Areas of
Study: The Theater
and Performance Program offers courses in Context, Technique, and
Creative Practice and Research, and students are required to take
classes in all three areas of study. Context courses include the history
of theater and performance, contemporary practice, theories of theater and
performance, dramatic literature, world theater. Technique
courses include skills-based classes in playwriting, directing, acting, voice,
movement, dramatic structure, performance, and composition. Creative
Practice and Research comprises productions, performance laboratories,
master classes and specialized workshops.
All courses carry 4 credits
except where otherwise indicated.
Moderation Requirements: The following 5 courses are
required for students wishing to moderate into the Theater and Performance
Program:
1.
THTR 145 Introduction
to Theater and Performance: Revolutions in Time and Space
2.
THTR 110 Introduction
to Acting: The Actor and the Moment
3.
THTR 107 Introduction
to Playwriting: the Theatrical Voice
4. THTR 244
Introduction to Theater Making (spring semester)
5.
THTR 146 Introduction to Theater
History
In addition,
students participate in the creation and performance of a group-devised
Moderation project.
TECHNIQUE:
15307 |
THTR
101 Acting for Non-Majors |
Naomi Thornton |
. . . Th . |
3:45pm-5:45pm |
FISHER STUDIO NORTH |
PART |
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. Class size: 12
15308 |
THTR
107 A Intro to Playwriting |
Zakiyyah Abdul-Rahiim |
. . W . . |
1:30pm-4:30pm |
FISHER STUDIO NORTH |
PART |
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. All
students welcome, preference to Theater majors. (No writing sample required.) Class
size: 12
15309 |
THTR
107 B Intro to Playwriting |
Jorge Cortinas |
. . . Th . |
10:10am-1:10pm |
FISHER STUDIO NORTH |
PART |
See
above. Class size: 12
15310 |
THTR
110 A INTRO
TO ACTING: The Actor & the Moment |
Jean Wagner |
. T . Th . |
1:30pm-2:50pm |
FISHER RESNICK |
PART |
15846 |
THTR
110 B INTRO
TO ACTING: The Actor & the Moment |
Jean Wagner |
. . W . F |
10:10am- 11:30am |
FISHER STUDIO NORTH |
PART |
In this class
we examine how an actor brings truth to the smallest unit of performance. The
richness of the moment is created by the imaginative, physical, psychological,
intellectual and emotional qualities that the actor brings to it. We explore
ways to gain access to richly layered authenticity through games,
improvisations, individual creations and exercises in given circumstance. Students are given tools to transcend
accepted logic, embrace risk-taking, and live fully in the present. Class
size: 16
15312 |
THTR
203 Directing Seminar |
Jonathan Rosenberg |
. T . Th . |
10:10am- 11:30am |
FISHER RESNICK |
PART |
Cross-listed: Film & Electronic
Arts This class
introduces students to fundamental practical and theoretical concepts in
directing. The art and craft of the director involves the close analysis of
texts, the conceptualizing of a production, the translation of the text into
the language of the stage, and the work with collaborators including actors and
designers. The exploration in this class includes exercises examining the
language of the stage, analytical and practical work on texts, and an
examination of the work and writings of seminal directors. There will be weekly
assignments of work that will be brought in and examined in class and one
longer more substantial project for the end of the semester. Class size: 10
15311 |
THTR
208 Intermediate Playwriting |
Zakiyyah Abdul-Rahiim |
. . . Th . |
1:30pm-4:30pm |
FISHER CONFERENCE |
PART |
Students will
initially experiment with different forms and then focus on developing a
one-act play (35-45 pages), with sections of the work-in-progress presented in
class for discussions. Students will develop characters and themes most
effective within the one-act format. The students will also read a wide range
of dramatic literature from the twentieth century to the present day, and be
exposed to diverse styles of playwriting. Prerequisite -- One of the following:
Intro to Playwriting, a screenwriting workshop or a poetry workshop. Students should email the instructor before
on-line registration to express interest.
