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This course surveys the period from the turn of the 20th century until WII, during which the European avant-garde movements transformed modern art. This period in history is marked by dynamic political events that had a deep impact on experimental art and on culture in general. This interaction between poetics and politics makes the first decades of the 20th century the formative period of western and global theater.

The goal of this class is not to offer a survey of Happenings and other happening-related art of the late twentieth century. Instead, we will use Happenings as a paradigm of "poor theater" and "poor art" - umbrella terms for a number of experimental performance and art practices that emerged in the aftermath of the WWII. We will use the idea of poor theater as an organizing principle in our investigation of the main currents in the experimental performance in the last five decades. The class has a tripartite structure. First we will outline the paradigm of happenings, then trace the origins of Happenings in music, visual arts and theater of the mid twentieth century, and finally look at Happenings' immediate impact, as well as at its ripple effects that continued to reverberate long after the disappearance of this new art form. This course counts as a Writing in the Major course for TAPS in 2016-17.

The term "hysteria" has been used for centuries to categorize the mysterious ailments of others. This course will focus on the history of hysteria's representation and production from the late nineteenth century through WWI. Readings will include medical writings (Charcot, Bernheim, Freud), plays (Ibsen, Strindberg, Toller), and feminist theory (Cixous, Clément, Diamond). We will also devote some attention to the ongoing influence of the discourse of hysteria on contemporary medical and popular cultures.

This course explores dramaturgy and directing in the research and production of theatre primarily through practical creative projects with secondary readings on dramaturgy as a discipline. In this course we will consider the role of the dramaturg in its broadest sense, running across theatrical production from research to playwriting, adaptation, choreography, devising and directing. Students will work individually and in small groups researching, adapting, crafting and workshopping material.

This workshop class guides students through the directing process from investigating the big ideas of a play and analysing the action to organizing and running rehearsals to building up the world of the play through character work and visual composition. Over the quarter we will look at the use of creative visualization and improvisation alongside working with actors on ideas, emotions, relationships, textual analysis and blocking. This course also attends to the process of communicating with designers and production teams as well as structuring rehearsals, run-throughs and technical and dress rehearsals. Each student will select a theatrical text to work from across the quarter. In many cases the student¿s text will be a play that they are planning to direct in future, such as productions for student groups like Ram¿s Head or Stanford Shakespeare Company, TAPS capstone projects, TAPS 2nd year grad shows and/or TAPS Second Stage productions. No previous directing experience in necessary.

This course focuses on the actor-director dialogue. We will work with actors and directors developing approaches to collaboration that make the actor-director dialogue in theater.

A studio course focused on creative processes and generating original material. Students will be encouraged to think critically about the relationship between form and content exploring the possibilities of site specific, gallery and theatre settings. Students will reflect throughout on the types of contact and communication uniquely possible in the live moment, such as interaction or the engagement of the senses. The emphasis is on weekly experimentation in the creation of short works rather than on a final production.

A creative writing workshop; all genres. This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of a productive creative writing practice, including "the beginner's mind" (as founded in Eastern spiritual practices); and, an indigenous approach to "authenticity¿" in one's work and one's words. Through w(riting), one returns to the body of home-knowledges, languages, and geographies to uncover what is profoundly original in us as artists, writers and thinkers.

173/373: In this course students will explore general dramaturgical history and methodology as well as engaging in applied dramaturgy from evaluating works for a productions seasons, to developing dramaturgical materials for specific productions. Students will agree the focus of their course-work with the instructor depending on their specific interests. The TAPS 2nd year grad students enrolled in this course will act as a dramaturgical team, supporting the TAPS winter production of The Tempest in Pigott Theater March 2-11 2017, directed by Amy Freed. Students will support the actors and the creative team through providing research materials and presentations and helping actors with guided research, write program essays for general audiences, attend rehearsals and provide constructive notes, and curate and/or present on a Preface panel prior to opening night.