Grad Seminar: Theater of Witness

How has theater born witness to human atrocities
throughout history? We will read plays that
document or testify to violence and human
suffering, and we will look at the work of
various theater artists who have made it their
mission to represent suffering. Questions we will
engage include: What can theater add to the
process of witnessing? How specifically do
language and image function in plays that
represent trauma? What kinds of witnesses are
produced by various kinds of theatrical
strategies? What is the political function of
theater in the aftermath of violence? Readings of
plays and theoretical texts by theater artists
may be supplemented by readings in psychoanalysis
and political ethics.