Course

THTR 101   Introduction to Acting

Professor

Naomi Thornton

CRN

18285

 

Schedule

Th         3:20 -5:20 pm        Fisher P. Arts THTR

Distribution

Practicing Arts

2 credits    Scene preparation and beginning scene technique.  Emphasis on relaxation, breathing, and concentration.  Teaching the actor to make choices and implement them using sense memory and to integrate this work with the text.  Group and individual exercises and improvisations. Continuous work on the acting instrument stressing freedom, spontaneity, and individual attention. Materials: poems, monologues, stories, and scenes.  Reading of American plays, 1930 to present.

 

Course

THTR 101   Introduction to Acting

Professor

Lynn Hawley

CRN

18438

 

Schedule

Mon      1:00 -4:00 pm        Fisher P. Arts THTR

Distribution

Practicing Arts

3 credits  This course, intended for prospective theater majors, focuses on accessing the beginning actor’s imagination and creative energy.  Using theater games, movement work, and improvisational techniques, the intent is to expand the boundaries of accepted logic and to encourage risk-taking in the actor.  Course work includes intensive classroom sessions, individual projects designed to promote self-discovery, and group projects focused on the process of collaborative work.

 

Course

THTR 103CO   Acting Company

Professor

JoAnne Akalaitis

CRN

18283

 

Schedule

Wed      1:00 -2:20 pm        Fisher P. Arts

Th         10:30 - 11:50 am    Fisher P. Arts

Distribution

Practicing Arts

4 credits Corresponding with Directing Seminar, actors work with student directors on scene work for in-class presentation. Open to first year students.

 

Course

THTR 131   Voice for Majors

Professor

Elizabeth Smith

CRN

18277

 

Schedule

Tu Fr     1:25 -2:25 pm        Fisher P. Arts

Distribution

Practicing Arts

2 credits This course is designed to develop an awareness of the importance of physical relaxation, breath capacity and control, resonance and placement. There will also be an emphasis on clarity of articulation and the use of vocal range and inflection. This course is intended for moderated and prospective theater majors.

 

Course

THTR 132   Voice for Non-Majors

Professor

Elizabeth Smith

CRN

18278

 

Schedule

Tu Fr     2:55 -3:55 pm        Fisher P. Arts

Distribution

Practicing Arts

2 credits This course will concentrate on basic voice and speech work to enable the students to communicate with greater clarity and confidence. Some of the demands of speaking in public will also be addressed.

 

Course

THTR 141 A  Alexander Technique I

Professor

Judith Muir

CRN

18271

 

Schedule

Mon      9:00 - 10:20 am     Fisher P. Arts

Distribution

Practicing Arts

1 credit. A world-respected technique developed over 100 years ago; the Alexander Technique is a valuable tool for performers, writers, scholars, and artists. It is a simple and practical approach to improving balance, coordination and movement. During this course we will learn about habits of thinking and moving that cause stress and fatigue. This awareness will enable different choices to be made in ourselves and how we respond to the environment.

 

Course

THTR 141 B  Alexander Technique I

Professor

Judith Muir

CRN

18272

 

Schedule

Mon      10:30 - 11:50 am    Fisher P. Arts STUD

Distribution

Practicing Arts

1 credit. A world-respected technique developed over 100 years ago; the Alexander Technique is a valuable tool for performers, writers, scholars, and artists. It is a simple and practical approach to improving balance, coordination and movement. During this course we will learn about habits of thinking and moving that cause stress and fatigue. This awareness will enable different choices to be made in ourselves and how we respond to the environment.

 

Course

THTR 207   Playwrighting I

Professor

Chiori Miyagawa

CRN

18304

 

Schedule

Wed      1:30 -3:50 pm        Fisher P. Arts

Distribution

Practicing Arts

4 credits   An introductory course that focuses on discovering the writer’s voice. Through writing exercises based on dreams, visual images, poetry, social issues, found text, and music, each writer is encouraged to find his or her unique language, style, and vision.  A group project will explore the nature of collaborative works.  Students learn elements of playwriting through writing a one-act play, reading assignments, and class discussions.   This course is for sophomores and upper-college students only.  On-line registration

 

Course

THTR 240   Theatrical Adaptation

Professor

Chiori Miyagawa

CRN

18288

 

