THR 105 - Performance & Society

1 course unit

This foundational course introduces first year students to the critical and historical study of performance in its widest sense. We ask: What does it mean to perform? Why do people perform? How do performance events shape social reality? How do they constitute, regulate, or disrupt power formations? How do forms, formats and meanings differ across cultures, times and places, and how do they relate to one another? Contextualizing theatre within a broader array of performing activities such as dance, music, ritual, play, sports, political protest, and everyday social behaviors, we interrogate the ideological, formal and functional aspects of performance as a mode of social production.