Course Objectives

• To provide a broad study of the major developments in text-based British drama over the past 60 years;
• To understand the role of arts funding organisations
• To relate theatre to the changes in British society
• To examine the work of specific writers in detail
• To stimulate critical analysis through written work and discussion.

Course materials are listed below. Please log in to view these items.

Note: Students in this track cannot take CAS EN 357 as an Elective B option.

Course Comments

"Aleks Sierz class is a must for anyone interested in British Theatre. His course was comprehensive of Post-war Theatre as well as highly entertaining. Our guest lecturers gave great insight to the professional realm in London and the shows we saw were very good experiences. Overall, I found the course to be wonderfully challenging and I learned more than I expected to." Anon., Fall 2009

"He presents material dynamically and seems to genuinely care about students. His text-based approach to current and historical theatre was perfect for me as an English-Theatre student. I could honestly listen to him lecture for hours - and I truly am thankful I was able to." Anon., Fall 2009

“Aleks is great, I wish I could hang out with him and talk about theatre for a few weeks. He really stimulates his students to form their own opinions about their experiences with theatre and to be prepared to back up those opinions with concrete reasons for them.” Anon., Spring 2008

“This course was an interesting, highly-informative introduction to British theatre, its recent history, and the spectrum of its various components.” Andrew Gruen, Spring 2008

“Aleks Sierz was very well-informed…Loved the class, sad it’s over.”  Anon., Fall 2008

Faculty Information

Dr Aleks Sierz holds a first-class honours degree in Politics and Modern History from Manchester University, an MA in Arts Criticism from City University, London, and a PhD from Westminster University. He has spent all his working life in the fields of academia and journalism. He is currently the theatre critic of Tribune and The Stage. He is Visiting Professor at Rose Bruford College and has previously taught at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and at Westminster University. He is also a freelance arts journalist for The Sunday Times, The Independent and The Telegraph. He is a former Hon Sec of the Drama Section of the Critics' Circle, and the proud author of the bestselling In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today (Faber, 2001), The Theatre of Martin Crimp (Methuen Drama, 2006) and, most recently, John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger (Continuum, 2008).

Course Syllabus and Materials

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