76-443 Restoration & 18th-Century Theatre
9 units, Carnegie Mellon University
London theaters turned on their lights or more properly, lit their candles in 1660 when the Puritan regime ended and Britain returned to monarchical rule. The newly opened theaters quickly became spaces for political and social performances by both actors and audiences. The theater was the place not only to see plays but to hear the latest gossip about the glitterari of the court, to monitor political plots, and to speculate on which pretty actress was current mistress to the King. It was literally a space in which society performed itself, to itself. We will look at the development of the theater as an important social institution and trace its development, up to the mid 1700s, as a media hub that spread its tentacles into newspapers, visual materials, and other popular culture media. Of course, we will read some of the most important plays of this time period, but we will also pay attention to the print and visual culture that grew up around and in response to the theater. In addition to building knowledge about this important chapter in the development of modern media culture, this course will introduce students to performance studies as a framework for the study of culture in any historical period.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-106 and 76-108) or (76-107 and 76-108)
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