Classics 305/Theatre 389S
- Make
'em Laugh: Ancient Comedy in Performance
Fall 2015 Monday/Wednesday/Friday – 9:40-11:50
AM Fine Arts 333
Binghamton University, State University of New
York, Department of Classical & Near Eastern Studies
Instructor: John H. Starks,
Jr. jstarks@binghamton.edu (607)777-4524
Library Tower 1116 - Office hours 10:00-11:00 AM T, 1-2 PM W
Synopsis: The academic
core of this course is a detailed look at Greek and Roman comedy as passed on
to us in the primary sources of classical comedic drama, Greek-Aristophanes;
Roman - Plautus and Terence). But the script of a play does not make it comedy.
Comedy is drama, first and foremost, so alongside the
texts from the ancient world, we will examine ancient theater structure, masks,
costuming, actors and acting, festivals, artistic representations, minor comic
genres (mime, farce, satiric verse), and most of all LIVE PERFORMANCE. Comedy
must be read, seen and heard to be truly funny.
A distinctive feature of this
course is the required public, musical performance of Aristophanes’ Women Rule (Ekklesiazousai,
Assembly- or Congress-women) November 13-14, 2015, for which course members
will be the cast and crew. This full, stage production, will be in the
Undergrounds in the University Union. Required rehearsal times outside of class
for the week of production late in the semester. Auditions for roles will be
within the first few weeks of class.
Course Objectives:
This
course satisfies the O(ral communication) and
A(esthetics) GenEd Requirements because in it you will be trained through
experience, peer review and instructor advice to present well-organized,
carefully crafted comedic scenes, a self-reflective study of your sense of humor,
and a comic video critique, in addition to your active role in the full live
production.
All
students will also gain significant command of Greek and Roman social culture
as reflected through comedic lenses, fine tune their compositional skills in creative
and expository writing that include evidence-based argumentation, and enhance
their research skills and script analysis in ancient comic literature.
Texts, Course Requirements, and Grade Distribution