Class size: 10
15314 |
THTR
209 Scene Study |
Lynn Hawley |
M . W . . |
11:50am-1:10pm |
FISHER STUDIO NORTH |
PART |
4
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. Class size: 12
15315 |
THTR
250 Dramatic Structure |
Gideon Lester |
. T . Th . |
1:30pm-2:50pm |
OLINLC 120 |
ELIT |
Cross-listed: Literature In this seminar
we will explore the dynamics, mechanics, and fundamental building blocks of
drama, and discover how analysis of a play's structure can be indispensable and
revelatory for theater artists and scholars. We will investigate models
of dramatic structure from Aristotle and the Greeks, through Shakespeare,
neoclassicism, and modernism, to contemporary experimental and “post-dramatic”
theatre. We will consider plays, dramatic theories, and performances, as
well as practical methods for putting structural discoveries to use in
rehearsal and production. Students will
become adept at several modes of structural analysis of texts and performance
events. Assigned work includes
substantial reading, a series of written exercises, and a comprehensive
structural map of at least one full-length play with an accompanying written
analysis and plan for production. Class size: 16
15313 |
THTR
251 Commedia dell'Arte |
Geoffrey Sobelle |
M . . . . |
1:30pm-4:30pm |
FISHER RESNICK |
PART |
This advanced
acting workshop introduces students to the rudiments of Commedia Dell’Arte, a classic theatrical form based on 16th century
Italian street theatre. Fast-paced, highly physical lazzi (comedic “bits”) are rooted
in the class struggles between the servants (the zanni) and their masters (the vecci.) Commedia
is cut-throat comedy born of social critique. The archetypes have
present-day counterparts, but by living fully in the characters -- their
passions, appetites (sexual, financial, culinary), and idiocy -- we find a
humanity that transcends its history. This is a demanding physical acting
class. Students will be expected to bring a full-throttle
physicality, a high level of play and a brave sense of presence/humanity.
They will learn mask technique through structured improvisation in class. Presentations of applied principles will be
prepared outside of class to be performed/critiqued on a weekly basis. Pre-requisite: Introduction to Acting Class size: 16
15316 |
THTR
308 Advanced Scene Study |
Naomi Thornton |
. . . Th . |
1:30pm-3:30pm |
FISHER STUDIO NORTH |
PART |
3 credits
Scene Technique with work on specific rehearsal tasks and practice of
their application. Continued work on the acting instrument, understanding the
actor as artist and deepening the physical, emotional, intellectual connection and
availability of each actor. Advanced individual exercises,
scenes, and monologues from all dramatic literature. Intended
for Upper College students, others by permission. Prerequisite:
Introduction to Acting. Class size: 12
CONTEXT:
15317 |
THTR
145 Intro to Theater & Performance: REVOLUTIONS IN TIME
& SPACE |
Jean Wagner |
. . W . F |
10:10am- 11:30am |
FISHER STUDIO NORTH |
AART |
This course
introduces a sequence of key concepts and ideas in world
theater, and should ideally be taken at the start of a student’s journey
through the Theater and Performance curriculum.
We will base our discussions on primary and secondary texts and modes of
performance from 2,500 years of world theater,
starting with Aristotle and the Greek tragic playwrights and approaching the
cutting edge of contemporary performance practice. We will ask questions about interpretation,
ephemerality, and reenactment, investigate how great artists from across the
centuries have controlled our experience of theatrical time and space, and
examine such topics as the representation of reality on stage, the relationship
between performance and audience, and the constantly evolving interplay of
theater and democracy. Class size: 25
15208 |
THTR
310 Survey of Drama: the birth of tragedy, the death of tragedy |
Thomas Bartscherer |
M . . . . |
4:40pm-7:00pm |
BLUM HALL |
HUM |
Cross-listed: Classical Studies,
Experimental Humanities, Literature, Philosophy Two pivotal works in the history of the
interpretation of tragic drama—The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich
Nietzsche and The Death of Tragedy by George Steiner—will set the agenda
for our inquiry into the origins of western theater in the dramas of classical
antiquity and the fate of tragedy as an art form in the modern world. In
addition to assiduous study of Nietzsche and Steiner, we shall be reading a
broad selection of the tragedies these authors discuss, including plays by
Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Shakespeare, Racine, Büchner,
and Beckett. We shall also watch film adaptations of selected tragedies and,
schedule permitting, attend a staged performance. The course will integrate
close reading, literary and philosophical analysis, and practical scene work.
