Asia Related Theatre Courses

THTR 340B(001): Studies in Non-Western Theatre: Modern Asian Theatre

Time: Winter I, 3-4:30pm Monday and Wednesday
Instructor: Dr. Siyuan Liu (Siyuan.Liu@ubc.ca)

Course Description

This class focuses on the modern, Western-style spoken theatre in Asia in the 20^th and 21^st centuries by studying plays from China, Japan, India, Indonesia, Korea, and Vietnam. Modern Asian theatre started in late 19^th and early 20^th centuries as a result of global colonialism, either as part of colonial cultural hegemony in occupied countries, such as India and Indonesia, or to stage nationalism in nations facing colonial threat, such as Japan and China. Over the past century, modern Asian theatre has gone through various stages in terms of its relations with nationalist ideologies and indigenous theatrical aesthetics. Through reading and discussing representative plays in the past century and watching production videos, we will examine the process in which this Western dramatic format became part of the Asian theatrical scene.

Some of the questions we will consider include:

• What were the roles of nationalism and modernity in the creative process of modern Asian theatre?
• What were the dramatic and theatrical influences from both indigenous and Western traditions reflected in these plays?
• How were these influences utilized to stage social realities?
• How was the issue of gender performed in modern Asian theatre?
• Who were the audiences and what were their reactions?

Plays discussed include:

• The Post Office by Rabindranath Tagore (India)
• The Demon Pond by Izumi Kyōka (Japan)
• Sunrise by Cao Yu (China)
• Father Returns by Kikuchi Kan (Japan)
• Teahouse by Lao She (China)
• Hayavadana by Girish Karnad (India)
• The Struggle of the Naga Tribe by W. S. Rendra (Indonesia)
• Bicycle by O Tae-sŏk (Korea)
• Trương Ba’s Soul in the Butcher’s Skin by Lưu Quang Vũ (Vietnam)
• I Love XXX by Meng Jinghui (China)
• Hot Pepper, Air Conditioner and the Farewell Speech by Okada Toshiki (Japan)

Register for THTR 340B now: https://courses.students.ubc.ca/cs/main?sessyr=2015&sesscd=W&pname=subjarea&tname=subjareas&req=5&dept=THTR&course=340B§ion=001

THTR 440B(001): Topics in Theatre: Intercultural Theatre

Time: Winter II, 3-4:30pm Monday and Wednesday
Instructor: Dr. Siyuan Liu (Siyuan.Liu@ubc.ca)

Course Description

As Canada’s preeminent theatre scholar Ric Knowles has argued, interculturalism “is an urgent topic in the twenty-first century” as “it becomes imperative that the ways in which cultural exchange is performed be critically re-examined.” This course examines the historical and contemporary practices and critical debates of intercultural theatre, which has produced some of the more spectacular as well as controversial productions in the past century. We will discuss these productions through a combination of play reading, lectures, discussions, video viewings, reaction papers, and group projects.

Class topics include:

• Pre- and early 20th century Euro-American encounters with Asian theatre
• Intercultural theatre productions and debates of the late 20^th century
• Asian Shakespearean and Greek plays of the recent decades
• Contemporary Canadian multiculturalism and inter-/intra-cultural performance.

Some of the issues we will discuss include:

• How does intercultural theatre value and highlight cultural differences through performance?
• What is the process of theatrical and cultural exchange in the productions that we study?
• What are some of the models of theatrical interculturalism?
• How does the issue of power affect theatrical exchange between the East and the West before, during, and after colonialism?

This course is eligible for the Asian Canadian Asian Migration (ACAM) minor. You can find more about ACAM here: http://students.arts.ubc.ca/asian-canadian-and-asian-migration-studies-minor/.

Register for THTR 440B now: https://courses.students.ubc.ca/cs/main?sessyr=2015&sesscd=W&pname=subjarea&tname=subjareas&req=5&dept=THTR&course=440B&section=001