Dr Emilie Morin emilie.morin@york.ac.

uk SAMUEL BECKETTS DRAMA AND BEYOND Spring 2014 If critics have long considered Samuel Beckett one of the most important playwrights of the twentieth century, his influence upon su se!uent developments in British and Irish drama has remained difficult to pinpoint. In this module, we will discuss Beckett"s drama and developments eyond Beckett, charting the development of non#naturalistic trends in a wide range of dramatic te$ts. %e will egin y considering the influences shaping Beckett"s re&ection of realism, paying particular attention to the am ivalent relationship that his work maintains to the drama of the Irish 'iterary (evival, and we will end y thinking a out the ways in which !ualities commonly associated with the idea of )the Beckettian" are echoed in a range of British and Irish plays from the past three decades. *ur seminar programme will e divided into two parts. In the first four seminars, we will focus on a range of plays written y Beckett, from a surdist plays such as Waiting for Godot and Endgame to short dramatic te$ts whose status as plays is open to !uestion. Waiting for Godot and Endgame were heralded as ground reaking in the +,-.s, and Beckett"s desolate landscapes responded to the an$ieties of the post#war period, as their presentation of man"s relentless search for meaning in a meaningless universe echoed contemporaneous philosophical concerns. In plays of the +,/.s and +,0.s, Beckett moved away from an a surdist aesthetic and e$perimented with the oundaries of dramatic e$pression, showing a particular fascination with the possi ilities of the voice, dramatic monologue and technology. 1is investigation of the modalities of perception and meaning had a determining influence on su se!uent developments in Irish and British drama 2 an influence that can e traced in the work of playwrights as varied as 1arold 3inter, Sarah 4ane, or Marina 5arr. 6he second half of the module will lead us to think a out Beckett"s legacy, and we will look at plays y 6om Murphy, Martin McDonagh, 5onor Mc3herson, 7rank Mc8uinness, Brendan Behan, de ie tucker green, Sarah 4ane and 6im 5rouch 9the corpus is e$tremely varied and details are elow:. %e will discuss these playwrights" representations of linguistic, sensory and cognitive reakdowns, elements which evoke the transformative effect that Beckett had on dramatic form, and we will consider the motives shaping their engagement with a non#naturalistic aesthetic. ;o previous e$perience of studying drama is re!uired 2 all you need to approach the module materials is an interest in the topics and the authors< everything else starts from there. All plays by B !" ## $ay b %&'n( in )is Complete Dramatic Works *+ab r, - y&' $'s# b'y #)is !&ll !#i&n. =ll other te$ts are availa le from =ma>on and online sellers 9=ma>on marketplace, = e ooks, etc:< you should find plenty of ine$pensive second#hand copies. ;o particular recommendations as regards editions unless otherwise indicated. =ll core te$ts will e in the 4ey 6e$ts section of the 'i rary. %hen indicated elow, primary te$ts will e availa le as handouts. 3hotocopies of critical essays or links towards online resources will accompany seminars as appropriate. READ/N0 L/ST AND SC1EDULE O+ SEM/NARS

2 " 13 ;o seminar 2 " 23 B !" ## an( #) /ris) R 4i4al Samuel Beckett, Rough for Theatre I and The Old Tune ?adaptation of a play y (o ert 3inget, La Manivelle@ %.B. Aeats, The Cat and the Moon and Purgatory 9handout provided at the start of term: 'ady =ugusta 8regory, The Workhouse Ward 9handout provided at the start of term: B.M. Synge, Riders to the Sea and In the Shado of the Glen 2 " 53 )is#&ry an( &bli4i&n Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot and Endgame 6heodor =dorno, )6rying to Cnderstand Endgame", !e German Criti"ue D/ 9+,ED:F ++,#-. ?to e readGdownloaded from BStor@ Sean *"5asey, #uno and the Pay$o$k 9availa le in Three %u&lin Plays, 7a er 2 ut any edition is fine: 2 " 43 4&i! 6 r !&r(ing6 # !)n&l&gy Samuel Beckett, 'ra(()s Last Ta(e< *ll That +all< Em&ers< Words and Musi$< Cas$ando 2 " 73 $&n&l&g' an( 8p ri$ n# Samuel Beckett, ,a((y %ays< !ot I< +ootfalls< Ro$ka&y 8illes Deleu>e, )6he E$hausted" 9online< to e read from BStor: 2 " 93 (eading week 2 no seminar 2 " :3 $ $&ry an( s#&ry# lling 6om Murphy, -ailegangaire Martin McDonagh, The -eauty .ueen of Leenane %.B. Aeats, Cathleen !i ,oulihan 9handout provided: 2 " ;3 lan(s!ap s &% #) $in( Sarah 4ane, Crave 9handout provided: 5onor Mc3herson, Port *uthority 9handout provided: 2 " <3 narra#i4 s &% in!ar! ra#i&n Brendan Behan, The .uare +ello 7rank Mc8uinness, Someone Who)ll Wat$h Over Me 2 " 103 narra#i4 an( in( # r$ina!y de ie tucker green, random 6im 5rouch, England S&$ 's %'l s#ar#ing p&in#s3 B !" ##3 =ckerley, 5hris, and S.E. 8ontarski, The Grove Com(anion to Samuel -e$kett/ * Reader)s Guide to his Works0 Life0 and Thought HHH8ontarski, S.E., ed., * Com(anion to Samuel -e$kett 9Blackwell: Maude, Clrika, -e$kett0 Te$hnology0 and the -ody Morin, Emilie, Samuel -e$kett and the Pro&lem of Irishness

