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80606-01 - Seminar: Political Aesthetics and the British Stage, 1965-Present (3 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Thomas Manson (thomas.manson@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | In November 1965, the Royal Court staged Edward Bond’s play "Saved" for a private audience after being refused a licence by the theatre censor. Its remorseless depiction of life on a London council estate – not least the infamous scene in which a baby is stoned to death – reshaped the landscape of British theatre, and became a defining moment in the campaign to abolish theatre censorship. Bond’s play can therefore be understood as a turning point: at once deeply indebted to the ‘kitchen-sink’ realism of its post-war predecessors, whilst also anticipating a generation of British playwrights whose works rethink the political possibilities of theatrical form. Starting with Bond, our seminar will consider what it means for theatre to be ‘political’. Among the writers who followed him in the 1970s and 1980s, we will discuss the innovative feminist dramaturgies of Caryl Churchill, as well as the ‘Theatre of Catastrophe’ developed and theorized by Howard Barker, whose deeply ambiguous plays resist the political didacticism associated with his Marxist contemporaries. The so-called ‘in-yer-face’ theatre of the 1990s – emblematized by Sarah Kane’s "Blasted" (1995) – will return us to the horrors found in Bond, encouraging us to consider the political and ethical efficacy of violence on stage. We will then arrive at our present moment, considering plays which interrogate race, migration and identity in the face of a changing Britain. Over the course of the semester, students will combine close readings of our chosen dramatic works – as well as the essays and manifestoes that frequently accompanied them – with theoretical texts in the tradition of political aesthetics, and will develop a deep understanding of the social, political and institutional contexts in which these plays were first written and performed. |
| Learning objectives | Students will gain an understanding of key critical and methodological approaches to British theatre (with a clear emphasis on political aesthetics), refining their analytical skills as well as their ability to apply theory and wider historical sources to the texts in question. |
| Bibliography | All texts will be made available on ADAM. |
| Comments | For those who are interested, there will also be the opportunity to explore these texts through practice. |
| Weblink | ADAM |
| Admission requirements | This seminar is for BA students on the advanced level who have completed ALL three introductory modules (including the proseminar papers). |
| Course application | In order to attend this course, please sign-up both via services.unibas.ch and by sending an email to thomas.manson@unibas.ch. Places are limited to 25. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Tuesday | 16.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 15.09.2026 | 16.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 22.09.2026 | 16.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 29.09.2026 | 16.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 06.10.2026 | 16.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 13.10.2026 | 16.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 20.10.2026 | 16.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 27.10.2026 | 16.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 03.11.2026 | 16.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 10.11.2026 | 16.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 17.11.2026 | 16.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 24.11.2026 | 16.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 01.12.2026 | 16.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 08.12.2026 | 16.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Tuesday 15.12.2026 | 16.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Modules |
Module: Advanced Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Bachelor's degree subject: English) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Active participation and oral presentation. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Englische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft |