Comedy has been speaking truth to power forever - or for at least 2500 years. Laughter opens minds and engages audiences in ideas that matter. This dramatic literature course explores major works by playwrights who are masters of using comedy for skewering social critique. Trace the line of playwrights from Aristophanes in 5th century BCE to Moliere in the 17th century to Caryl Churchill and David Henry Hwang in the 20th and 21st centuries, to Jordan E. Cooper today -- and to Trevor Noah, Amber Ruffin, countless TikTokkers, and a host of media stars who use humor to comment on, and sometimes even change, society. Students will read plays and watch films and performances to understand the writers' methods and goals, the way the plays work in performance, whether on stage or via media, how they take on complex issues, and how comedies of social critique continue to offer a bullhorn for ideas today. This course fulfills the dramatic literature requirement for Theater majors and minors.