All readings will be in English. Class size: 15
15321 |
THTR
317 20th Century Avant Garde Performance |
Miriam Felton-Dansky |
M . . . . |
1:30pm-3:50pm |
FISHER CONFERENCE |
AART |
Cross-listed: Art History,
Experimental Humanities, Literature "Set fire to the library shelves!"
wrote the Italian Futurists in their first manifesto of 1909. With their
revolutionary politics, audience provocations, and enthusiastic embrace of the
new, the Futurists inaugurated a century of avant-garde performance. This
course will investigate that century, tracing the European and American
theatrical avant-gardes from 1909 to 1995, including movements and artists
such as Expressionism, Surrealism and Dada; John Cage, Allan Kaprow, and Happenings; utopian collectives of the 1960s;
Peter Handke, Heiner
Müller, the Wooster Group and Reza Abdoh. We will
explore questions including: the implications of assuming the mantle of the
"avant-garde"; the contested status of the dramatic text in
avant-garde performance; the relationship between performance and emerging
media forms; and avant-garde artists’ efforts to create radical fusions of art
and life. This course will require a research paper, reading responses, and a
presentation. Class size: 15
15595 |
THTR
336 FEMALE
INFERNOS: Parks, Churchill, Jelinek |
Jean Wagner |
. T . . . |
4:40pm-7:00pm |
FISHER STUDIO NORTH |
AART |
Cross-listed: Gender & Sexuality
Studies, Literature In this course we will examine the dramatic works
of three groundbreaking and politically-engaged, contemporary women playwrights
– the African-American writer Suzan-Lori Parks, England’s Caryl
Churchill and Austrian playwright Elfrida Jelinek. Each possesses a distinctly singular voice. Yet as
a group they have much in common, including their experimental and radical
approaches to writing drama. Each is formally experimental, self-consciously
theatrical and playfully inventive. In her own way, each challenges
contemporary ideas of feminism and prods audiences to think about how they
intersect with such concepts as race, class and capitalism. Still, the work of
each is highly individual. As we investigate their similarities and differences
we will ask ourselves, what common revelations do they have the potential
to illuminate? Among the plays and essays that we will investigate are Parks’ The America Play and Elements of Style, Churchill’s
trailblazing play Cloud Nine and the
later absurdist plays Blue Kettle/Blue
Heart, and The Princess Plays by Jelinek. Assignments will include in-class presentations, a
research paper or performance project accompanied by an essay, and a final
project. Class size: 16
15322 |
THTR
353 Performing Queer |
Jorge Cortinas |
. . W . . |
1:30pm-4:30pm |
FISHER CONFERENCE |
AART/DIFF |
Cross-listed: Art History, Gender
& Sexuality Studies Theater and performance artists who
are interested in upending hetero-normative constructions of gender have long
used a powerful array of performance strategies such as camp, cross dressing,
cabaret, utopic longing, disidentification and
radical re-imaginings of both private and public sex acts. This seminar will
conduct close readings of critical readings grounded in feminism,
post-colonialism, and queer studies, and then explore how those texts
illuminate and complicate the work of artists such as Justin Bond, Split
Britches, Taylor Mac, Nao Bustamante and Charles Ludlam.
In addition to written and oral assignments throughout the semester, students
will complete a final project that unpacks and demonstrates familiarity with
these queer performance strategies. The final project may be an academic paper
or a creative project. The focus and form of the final project must be approved
by the instructor. Class size: 15
CREATIVE PRACTICE & RESEARCH:
15319 |
THTR
244 A Intro to Theater Making |
Geoffrey Sobelle |
M . W . . |
11:50am-1:10pm |
FISHER RESNICK |
PART |
This course follows
“Introduction to Theater and Performance” as the second class in a sequence
exploring the intellectual and creative methods of making theater. During the
course of the semester all students will take turns working collaboratively as
performers, directors, writers, dramaturgs and
designers. The work created in this class will be presented at the end of the
semester and will serve as the moderation project for students intending to
major in Theater and Performance. Class size: 16
15320 |
THTR
244 B Intro to Theater Making |
Jonathan Rosenberg |
. T . Th . |
11:50am-1:10pm |
FISHER RESNICK |
PART |
See
above. Class size: 16
15323 |
THTR
321 SocialLY Engaged Theater-Making |
Aaron Landsman |
. . W . . |
1:30pm-4:30pm |
FISHER RESNICK |
PART |
Cross-listed: American Studies,
Anthropology, Human Rights An advanced course in the theory and
practice of socially engaged, “ethnographic” theater-making. We will read
and discuss the work of artists who use interviews and staged conversations as their
basis for their performances, including Lola Arias, Ralph Lemon, and Pablo Helguera, and explore their methodologies in creating our
own performances. We will also read theorists such as Gregory Snyder,
Shannon Jackson, and Jodi Rios. Assignments in and outside of class will
include practice interviews with peers, as well as dialogue with members of
communities beyond Bard. We will use
ethnographic techniques such as deep listening and thick description to develop
original texts and performances. We will explore questions that include:
Where do we locate ethics and responsibilities when engaging communities
in the making of our work? What does it mean to take someone else’s words,
write them down, and give them back in performance? What can we learn from
speaking the words of a stranger? The
course may be of particular interest to moderated students in Sociology, Human
Rights, and Anthropology, as well as from the Arts Division. Class size: 12
15325 |
THTR
331 Devised Theater Lab |
Gideon Lester |
. . . . F |
10:10am-1:10pm |
FISHER RESNICK |
PART |
This class
will explore the innovative and adventurous process of devising performance
works for the stage. Through practical exercises including improvisations,
composition exercises, and ensemble techniques, students will learn how to
generate ideas, research, shape, organize and create
new works for the stage. Students will experiment with creating work based on
non-dramatic, fictional source material, both for theater spaces and site-specific
locations. Theories of narrative and dramatic structure will be examined, and
students will experiment with methods and techniques for applying these
creatively in practice. We will examine how several contemporary artists and
ensembles generate new works. Assignments will include composition and
dramaturgical exercises of various lengths and levels of complexity, and active
participation in collaborative creations.
