The Irish Renaissance - 2007
Study "The Irish Renaissance" in Syracuse and in Ireland during Spring semester 2007
For information, please contact Ginny Pellam-Montalbano at 443-9417 or gapellam@syr.edu
Application packets are available online or at SU Abroad, 106 Walnut Place.
Courses
DRA 652/452: "Modern Drama" (3 credits)/"Irish Theatre and Criticism" (1 credit)
This class is offered to graduate level students as a concentration in theatre criticism and to undergraduates as an exploration of Irish Theatre. Class meetings will cover the history of Irish Theatre with an emphasis on specific playwrights including the principle writers of the Irish Renaissance, William Bulter Yeats and John Millington Synge, as well as contemporary playwrights such as Brian Friel and Martin McDonagh. The class includes a weeklong stay in Ireland where students will attend performances in Galway (Druid Theatre) and Dublin (The Abbey Theatre and the Gate) and visit sites pertinent to the history of Irish Theatre, such as the Aran Islands, The Irish Writers Museum, The Irish National Museum, Trinity College, The Abbey Theatre facility, among others. Graduate level students will have an opportunity to write reviews of performances attended. Undergraduates will be required to complete at least one written assignment to be determined in consultation with the instructor.
DRA 300: "Links to the Irish Renaissance" (1 credit)
The cultural movement known as the Irish Renaissance spawned the great National Theatre of Ireland, The Abbey. The leading playwrights of the movement, particularly William Butler Yeats and John Millington Synge, created a theatrical legacy that continues to influence writers and theatre artists today. This one-week intensive course in Galway and Dublin is an invitation to examine this period and trace its influences by visiting the key sites and exploring representative works. Beginning in Galway, students will traverse the ground that inspired Synge’s landmark play The Playboy of the Western World. At the urging of Yeats, Synge traveled to the Aran Islands off Ireland’s west coast to, in Yeats’ words: “live there as if you were one of the people themselves; express a life that has never found expression.” In 1898 Synge made his first trip to the islands. That journey and subsequent trips gave Synge the material and rich language for Playboy and other plays. Weather permitting, students will visit the Aran Islands for a unique experience of this rugged landscape.
In Galway, students will have an opportunity to attend a performance at the Druid Theatre Company, the first theatre to produce the works of Martin McDonagh who is regarded by some as the heir apparent to Synge. Also, in Galway, students will attend the Irish language theatre Taibhdeare na Gaillimhe to experience one contemporary effort to celebrate the Irish culture and language.
Moving onto Dublin, students will have an opportunity to visit the new home of the Abbey Theatre and attend performances in the main theatre and/or the smaller Peacock Theatre. A tour of the facility and a meeting with a member of the artistic staff is also under consideration. The Dublin phase of the course also includes attending productions at the Gate Theatre, The Ark (an internationally acclaimed children’s theatre), and time permitting, The Gaiety Theatre. Daytime visits to the The Yeats Residence, The Irish Writers Museum, Trinity College or other museums will also be included.
Students will be required to read Playboy of the Western World (mandatory for DRA 356) and other plays drawn from the following list: Cathleen Ni Houlihan by Yeats, Juno and the Paycock by Sean O’Casey, Riders to the Sea by Synge and The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh. The films The Field and Michael Collins are also under consideration.
Requirements: Students who have completed or will be enrolled in DRA 356 during the Spring 2007 semester are eligible. Students who have not taken DRA 356 may seek consent of instructor.
Faculty
Joseph Whelan is Publications Director at Syracuse Stage. In that capacity he has written extensively about theatre and interviewed numerous playwrights, directors and actors including Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Jean Stapleton, Aaron Sorkin, Romulus Linney, Marion McClinton and David Henry Hwang. A professional actor, he has appeared in more than thirty productions with companies including The Phoenix Theatre Company, The Boston Shakespeare Company, The New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, Syracuse Stage and Second Studio for Actors. He has a strong affinity for the work of such contemporary Irish playwrights as Brian Friel and Martin McDonagh. He has been a featured guest artist at LeMoyne College and teaches Theatre History in the Syracuse University Department of Drama.
Costs
Tuition for the course will be covered as part of regular spring semester tuition. The cost for the travel component of the course is approximately $TBD and includes round trip transportation from Syracuse to Ireland, housing in Dublin and Galway, some group meals, museum entrance fees, performance tickets and transportation between cities. It also includes all activities and services for which a separate fee is not charged. The final fee will be set once airfare and other expenses have been confirmed.
Application, Selection & Payment Procedures
Students will be expected to submit the special application and a $60 non-refundable application fee to DIPA by October 12, 2007. All applications will be reviewed Professors Liu and Downing and a SU Abroad representative. Students will be notified of their acceptance by October 25. Upon acceptance, a non-refundable $450 deposit is required to confirm your participation in the program. This is due within 10 days. Final payment will be due December 15, 2006.