In this course, we spend 2-4 weeks on each text (which includes plays and screenplays). The texts are mostly chosen by the students from a pool provided by the instructor so that they are invested in understanding how it works. The discussions we have in class about the texts are more like those that actors and directors have during table work. It is a very profitable way to practice the skills taught in Script Analysis and allows the students to more thoroughly and deeply understand how texts work. In addition, students are invited to attend a viewing of some of the texts we cover at the Theatre on Film Library at Lincoln Center after we work on them to compare and contrast our reading with that of a professional production.
Possible texts include A Streetcar Named Desire, Angels in America Parts I & II (screenplay and/or play versions), Doubt (film and play versions), American Fiction, Fences (play and film versions), Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, Top Dog/Under Dog and The Book of Grace and others.
