_What Every Woman Knows_ OPTIONAL 12/10/06

Due to popular demand, you may post a blog for What Every Woman Knows by J.M. Barrie for OPTIONAL Extra Credit. This will work the same as the option for Top Girls; see below. This blog must be posted by 10 December 2006, 9:00am, in order to receive credit.

_Top Girls_ OPTIONAL ECredit by 28 November

As we discussed in class, those of you who would like to earn extra credit may post a blog for this play by 28 November 2006. The ususal high standard is expected in order for credit to be given, as well as timeliness. You will receive a grade as usual, and this will translate to extra points granted in your blog participation grade (15% of final grade).

_Absurd Person Singular_ due 14 November

Sorry I was late in posting the blog space; time got away from me! This, from a theatrical review by Nigel Munro-Wallis, for 612 ABC Brisbane:
"In Absurd Person Singular we have a rather typical British farce that, on the surface at least, has much in common with many others of its era, with comments about snobbery, infidelity and social mobility abounding. However, in this particularly well-written piece there is also a strong undercurrent of social comment that manifests itself primarily in the increasingly apparent unpleasantness of the characters and the cruelty and dislocation of their words and actions. This, coupled with the character’s[sic] obvious loneliness and dissociation from one another makes for a play that, upon analysis and reflection, says considerably more that is apparent at first glance."

_Private Lives_ - due 07 November

Private Lives, the story of two bickering ex-spouses who fall in love all over again even though they're on honeymoon with a new husband and a new wife in tow, has been an audience favorite since its premiere in London, where Coward and soulmate Gertrude Lawrence (above, 1930) played the leads and a young Laurence Olivier played the priggish supporting role of Victor.Tallulah Bankhead, Maggie Smith, Joan Collins, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton went on to star in the show, which has had six Broadway revivals.

_Pygmalion_ -due 31 October 2006

G.B. Shaw bases his play Pygmalion on the myth of Galatea and Pygmalion, which comes to us through Ovid's Metamorphosis.
This myth remains a popular theme for performance, both
dramatic and visual.

The picture is called Galatea of the Spheres, and was painted by Salvador Dali in 1952.

_The Importance of Being Earnest_ - 17 October 2006

"The only way to atone for being occasionally a little overdressed is by being always absolutely over-educated"(2.3).

We return to comedy of manners this week, this time set in Victorian England. I really look forward to your responses to this one! As you read, think about the play's subtitle: A Trivial Play for Serious People. Who and what does Wilde consider trivial, or serious? As usual, your response may center on any aspect(s) of the play that you would like to discuss.

The photo depicts a scene from the first production of the play, in 1895. Allan Aynesworth as Algernon and George Alexander as Jack --photgraphed by Alfred Ellis. (www.courttheatre.org)

_The Mikado_ - due by 10 October

Please remember as you read Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado that this work is a libretto, or the text from a musical work. The picture is of Monty Python's Eric Idle, who starred as Ko-ko in both stage and screen versions.

_Sardanapalus_ - due by 03 October