The course aims to give students of the "Organizzazione dello spettacolo dal vivo" curriculum tools to understand the creative process from text to performance. The playwright and the texts chosen belong on one side to the long tradition of Shakespearean parodies, on the other to the ‘new wave' which transformed British drama and theatre in the 1960s. Stoppard rewrote Hamlet at least three times, till he also adapted one of his own plays for the screen (1990), thus showing his love for Shakespeare, but at the same time his full perception of the process of reception in different contextual situations. The course will study the meaningful transformations of Hamlet in Stoppard's plays, stressing the links between script and medium, also availing itself of video recordings and of documents posted on the Web. (Students are expected to read Shakespeare's Hamlet before the course).

(the course will be taught in English)

1. Short presentation of Stoppard's career to the present
2. Why Hamlet?
2.1 The concept of parody
3. From Shakespeare to Stoppard 1: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1966).
3.1. Absurdism and metatheatre
3.2 The Dialogic game
4. From Shakespeare to Stoppard 2: Fifteen Minute Hamlet (1976)
5. From Shakespeare to Stoppard 3: Dogg's Hamlet (1979)
6. From Shakespeare to Stoppard 4: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (the film, 1990).
7. From Fifteen Minute Hamlet to The Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Students are expected to read Shakespeare's Hamlet before the course starts

Various phases of the course will be accompanied by videos either from the Web or available at the CLA.
If possible, a theatre workshop will also be held.

Modalità didattiche

Lectures and seminars (in English)

Obblighi

Students are warmly invited to attend lessons. Before the end of the course, each student (or group of students) presents orally (in English) a brief comment on a chosen passage from one of Stoppard's plays. This will be evaluated and will concur to the final mark.
At least two weeks before the date chosen for the oral exam, each student hands in an individually written analysis and discussion (in English) of Stoppard's use of Shakespeare's Hamlet, of about 1000 words (quotations excluded). This task will also participate in the final evaluation.

Testi di studio

During the oral exams, students must be able to discuss their essay and answer questions related to the whole programme, which includes the following readings and shows:

Primary texts and video material*:
Reduced Shakespeare Company, The Complete works of Shakespeare Abridged, at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=170335550077595599 (at least the Hamlet episode), or at YouTube.
Shakespeare, William, Hamlet (any English or bilingual edition (Oxford and Arden recommended).
Stoppard, Tom, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, London, Faber and Faber, 1967.
_______, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, the Film, 1990 (video at CLA).
_______, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, a students' production (Pescara 1996, video at CLA).
_______, Dogg's Hamlet, in Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth, London, Faber and Faber, 1979 (also in Plays: 1, Faber and Faber, London 1996).
_______, Fifteen Minute Hamlet, London, Samuel French, 1976 (in the University library).

*Attending students are allowed to study only two of the videos.

Secondary texts (all of them):
Calanchi, Alessandra, "Challenging the Classics: Clues to the Missing Shakespeare in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard", Merope, 1999, 11. 26, pp. 87-96.
Delaney, Paul, "Exit Tomáš Straüssler, Enter Sir Tom Stoppard", in Katherine E. Kelly, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Tom Stoppard, Cambridge, CUP, 2001, pp. 1-9.
Levinson, Jill, "Stoppard's Shakespeare: Textual Re-visions", in Katherine E. Kelly, ed., 2001, pp. 154-70.
Mullini, R., "Hamlet, via Tom Stoppard nn. 1-2: aspetti della ricezione intertestuale a teatro e al cinema", in L'officina del teatro europeo, 2 voll., Vol. I: Performance e teatro di parola, a cura di Alessandro Grilli e Anita Simon, Pisa. Edizioni Plus, 313-22. (pdf file available).

Modalità di
accertamento

Oral presentation during the course, essay writing and oral exam (in English).

Disabilità e DSA

Le studentesse e gli studenti che hanno registrato la certificazione di disabilità o la certificazione di DSA presso l'Ufficio Inclusione e diritto allo studio, possono chiedere di utilizzare le mappe concettuali (per parole chiave) durante la prova di esame.

A tal fine, è necessario inviare le mappe, due settimane prima dell’appello di esame, alla o al docente del corso, che ne verificherà la coerenza con le indicazioni delle linee guida di ateneo e potrà chiederne la modifica.

Modalità didattiche

Lectures and seminars (in English).
Non attending students are warmly invided to get in touch with Professor Mullini either by phone during the office hours, or by email.

Obblighi

Non attending students, in addition to everything listed in the 'Testi di studio' section, will also read:
Wallis, Mick, Simon Shepherd, Studying Plays, Second Edition, London: Arnold, 2002.
At least two weeks before the date chosen for the oral exam, each student hands in an individually written analysis and discussion (in English) of Stoppard's use of Shakespeare's Hamlet, of about 1500 words (quotations excluded). This task also will participate in the final evaluation.

Testi di studio

During oral exams, students must be able to discuss their essay and answer questions related to the whole programme, which includes all the following readings and shows:
Primary texts and video material:
Reduced Shakespeare Company, The Complete works of Shakespeare Abridged, at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=170335550077595599 (at least the Hamlet episode), or at YouTube.
Shakespeare, William, Hamlet (any English or bilingual edition (Oxford and Arden recommended).
Stoppard, Tom, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, London, Faber and Faber, 1967.
_______, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, the Film, 1990 (video at CLA).
_______, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, a students' production (Pescara 1996, video at CLA).
_______, Dogg's Hamlet, in Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth, London, Faber and Faber, 1979 (also in Plays: 1, Faber and Faber, London 1996).
_______, Fifteen Minute Hamlet, London, Samuel French, 1976 (in the library).

Secondary texts:
Calanchi, Alessandra, "Challenging the Classics: Clues to the Missing Shakespeare in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard", Merope, 1999, 11. 26, pp. 87-96.
Delaney, Paul, "Exit Tomáš Straüssler, Enter Sir Tom Stoppard", in Katherine E. Kelly, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Tom Stoppard, Cambridge, CUP, 2001, pp. 1-9.
Levinson, Jill, "Stoppard's Shakespeare: Textual Re-visions", in Katherine E. Kelly, ed., 2001, pp. 154-70.
Mullini, R., "Hamlet, via Tom Stoppard nn. 1-2: aspetti della ricezione intertestuale a teatro e al cinema", in L'officina del teatro europeo, 2 voll., Vol. I: Performance e teatro di parola, a cura di Alessandro Grilli e Anita Simon, Pisa. Edizioni Plus, 313-22. (pdf file available).

Modalità di
accertamento

Essay writing and oral exam (in English).

Disabilità e DSA

Le studentesse e gli studenti che hanno registrato la certificazione di disabilità o la certificazione di DSA presso l'Ufficio Inclusione e diritto allo studio, possono chiedere di utilizzare le mappe concettuali (per parole chiave) durante la prova di esame.

A tal fine, è necessario inviare le mappe, due settimane prima dell’appello di esame, alla o al docente del corso, che ne verificherà la coerenza con le indicazioni delle linee guida di ateneo e potrà chiederne la modifica.

All students are invited to look for additional information and material which will be made available during the course at professor Mullini's Faculty site (www.uniurb.it/lingue), 'Materiale didattico'.