Schedule

Th         1:30 -3:50 pm        Fisher P. Arts

Distribution

Practicing Arts

Adapting classic and contemporary fiction or biographies to a theatrical form is a creative process that integrates the original intention of the material with the writer’s imagination. It is an exciting collaboration between two writers, though only one is writing the script. Adaptations have an important place in all storytelling fields - musicals, plays, television shows and movies – and their popularity is increasing.  In this class students will read examples of successfully adapted scripts and examine different approaches and styles of writing.  They will adapt several short stories into short plays and choose a significant person in history, research his or her biographical information, and write a play based on his or her life.  The students will choose the subject matter for the final project. Students who are interested in taking this course should have taken at least one introductory writing workshop in any genre.  Email Prof. Miyagawa at [email protected] a brief statement of interest by December 1st.  On-line registration

 

Course

THTR 208   Playwrighting II

Professor

Zakiyyah Alexander

CRN

18305

 

Schedule

Mon     12:00 – 2:20 pm      Fisher P.  Arts

Distribution

Practicing Arts

4 credits   This course will function as a writer’s workshop. Students focus on developing a full-length play, with sections of the work-in-progress presented in class for discussions.  Students grow as playwrights by developing characters and themes that are sustained through a full-length play.  The students will also read a wide range of dramatic literature and be exposed to diverse styles of playwriting. Prerequisite: Playwriting I or Theatrical Adaptations. 

 

Course

THTR 209   Scene Study

Professor

Jonathan Rosenberg

CRN

18274

 

Schedule

Tue Th  10:30 - 11:50 am    Fisher P. Arts THTR

Distribution

Practicing Arts

3 credits   A course intended for students who have taken one semester of Intro to Acting and would like to continue their study. The course deals with movement from a games oriented curriculum into work with theatrical texts and discovery of the processes of scene study.  (register with Prof. Rosenberg)

 

Course

THTR 210   History of Theater II

Professor

Jean Wagner

CRN

18287

 

Schedule

Tu Th    10:30 - 11:50 am    OLINLC 115

Distribution

Analysis of Art

4 credits   This course looks at the major periods of dramatic literature, from the renaissance to the twentieth century. Plays will be read with particular reference to historical context and dramatic convention informing theater practice during these periods. Along with the plays, we’ll look at critical and theoretical essays that elucidate these social and aesthetic conditions.  Playwrights will include Moliere, Ibsen, Chekhov, Brecht and Beckett. On-line registration

 

Course

THTR 215   Physical Comedy

Professor

James Calder

CRN

18279

 

Schedule

Wed      9:30 - 12:30 pm     Fisher P. Arts THTR

Distribution

Practicing Arts

2 credits  Beginning with exercises in broad physicality, balance, rhythm, discovery, physical mask and surprise, this class explores what about the individual student  is unique and funny. When we begin to forget what is an appropriate response, and imagine what we would be like if we were never socialized, we begin to discover “the clown” that lives in each of us. By embracing the archetypes of childhood and reclaiming the “internal response” without the diminishing filter of socialization, we start to lose the inhibitions that block us from being purely expressive. This class encourages openness, invention, playfulness, generosity, sensitivity, and courage

Prerequisite:  Introduction to Acting

 

Course

THTR 227   Neutral Masks

Professor

Shelley Wyant

CRN

18275

 

Schedule

Tue       9:00 - 12:00 pm     Fisher P. Arts STUD

Distribution

Practicing Arts

Cross-listed: Integrated Arts

2 credits   The roots of this work with the mask come from a diverse system of traditions including the Balinese, the great teachers and theorists Pierre LeFevre, Michel St. Denis, Jaques LeCoq and Francis Delsarte. Neutral Mask is an exploration of the world of the mask and all the freedom inherent to performers within that world. We discover the essence of transformation by using the tools of breath and focus. Students learn to identify the elements that contribute to physical freedom through the four stages of man and a study of mythological stories.  On-line registration 

 

Course

THTR 231   Voice and Verse I

Professor

Elizabeth Smith

CRN

18284

 

Schedule

Th         1:25 -2:25 pm        Fisher P. Arts

Distribution

Practicing Arts

2 credits  Verse is a significant part of drama and learning to interpret it and speak it is essential for the performer. This course deals with verse from the great poets and dramatists, with an emphasis on Shakespeare. Prerequisite:  THTR 131

 

Course

THTR 303   Directing Seminar

Professor

JoAnne Akalaitis

CRN

18282

 

Schedule

Wed      1:00 -4:00 pm        Fisher P. Arts THTR

Distribution

Practicing Arts

4 credits This is a studio course that covers the practice of directing from text analysis, ‘table work’, imagining the world of the play, design, casting, space, rehearsal and blocking in different configurations. The work will proceed from scenes to a full-length work. By permission of the instructor.

