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Natural Born Killers: Drama and Violence (2) Choose linkLinks Course Description   From the mid-1990s onwards a new posse of young playwrights from Britain and Ireland  emerged on the theatre scene with plays that are clearly designed to shock audiences by their Tarantino-style actionism and the explicit portrayal of aggression and physical violence. During the past winter term we familiarised  ourselves with some of the 'shock-fests' of this so-called  'In-Yer-Face Theatre' in a seminar entitled Fine Young  Cannibals: Drama and Violence. We tried to query the motives behind such an aesthetics of violence and its  mediation through drama, as violence and aggression in these plays is neither simply coincidental nor collateral.  We will now widen our focus and explore the depth and  wider appeal, but also the historical dimensions of this recent trend in contemporary drama. Things will  be put into perspective when we consider the degrees  of cruelty that 17th-century (Jacobean) revenge tragedy  was capable of depicting or when we remember how much  controversy was stirred up by Edward Bond's play Saved  (in which a baby is stoned in its pram). (N.B.: Part I: Fine Young Cannibals is not a prerequisite; newcomers  are most welcome.) The following plays  and playwrights will be on the agenda: John Ford, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (1631) (a new production has just premièred  at Schauspielhaus Leipzig) Edward Bond, Saved (1965) David Harrower, Knives in Hens (1995) Martin McDonagh, The Beauty  Queen of Leenane (1996). Recommended reading: Die Londoner Theaterszene  der 90er. Ed. Nils Tabert. Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1998. Sierz, Aleks. In Yer-Face-Theatre: British Drama Today. London: Faber, 2001. See also the corresponding web  site. Required reading: A private anthology especially designed for this course will be available in Room Rh 39/213 (Mrs. Podsiadly) from 15 February onwards.  In order to facilitate the distribution of such material, students are asked to register for this  seminar as soon as possible. Links:   Link   Description   Rating   Posted by               General Links                       IN-YER-FACE-THE ATRE     The page to the book by Aleks Sierz. A good reference work and updated from time to time. Text  and pictures.   Content: 5 Layout: 4 Speed: 4   P               The  Cambridge History of English and American Literature     Offers an  e-text version of the Cambridge History. Plain text.   Content: 5 Layout: 4 Speed: 4   P               The  British Theatre Guide Index     Has a nice collection of reviews and a rather huge  collection of articles. Plain text.   Content: 5 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               All  the World's a Stage     A three-page article on the development and recent state of British theatre. Plain text.   Content: 4 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               If you're a young Irish playwright, come to  London.     A four-page  article by Conor McPherson (!) an up and  coming Irish playwright himself. Plain text.   Content: 4 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               Guardian Unlimited     An article about drama and violence/war. Plain text.   Content: 4 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               The  Times     An article by Aleks Sierz on recent British theatre. Plain text.   Content: 4 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               Stage  Censorship     An article on the development of stage censorship in  the 20th century. Plain text.   Content: 4 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               Guardian Unlimited     An article about sex in theatre. Plain text.   Content: 4 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               Book Reviews - In-Yer-Face-Thea tre     Quite a lengthy  review of the book accompanied by an e-text of the first chapter. Cf. the official webpage  by Aleks Sierz. Text and few a pictures.   Content: 3 Layout: 3 Speed: 5   P               John Ford, ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore                       John Ford’s Romantic Afterlife     An article discussing Ford and his reception. Text  and two pictures.   Content: 4 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               Shock  Tactics: ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore     The official site of this theatre group features the story as well as articles on the characters, themes and Ford’s world. Text with pictures.   Content: 4 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               ‘Tis  Pity She’s a Whore     An e-text  of the play. Plain text.   Content: 5 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               ‘Tis  Pity She’s a Whore     Some interesting questions to ask yourself when reading the  play. Plain text.   Content: 2 Layout: 2 Speed: 3   P               Jacobean Tragedians     Setting Ford against the background of Webster, Middleton  and Tourneur. Text and picture.   Content: 3 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               IFILM  : ‘Tis a Pity She’s a Whore     A very short review of the film - interesting only if  you plan to get the film. Plain text.   Content: 2 Layout: 2 Speed: 2   P               Edward Bond, Saved                       'Theatre has only one subject: justice.'     A six-page article by Edward Bond on the value/aim  of drama. Plain text.   Content: 4 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               Guardian Unlimited     An interview with Bond. Plain text.   Content: 4 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               A  Banned Masterpiece Is Saved From Oblivion     A three-page article on the fate of “Saved” and the renewed  interest in the play. Plain text.   Content: 4 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               NT2000 One Hundred Plays of the Century     The results  of the 1998 Royal National Theatre opinion  poll - Bond on 11 (Saved), 85 and 104 (most  important play) and 12 (most important author).  Plain text.   Content: 4 Layout: 2 Speed: 3   P               David Harrower, Knives in Hens                       Guardian Unlimited     An interview with D. Harrower. Plain text.   Content: 4 Layout: 2 Speed: 3   P               Arts Council of England     A short biography  of D. Harrower. Plain text.   Content: 3 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               Martin McDonagh, The Beauty Queen of Leenan                       Drama: Martin McDonagh     A biography  of McDonagh and a few links to reviews of  his plays.   Content: 3 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               The  Royal Court Theatre     Review etc.  of the play at the RCT. Text with pictures.   Content: 3 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               BBC - Arts - Newsnight Review     A biography  of McDonagh embedded in a review of his latest play. Plain text.   Content: 3 Layout: 4 Speed: 3   P               Ireland  feels power of 'Beauty'     A three-page article on the reception of “Beauty Queen”  in Ireland. Plain text.   Content: 3 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P               Dramatists Play Service     A review of the play in general. Plain text.   Content: 2 Layout: 3 Speed: 3   P

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