1. Aristophanes 1: Clouds, Wasps, Birds (tr. Peter Meineck).
2. Three Plays by Aristophanes. Staging Women (tr. Jeffrey Henderson)
3. Menander. Plays and Fragments (tr. Norma Miller).
4. Plautus. The Comedies IV(edd. D.R. Slavitt, P. Bovie).
5. Terence. The Comedies (ed. P. Bovie).
ONE Additional book Context of Ancient Drama was ordered for this course, but YOU WILL NOT NEED IT. Don't buy it!

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.
Every alternate session 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 by email or phone before class if you are going to be absent on a given day. 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. Absence from an exam FOR ANY REASON will result in a much more difficult test.

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

6% 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 1/2-2 page essay on this subject for oral presentation in class Tuesday January 29. Everyone's written text is due that day. NO ONE can take more than 4 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 videotape copy of this scene, or cue up a tape to the scene you wish to present.
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’re 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 2-2.5 minutes to read aloud.
 

Dramatic Presentations: You have 2 different Group Presentations to work on and perform:

1) Informal presentation on Old Comedy. Members of performance
groups (4 students each) will work together to hone their dramatic skills as comic actors by performing a scene from Aristophanes for LESS than 10 minutes
(4-5 pp of text at most) on a 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. Your performance can take any number of different forms: straight role playing, puppetry, sitcom or talk-show style, YOU NAME IT. Don't exert all your creative energies on the informal presentation. SAVE UP for the formal one. These will be graded on my assessment of the effort you appear to have put into your role and consideration from your peers in the audience.

2) FORMAL PRESENTATION of NEW COMEDY for PUBLIC PERFORMANCE at end of term

IMPORTANT REQUIREMENT:
We will all perform an edited, modernized revue of scenes from NEW COMEDY, before a public audience Friday, May 3 4:30 PM,  at a location TBA. We will rehearse for this perforrnance during class hours, with a little extra time during the two weeks before performance. I will make every accomodation possible for your schedule, 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.

You will work as a group on finding, rewriting, and acting a scene or short scenes from an assigned New Comedy play. You should choose a scene that can be completely performed and cleared from stage in 10 minutes. PLEASE NOTE the first presentation of your scene is fairly early, so get to work on this very soon. Your first presentation will of course be rough, and you may make adjustments along the way to improve your scene (MOST directors do that anyway). You will need to report to me as a group in my office or by arrangement no later than the day before your first presentation so I can get a sense of what you're going to do before you present it the first time in class. I will help you with blocking (stage movement) and will be willing to participate as an MC who ties together the various scenes into a complete show, but you are responsible for working on the script (including the material you want me to present to introduce your scene - feel free to give me any song or acting format you like, but you may also choose to have one of your own introduce your scene.) You should modernize your scene as you see fit. You can use modern formats, comparable characters, props, costumes, whatever. You should retain the comic essence of the scene in the original play and be able to briefly explain your scene in context for the audience. You may make simple adjustments to the stock stage we will use for all scenes. BUT your entire final product must take 10 minutes or less. That's an easy time limit for a polished scene. More instructions will come as we progress through the term.

Grade Distribution:
25% = Midterm Exam
25% = Final Exam
22% = Dramatic Presentation/Group Work (including rehearsal for public performance)
16% = 2 Oral Presentation Assignments 1 @ 10%, 1 @ 6%
12% = 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.