, and aesthetic significance, and analyzed as theater art to understand the process and techniques involved in their performance and how individual representations affect and contribute to the meaning of the texts.
In addition to invited lectures from faculty in Performance Studies, Italian and English, students will view and analyze comedia performances from the Golden Age Theater Festival at El Paso, Texas, using the video library of the Association of Hispanic Classical Theater, as well as from our own collection.
Sample list of plays to be included in the course:
Medora, Lope de Rueda
El retablo de las maravillas and
El viejo celoso, Miguel de Cervantes
El castigo sin venganza, Lope de Vega
Fuenteovejuna, Lope de Vega
El perro del hortelano, Lope de Vega
El burlador de Sevilla, Tirso de Molina
La verdad sospechosa, Ruiz de Alarcón
La vida es sueño, Calderón de la Barca
El médico de su honra, Calderón de la Barca
El gran teatro del mundo, Calderón de la Barca
Textbooks:
El arte nuevo de hacer comedias en este tiempo (1609),
Lope de Vega
Historia del teatro español, F. Ruiz Ramón (Madrid: Alianza, latest
ed.) vol. 1
or Historia de la literatura española; Siglo de
Oro: teatro (Barcelona: Ariel, latest ed.)
John Varey, Cosmovisión y escenografía: el teatro
español en el Siglo de Oro (Madrid: Castalia, 1987).
Bruce Wardropper;
Elder Olson, Teoría de la comedia
(Barcelona: Ariel, 1978).
Texto y espectáculo, J. L. Suárez García, ed. (York, SC:
Spanish Lit. Publications, 1995-1966).
Texto y representación en el teatro del siglo de oro, Aurelio González, ed. (El Colegio de México, 1997).
La Comedia, Jean Canavaggio, ed. (Madrid: Casa de Velázquez, 1995).
Estudios críticos y teóricos sobre la comedia del siglo de oro, Eduardo Urbina, ed. (2000) Xerox
Secondary texts on theater performance, staging and theater history:
-John J. Allen. The Reconstruction of a Spanish Golden Age Playhouse: El Corral del Príncipe, 1583-1744. Gainesville: U of Florida, 1983. (NA6840.S72 M3233)
-Margaret R. Greer. El teatro palaciego en Madrid, 1586-1707:
estudios y documentos. London: Tamesis-Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer,
1997. (PN2786.M3 GT4)
-El mundo del teatro español en su Siglo de
Oro: ensayos dedicados a J. E. Varey. J.M. Ruano de la Haza, ed. Ottawa:
Dovehouse, 1989. (PQ6105.M86)
-J.M. Ruano de la
Haza and John J. Allen. Los teatros
comerciales del siglo XVII y la escenificación de la comedia. Madrid:
Castalia, 1994.
-N.D. Shergold. Representaciones palaciegas, 1603-1699:
estudio y documentos. London: Tamesis, 1982. (PN2782.S453)
-Teatros y vida teatral en el Siglo de Oro a
través de las fuentes documentales. Luciano García Lorenzo & J. Varey.
London: Tamesis, 1991. (PN2782.T425)
-John E. Varey. Teatros y comedias en Madrid, 1600-1650:
estudios y documentos. London: Tamesis, 1971. (PN2786.M3 V3)
-John H. Varey. Cosmovisión y escenografía: el teatro
español en el Siglo de Oro. Madrid: Castalia, 1987. (PQ6064.V37 C6)
Tentative class schedule and assignments:
Week 1 Introduction to Spanish Golden Age theater; Text vs. Representation; Drama vs. Performance. The Comedia.
Week 2 Staging
and Directing, Prof. Roger Schultz (guess lecture) Dept. of Performance
Studies. Historia de la literatura española;
Siglo de Oro: teatro, Chaps. 1-2.
Video:
Medora by Lope de Rueda
Week 3 The Italian commedia del’ arte in Spain; Prof. R. Petrillo (guess lecture) Dept. of MOCL.
Historia
de la literatura española; Siglo de Oro: teatro, Chap. 3
Miguel de
Cervantes, El retablo de las maravillas (video)
Week 4 Public and society in the corrales; Lope and the world of the comedia
El
arte nuevo de hacer comedias en este tiempo (1609),
Lope de Vega
Lope de
Vega, El perro del hortelano (video)
Week 5 Poetry, Drama, Theater and Metatheater in the comedia.
Ruiz de Alarcón, La verdad sospechosa.
Critical
commentary 1
Week 6 Ethics and politics in the Spanish comedia; the theme of honor.
Lope de Vega, El castigo sin venganza.
Fuenteovejuna (video)
Week 7 Types, characters and myths; the myth of Don Juan
Tirso de Molina, El burlador de Sevilla
Critical commentary 2
Week 8 The comedia goes Barroque; from the corral to the palace
Historia
de la literatura española; Siglo de Oro: teatro, Chap. 5
Calderón de la Barca, La vida es sueño. (video)
Week 9 The Elizabethan Stage, Prof. Douglass Brooks (guess lecture) English Dept.
Student presentations on the history of Golden Age theaters and the staging of the comedia (Round 1)
Week 10 Ideology vs. Aesthetics; The world as stage and the world of the stage.
Calderón, El médico de su honra.
Student presentations on the history of Golden Age theaters and the staging of the comedia (Round 2)
Week 11 The auto sacramental and the allegorical theater.
Calderón´s El gran teatro del mundo. (video)
Week 12 Student presentations on the history of Golden Age theaters and the staging of the comedia (Round 3)
Week 13 Beyond the Golden Age: continuation, imitation and adaptation; film and modern staging. (video)
Week 14 New approaches and critical theories: Staging the comedia; practicum and dramatic readings.
Week 15 Seminar presentation of individual course projects. Term paper due.
Grading policy and
scale:
Written assignments and commentaries 20%
Oral presentations 20%
Practicum 30%
Term paper 30%
Disabilities: The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal antidiscrimination statue providing comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe that you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Department of Student Life, Services for Students with Disabilities, 126 Koldus Building (8451637).