How did the French see class and gender difference performed on the stage?  In the theater, after all, everyone is playing a part, what does it mean that a lowly actress might play the part of a queen?  What happens when, onstage, a slave and a master exchange costume and position? What about cross-dressing: how should we understand meanings created when gendered roles are flipped?  How did plays create and negotiate gender roles?  How were actors and actresses (who came from the lower classes up until the 20th century), regarded by the public?  When was “celebrity” invented?  What did it mean to ordinary people in the audience to see actors and characters violate the norms and expectations of class and gender hierarchy? Did theater turn the social world upside down?  Did it provide a safety valve to let pent up social pressures escape as some social theorists conjecture?

We will study the structures and practices of neo-classical French theater and discuss the radical changes in theater during the 20th century.  We will study historical context, censorship, critical and audience reception, costume, acting, and more.

We will start with Molière and work our way up to the twentieth century.  We will watch performances on video, as well as read the texts.  Authors include Molière; Beaumarchais; Jean Genet. In the last week of class, students, in groups, will perform scenes from Le Dieu du carnage.