London Theatre:
The Contemporary Scene BRST 180c
Professor Paul Walsh, School of Drama, Yale University

Theatre in London is a hotbed of innovation and imagination. It is also an agent of cultural definition and change and the site of ongoing explorations of personal and social identities. The public nature of theatrical performance in London and its history of engagement with the city itself and its shifting populations makes theatre a unique site and subject of study. Taking advantage of plays and performances in London in a variety of venues and formats, this course examines theatre and drama as aesthetic objects, social events, and cultural practices. It introduces methods for reading plays and reading performances, and investigates the various uses and functions that the theatrical mode of production serves within the contemporary cultural scene. As an introduction to the study of drama in performance this course presents key methodological questions and approaches for interrogating dramatic and theatrical performances, and encourages personal exploration of performance strategies and functions. The course combines lecture, discussion, reading assignments, frequent writing assignments, and regular theatre attendance.

William Hogarth's London:
the Artist and the City BRST 181c
Michael Rosenthal Professor of Art History, University of Warwick

William Hogarth (1697-1764), painter and printmaker, was a Londoner who himself painted Londoners, and set many of his satirical subjects in recognisable metropolitan settings. This course will aim to give students a thorough grounding in Hogarth's works, and in the historical and physical environments where they take place.  On the large scale, it will involve getting to understand the idea of 'zoning'; for example, as Covent Garden was famous for prostitution, so the area around St Paul's Cathedral was occupied by book- and printsellers. It will also mean understanding why Hogarth's setting of scenes in particular locations was a way of increasing their impact, relying on his market having as refined a knowledge of the city as he did. Besides studying Hogarth's paintings in Tate Britain, the National Gallery, Sir John Soane's Museum, the Foundling Hospital Museum, as well as his prints in the British Museum, we shall visit some of the places which feature in these works, so that students can gain a real sense, and knowledge, of the rôle that the city played in the works of this unique and highly original artist.