The aim of the course is to show students the tight relationship between plays and performance place, along the transformation of English drama. The plays taken into consideration, therefore, go from the late Middle Ages to the early modern  times, i.e. from Biblical drama to Shakespeare. Even if only some texts are studied, they will be taken as examples in a course that will focus on the more general contexts connected to performance, including such features as actors, companies, costumes, props, stage conditions. The course will also profit from the large amount of information derived from the publication of the Records of Early English Drama (this rich collection is present in the University Library).

The course will be held in English.

0) Introduction to theatre studies and the relevance of the REED publication

1)     Medieval English theatre

1.1  The Cycles and the organization of outdoor productions

1.2  Parish drama

1.3  Morality plays: outdoor and indoor productions

2)     The Cycles and contemporary research. The Chester Cycle

2.1 The Pre- and Post-Reformation Banns and the involvement of the guilds in the production

2.2 Performing on pageants and the audience

2.3 Noah's Flood: the biblical episode and its themes

2.4 Noah's Flood: the performance and its props

3) Everyman and its continental origins

3.1 Religious and existential themes

3.2 The performance in Urbino in 2004

4) The rise of Elizabethan drama and the first theatres

4.1 Transformations of existing buildings and their location in London

4.2 Elizabeth's laws against and in favour of players. The Puritan censorship

4.3 The main Elizabethan companies

4.4. The building of new theatres up to the Globe, and their audiences

4.5 The private houses and their audiences

5) Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus

5.1 Themes of the play text

5.2 Analysis of possible performance conditions in a public house

6) William Shakespeare's The Tempest

6.1 Themes of the play text

6.2 Staging at Court and at Blackfriars (the masque)

6.3 Staging at the Globe.

Excerpts from videos will be shown during classes. Students are advised to avail themselves of the facilities of CLA in order to see the complete versions.

Modalità didattiche

Lectures and projection of videos

Obblighi

Students are invited to attend lessons.

Since some videos of performances are part of the programme, students must know them together with the primary and  secondary texts.

Testi di studio

Primary texts:

Anon. Noah's Flood (from the Chester Cycle)*

Anon., Everyman*

Christopher Marlowe, Dr. Faustus (any bilingual edition)

William Shakespeare, The Tempest (any bilingual edition)

Videos: Everyman, Dr. Faustus, The Tempest (BBC) (at CLA)

* The two texts are available either in the Norton Anthology of English Literature, vol 1 OR in A.C. Cawley (ed.), Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays, London, Phoenix, 1993, OR in other anthologies (D. Bevington, G. Walker...)

Secondary texts:

R. Beadle, A. Fletcher (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Theatre, Cambridge, CUP, 2008 (chapters 1, 2, 5, 9) [the first edition (1994, chs. 1, 2, 4, 9) can also be used but with integrations] .

R. Mullini, R. Zacchi, Introduzione allo studio del teatro inglese, Napoli, Liguori, 2003 (parti I e II)

R. Mullini, "Staging Everyman in 2004 Urbino: A Classroom Experiment", in Véronique Dominguez (éd.), Renaissance du theatre médiéval, Presses Universitaires de Louvain, 2009, pp. 97-109

S. Wells, "Shakespeare's Theatrical Scene", Linguæ &, 2004: 2, 7-22 (http://www.ledonline.it/linguae/allegati/linguae0402Wells.pdf)

Possible further indications will be given during the course and posted on professor Mullini's ‘Materiale didattico' web page.

Modalità di
accertamento

Oral exams (in English)

Students are kindly requested to bring the list of their readings with them

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 projection of videos

Obblighi

Since some videos of performances are part of the programme, students must know them together with the primary and  secondary texts.

Non attending students are warmly invited to get in touch with professor Mullini either by phone during the office hours or by e-mail.

Testi di studio

Primary texts:

Anon. Noah's Flood (from the Chester Cycle)*

Anon., Everyman*

Christopher Marlowe, Dr. Faustus (any bilingual edition)

William Shakespeare, The Tempest (any bilingual edition)

Videos: Everyman, Dr. Faustus, The Tempest (BBC) (at CLA)

* The two texts are available either in the Norton Anthology of English Literature, vol 1 OR in A.C. Cawley (ed.), Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays, London, Phoenix, 1993, OR in other anthologies (D. Bevington, G. Walker...)

Secondary texts:

R. Beadle, A. Fletcher (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Theatre, Cambridge, CUP, 2008 (chapters 1, 2, 5, 9, 11) [the first edition (1994, chs. 1, 2, 4, 9, 11) can also be used but with integrations]

R. Mullini, R. Zacchi, Introduzione allo studio del teatro inglese, Napoli, Liguori, 2003 (parti I e II)

R. Mullini, "'A most majestic vision': il masque in The Tempest e The Tempest come masque", in M. Tempera (a cura di), The Tempest dal testo alla scena, Bologna, Clueb, 1989, pp. 21-40.

R. Mullini, "Staging Everyman in 2004 Urbino: A Classroom Experiment", in Véronique Dominguez (éd.), Renaissance du theatre médiéval, Presses Universitaires de Louvain, 2009, pp. 97-109.

The REVELS History of Drama in English (general editors Clifford Leech, T. W. Craik), vol III 1576-1613, London, Routledge, 1996 (pp. 97-135; 346-53; 465-75).

S. Wells, "Shakespeare's Theatrical Scene", Linguæ &, 2004: 2, 7-22 (http://www.ledonline.it/linguae/allegati/linguae0402Wells.pdf)

Possible further indications will be given during the course and posted on professor Mullini's ‘Materiale didattico' web page.

Modalità di
accertamento

Oral exams (in English)

Students are kindly requested to bring the list of their readings with them

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.