Drama 365: Contemporary Playwrights of Color

This upper-level undergraduate seminar surveys and interrogates contemporary theatre works by artists of color. We will read (roughly) one play a week; tentative plays include Appropriate and Everybody by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner by Jasmine Lee-Jones, PrEP Play, or, Blue Parachute by Yilong Liu, What to Expect by Nabra Nelson, The Nosebleed by Aya Ogawa, The Aves by Jihae Park, Antikoni by Beth Piattote, The Far Country and Charles Frances Chan Jr’s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery by Lloyd Suh. Alongside these plays we will engage critical theory in dialogue with theater, race, gender, and other forms of identity including on concepts such as the gaze, the neutral body, intersectionality, gender performativity, racial performativity, spatial racism, and reparative creativity. Course assignments include weekly discussion posts, two performance reviews of live theatrical performances, a Seattle theatre history scavenger hunt, presentation on a play, and a final project.