Class size: 12
15324 |
THTR
345 Writing the Fantastic |
Neil Gaiman |
TBD |
TBD |
. |
PART |
Cross-listed: Experimental Humanities 2 credits
This advanced
intensive reading and writing workshop explores the history of the fantastic,
approaches to fantasy fiction, and the meaning of fantasy today. We will read authors including Dunsany,
Margaret Yourcenar, Kipling, Shirley Jackson, Gene
Wolfe, and R. A. Lafferty, and write new fiction in response to our
readings. Students will complete a
longer work of fantasy fiction by the end of the semester. Note: The
course will meet in April for 3-hour evening sessions, dates to be determined. Interested students should send a cover
letter and 5 page writing sample to [email protected] by midnight on December 1, 2014. The list of accepted students will be
announced by December 10, 2014. Only
moderated students are eligible to apply. Class size: 12
15342 |
THTR / DAN 350 Junior / Senior Seminar |
Leah Cox |
. T . Th . |
11:50am-1:10pm |
FISHER CONFERENCE |
|
See Dance section
for description.
See also:
15392 |
HR
331 SPACES
OF RESILIENCE: Social
Justice in Urban Territories |
Jeanne van Heeswijk |
M . . . . |
2:00pm-4:20pm |
OLINLC 115 |
AART |
Cross-listed: Art History, Studio Art,
Environmental & Urban Studies, Theater Global
urbanization and the resulting current economic crisis, shifting geopolitical
boundaries and socio-cultural demographics have generated numerous local zones
of conflict. This course will look for strategies of resilience, focusing on
spatial resistance and the interplay of art and activism in the public
sphere. It will explore how artists and political activists use arts-based
methodologies such as performative acts of civil
disobedience and creative forms of protest to work for social justice in urban
territories, to challenge and transform these systems’ underlying rules. It
will address the complex relationship of art and activism and the forms in
which artists and activists engage with human rights struggles to seek what concepts
the human rights context may provide in learning from these actions,
interventions and strategies. (Jeanne van Heeswijk is
the Keith Haring Fellow in Art and Activism for 2014-15). Class
size: 18
15393 |
HR
344 Urban Curating: MODES OF ACUPUNCTURE |
Jeanne van Heeswijk |
. T . . . |
10:10am- 12:30pm |
CCS |
AART |
Cross-listed: Art History, Studio Art,
Environmental & Urban Studies, Theater In a time of accelerated
globalization, over-regulation, and rapid changes in our daily environments,
populist images prevail and people can feel increasingly de-invested and
excluded. How might people transform their own 'territory' to an environment
where they can create, produce, disseminate, distribute and have access to
their own cultural expressions? This course will look at how artistic and
curatorial practices can re-engage and bear witness to the veiled vectors of
power that shape civic space, reorganize systems of interaction, and challenge
existing political, social and economic frameworks, addressing how areas of
tension in contemporary society are made visible through these interventions.
Through reading, workshops, and discussion, students will explore how alliances
between politics and art can be imagined and tested. (Jeanne van Heeswijk is the Keith Haring Fellow in Art and Activism for
2014-15). Class size: 9