*ppenheim, 'ois, ed., Palgrave *dvan$es in Samuel -e$kett Studies 3attie, David, The Com(lete Criti$al Guide to Samuel -e$kett HHH3illing, Bohn, ed. The Cam&ridge Com(anion to -e$kett. Book and e# ook HHH(oche, =nthony, Contem(orary Irish %rama/ +rom -e$kett to M$Guinness ?D.., ed.@ HHH6onning, Erik, Samuel -e$kett)s *&stra$t %rama/ Works for Stage and S$reen 123451267 HHHChlmann, =nthony, ed., -e$kett in Conte8t %att, Stephen, -e$kett and Contem(orary Irish Writing If you want to know more a out Beckett"s life, the reference work y Bames 4nowlson 9%amned to +ame: is ine$pensive on =ma>on and can often e found in second#hand ookshops. 8erry Dukes"s short iography of Beckett is also a good starting point. Bri#is) an( /ris) (ra$a3 =cheson, Bames, ed., -ritish and Irish %rama sin$e 1239 8rene, ;icholas, The Politi$s of Irish %rama/ Plays in Conte8t from -ou$i$ault to +riel, Innes, 5hristopher, Modern -ritish %rama/ The T entieth Century 4rit>er, =melia 1owe, Politi$al Theatre in Post5That$her -ritain/ !e Writing0 122754997 1ans#6hies 'ehmann, Post5dramati$ theatre 'onergan, 3atrick, Theatre and Glo&ali:ation/ Irish %rama in the Celti$ Tiger Era 'uckhurst, Mary, ed., * Com(anion to Modern -ritish and Irish %rama0 166954997 Morash, 5hristopher, * ,istory of Irish Theatre0 139154999 Murray, 5hristopher, T entieth5Century Irish %rama/ * Mirror u( to !ation (ichards, Shaun, The Cam&ridge Com(anion to T entieth5Century Irish %rama ?e# ook, accessi le via li rary we site@ (oche, =nthony, Contem(orary Irish %rama Sier>, =leks, In5;er5+a$e Theatre/ -ritish %rama Today 6rotter, Mary, Modern Irish Theatre %orth, 4atharine, The Irish %rama of Euro(e from ;eats to -e$kett %ilson, Michael, Storytelling and Theatre/ Contem(orary Storytellers and Their *rt Onlin r s&'r! s3 6he online data ases availa le through the Metali 8ateway of the 'i rary give you access to a large num er of critical articles on modern drama 9all can e saved in pdf format:< 3eriodicals relevant to this module include Modern %rama, !e Theatre .uarterly, Theatre #ournal0 The %rama Revie / * #ournal of Performan$e Studies0 P*#/ * #ournal of Performan$e and *rt0 Com(arative %rama0 !e ,i&ernia Revie 0 Irish =niversity Revie 0 The Irish Studies Revie 0 Eire5Ireland/ * #ournal of Irish Studies0 The Irish Revie 0 *RIEL/ * Revie of International English Literature0 Contem(orary Theatre Revie / *n International #ournal0 #ournal of Modern -ritish and *meri$an %rama0 Performan$e Resear$h... 6his is y no means a complete list. =ll of these periodicals can e accessed online, via BStor *( 3ro&ect Muse *( via the 'i rary catalogue and Aorsearch 9in the latter case, you will need to type in the &ournal title, and then click on )find itI to access the relevant data ase:. =r s n#a#i&ns3 Each student will e asked to prepare and deliver a short presentation of no more than ten minutes in duration, dealing with one of the te$ts discussed. %e will agree on a schedule of presentations at our first seminar in %eek D.