Classics 305/Theatre 389A: Ancient Comedy in Performance – Spring 2009, Binghamton U. SUNY, Starks – Femme Phantasmagoria

Required Texts:

1. Aristophanes 1: Clouds, Wasps, Birds (tr. Peter Meineck).
2. Three Plays by Aristophanes. Staging Women (tr. Jeffrey Henderson).
3. Plautus. The Comedies I (edd. Slavitt, Bovie).
4. Amy Richlin. Rome and the Mysterious Orient. Three Plays by Plautus.

5. Plautus and Terence: Five Comedies (tr. Deena Berg and Douglass Parker)

Course Requirements:

Attendance and Reading: ATTENDANCE IS REQUIRED. Most of the work of the class can only be completed by regular attendance and disciplined, consistent adherence to the syllabus. In-class activities will include lecture, web resources, dramatic staging and reading, group work, and open discussions. Many sessions will focus on an actual play OR an ancient theater topic. Your class participation grade will rest on your contribution to class through questions and discussion. You will receive a daily grade for this work which will be my general assessment of your performance in class: A, B, C, D or 0. An absence for any reason must be counted as a 0 since you cannot participate if you are absent. For sickness or other personal reasons, I will excuse two absences (5% of class time) at the end of the term when computing your grade. You should inform me before class if you are going to be absent on a given day. Please inform me by email or phone in these instances.

Nota bene: Remember that absence from rehearsal days when you are needed for performance work will be treated as a regular absence and will be considered against your performance grade as well.

NOTE: Absence from class the entire first week without prior notification will result in instructor removal of student from registration.

Exams: You will take a midterm and a final exam. Each exam will include objective questions, the midterm exam being comprehensive over Greek Old Comedy, the final exam being comprehensive over New Comedy, with the final exam done as a special, less time intensive, oral exam. The instructor reserves the right to refuse to give any makeup exam for an absence.

Oral Assignments: This is a speaking-intensive course, and as such will involve writing of short papers for oral presentation according to the following guidelines.

5% Oral Presentation - "What makes me laugh: an examination of my sense of humor and the comedy that works on me"
You will write a 1-1 1/2 page essay on this subject for oral presentation in class as listed on the syllabus. Everyone's written text is due that day. NO ONE can take more than 2 1/2 minutes to deliver his or her essay. So time yourself on a comfortable reading speed. The sky is the limit on your format. I have had people bring props, write a poem, sing a song, or simply deliver a standard critique with good examples of what you find funny. Don't hold back, be honest and be funny. Use personal examples, but be sure to EXPLAIN yourself clearly.

10% Oral Presentation - "How does this get to be funny?"

1) Choose a scene from a comic movie, sitcom, play on video or opera/operetta that you find funny and think you could explain to others what really makes it funny. The scene should be less than 5 minutes long, which is a lot of playing time, but watch your timing very carefully. Make a taped copy of this scene, or cue up a tape/dvd to the scene you wish to present. Please double check the medium by which you intend to present your video to make sure that it will play in class on my laptop.
2) Choose some introductory comments you want to make to set up your video. This should be less than one minute.
3) Write a critique of the scene or a step by step analysis of the comic process. Briefly explain the characters and just enough context for everyone to understand the situation(s) leading up to this moment. You may write this out in a full text or on note cards, or if you are comfortable and good at it, you may ad-lib, but I do want everyone to turn in something written, whether complete text or notes. The main point you are trying to get across is what process of interaction, acting, directing, circumstances, and comic techniques are being brought together to make this scene funny. The entire presentation, including running videotape must be ten minutes or less. Less is better, but make your point.
4) Grading will be divided between an assessment of your material choice and organization/writing (60%), including appropriateness of your material for your audience), on the one hand, and your presentation skills (delivery, communication with audience, voice appropriateness, etc.) (40%). You may ask me before hand at anytime about how you should proceed with your project.
5) Again as a general guideline, remember that a full page of regularly spaced text, takes the average person 2.5 minutes to read aloud.

Dramatic Presentations: We will have a scene presented from most plays we read on the day that play appears on the syllabus. Members of performance groups (about 5 students each) will work together throughout the term to hone their dramatic skills as comic actors by performing for LESS than 10 minutes (4-5 pp of text at most) on the day assigned. You must meet with your performance group to select a scene and rehearse it. You do not have to memorize the scripts, but you must show that you have read, understood and practiced the scene before you perform it in class. Props, costumes and rehearsed stage directions with adequate movement around the performance space make for the most effective scene presentations. To accommodate your numbers you may involve choral passages or choose multiple episodes between main characters. You need not spend the entire ten minutes on one scene. These will be graded on my assessment of the effort you appear to have put into your role and the understanding you provide for your audience on the scene presented.

IMPORTANT REQUIREMENT:
In addition, we will all perform an edited, modernized production of Aristophanes' Femme Phantasmagoria (Thesmophoriazousai), before a public audience Friday April 17 in Lecture Hall 8. We will rehearse for this performance during class hours, with a considerable extra time during the two weeks before performance. I will work with you and your schedule within reason and by prior agreement, but the performance and adequate rehearsal attendance ARE REQUIRED. If you cannot commit to several hours outside class at the end of the term, DO NOT take this class.

Grade Distribution:
20% = Midterm Exam
20% = Final Exam
30% = Dramatic Presentation/Group Work (including rehearsal for public performance) 3% each group performance, 24% for rehearsal and show
15% = 2 Oral Presentation Assignments 1 @ 10%, 1 @ 5%
15% = Class Participation/Discussion/Attendance

I must insist on a firm grading scale as follows:

97-100 A+ 93-96 A 90-92 A- 87-89 B+ 83-86 B 80-82 B- (and likewise down to the lowest passing gade of 60)

Improvement in writing and dramatic skills will be considered in your final grade.