Choice and Consequence: Alternative History (DRA2277.01)

Sherry Kramer

The theater is the place where we learn how to be. At its best, it is a rehearsal for the great moments of our life, including our happinesses. Love, death, we see it on stage and it prepares us for our life.” —John Guare

A play is a metaphoric and empathic art form that seduces us into imaginatively making choices and suffering consequences along with the characters on stage. Every day in the real world, we watch as people make choices whose consequences are truly ours to share—some global, some local, some only in our dreams. What if we could rewrite those choices and change what happens to our lives, our world? We will read 5-7 works of literature and watch several films to explore how the narrative art form navigates and exploits the gravitational pull of history and how the cascade of choice and consequence organizes dramatic event.

Students will choose a public figure born after 1935 (politician, author, rock star, astronaut, etc.), research their life, and identify a series of their choices and resulting consequences. Students will then write a 30 to 90 minute play where their central character makes a different choice, and the world, as defined by the world of the play, changes.

Prerequisites: None.
Credits: 4
W 2:10-5:50
Maximum Enrollment: 12
Course Frequency: Once a year
This course is categorized as All courses, Drama.