 

Course

THTR 307   Advanced Acting

Professor

James Calder

CRN

18280

 

Schedule

Wed      1:00 -4:00 pm        Fisher P. Arts STUD

Distribution

Practicing Arts

3 credits This is a studio acting class where students will explore scenes from challenging plays of varied styles. Extensive rehearsal time outside of class is required. Pre-requisites: Intro to Acting and Scene Study. Maximum enrollment: 12 students.

 

Course

THTR 307   Advanced Acting

Professor

Naomi Thornton

CRN

18286

 

Schedule

Th         1:00 -3:00 pm        Fisher P. Arts STUD

Distribution

Practicing Arts

3 credits This is a studio acting class where students will explore scenes from challenging plays of varied styles. Extensive rehearsal time outside of class is required. Pre-requisites: for acting majors,  Intro to Acting and Scene Study. For all others, Intro to Acting. Maximum enrollment: 12 students.

 

Course

THTR 310 A  Survey of Drama: 20th Century Philosophies of Acting: Stanislavsky, Brecht and Grotowski

Professor

Jonathan Rosenberg

CRN

18276

 

Schedule

Tue       1:30 -3:50 pm        Fisher P. Arts

Distribution

Analysis of Art

It is widely accepted that three predominant philosophies of acting arose in Western theater in the 20th Century.  These were Konstantin Stanislavsky’s use of a detailed psychological analysis of human behavior; Bertolt Brecht’s belief that an actor’s performance should contain the awareness of his or her social and political circumstances; and Jerzy Grotowski’s investigation of the personal and spiritual journey of the performer. In this class we will examine their approaches, work and influence from both a theoretical and a practical perspective. We will read from their extensive writings as well as from the writings of theater artists such as Stella Adler, Ariane Mnouchkine and Peter Brook who were influenced by them. We will examine performances of actors working under them when available on video as well as the performances of actors consciously or unconsciously influenced by them. Finally the students in the class will undertake practical explorations of their philosophies in projects to be presented in the class. 

On-line registration

 

Course

THTR 310 B  Survey of Drama: Performance Art in Theory and Practice

Professor

Jean Wagner

CRN

18281

 

Schedule

Wed      9:30 - 11:50 am     Fisher P. Arts STUD

Distribution

Analysis of Art

This course is intended to introduce students to the field of performance studies, with an emphasis on how it relates to contemporary theater studies and practice.  Theoretical readings will include work by Richard Schechner, Victor Turner, Joseph Roach, Judith Butler, Roland Barthes, Jaques Derrida, Erving Goffman, Walter Benjamin and others.  There will be a particular emphasis on applying this discipline to the investigation of works by some of the leading avant garde, experimental and performance artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.  Among the artists whose works we will read and/or view on video are Laurie Anderson, Karen Finley, The Wooster Group, The Performance Group, Mabou Mines, The Living Theater, JoAnne Akalaitis and Anna Deveare Smith.   Finally, we will explore the concepts of global and intercultural performance and their social, political and cultural implications.  To that end we will investigate the work of some of the influentional theorists and practioners in this field, including Eugenio Barba, Antonin Artaud, Ariane Mnouchkine and Guillermo Gómez-Peña.  Students will write a research paper on a performance artist or ensemble of their choosing and create a performance work based on a specific technique, tradition or theory examined in this course. On-line registration

 

Course

THTR 318   Visual Imagination of the Modern Stage

Professor

Carol Bailey

CRN

18273

 

Schedule

Mon      1:00 -4:00 pm        Fisher P. Arts STUD

Distribution

Practicing Arts

4 credits   A course taught by leading designers and directors in the field. It examines the explosive prominence of visionary visual ideas on the stage in the past 30 years, the emergence of a new form of collaboration between directors and designers and the inclusion of the new media on the stage. This course is required for upper-college theater students.