Teague, Frances
R 2 :20 PM
Spec Coll Library 277
This course was the first class in UGA’s special collections library, working with rare materials connected with performance. You will learn about the basic work and methods of being a researcher focused on performance and about UGA’s special materials.
If you have ever wanted to do research on the background of a script/screenplay or on past productions, this course will teach you how. We’ll also be talking about how a production company develops new work, how to prepare educational materials for the general public, and how to make a library work for you. This introduction to research tools for Libraries and Performance takes up about a third of the class.
In the second third (the “ooo and ahhh” weeks), we’ll get our hands on rare materials and produce background books for real productions. The special materials we’ll see include manuscript materials by such figures as dramatist Tennessee Williams, the 19th-century actress Fanny Kemble, and the character actor Charles Coburn. We can also see original design work and archival posters for major Broadway productions. Finally, we will have access to the incredible riches of the Peabody Awards and America’s third largest media collection. You will prepare an independent research project proposal for this class.
The final third is devoted to you: you’ll research an independent project and present it to the class with plenty of guidance and assistance. If you want to develop a one-woman show based on Fanny Kemble’s remarkable story, write an essay about the changes that Tennessee Williams made to a script, examine how a small touring company was the basis for a successful Hollywood career, or investigate the making of Sesame Street or Gone with the Wind, you’re in the right place. But performance covers lots of things: performance as a teacher, prayer as performance, musical performance, and so forth.