Course taught in French. A diachronic study of French and Francophone theater from Medieval Drama to the contemporary stage, with reference to a wide range of theoretical approaches. The course will examine major movements in the rich history of French theater, including Classicism, romanticism, realism, surrealism, and the theater of the absurd. Theater as social commentary; relationships between theater and religion, political movements, postcolonialism, and questions of gender and race. Team-taught, drawing on the expertise of the French and Francophone Studies faculty.