Theatre (THEA)

THEA 101 —  Acting 1 Course count: 1 

This course offers, through classroom exercises, improvisations and performance of scenes from plays, an approach to understanding, appreciating, and practicing the art of acting and theatre.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

THEA 110 —  Theatre Practicum 1 Course count: 0 

Weekly lab work introduces students to tools and techniques in costumes, scenery, properties, and lighting. Student participation in Department of Theatre and Dance major productions gives them the opportunity to put those skills into practice.

GPA units: 0.5

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

THEA 125 —  American Drama 1920 To Present Course count: 1 

American plays from the early work of Eugene O'Neill through that of contemporary dramatists are explored as theatre (through film and video) and as dramatic literature. This course looks at drama in historical and thematic contexts and as the expression of major American playwrights.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts, Literature

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

THEA 126 —  Asia on Stage Course count: 1 

Asia on Stage focuses on the intricate classical performance traditions of theatre, dance, and music of South and Southeast Asia and how contemporary artists have borrowed from these traditions to create new or avant-garde work. Students develop analytical skill through observation of similarities and differences between counterparts in other Asian nations and the West.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

THEA 128 —  Political Theatre Course count: 1 

This course examines theatre and film that either promote a specific political point of view or explore social and political content in depth. Among the topics addressed by the works on the syllabus are war, revolution, race, gender, culture and the Holocaust.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

Typically Offered: Every Third Year

THEA 134 —  Television Comedy Course count: 1 

Television Comedy is designed to introduce students to the history of television comedy, key artists and situation comedies, and theoretical frameworks for examining these works both in and out of context. The goal is for students to learn to analyze television from a variety of standpoints as well as the ways it has both influenced and been influenced by time, place, and culture.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

THEA 135 —  Comedy on Stage and Screen Course count: 1 

This course is designed to introduce students to a variety of comic styles as represented in theatre and film from the Classical period to the present with an emphasis on twentieth-century works.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

Typically Offered: Fall

THEA 136 —  Horror Films, Sex & Gender Course count: 1 

This course is designed to examine the horror film using Queer, Gender, and Feminist theory. The course will explore seminal works from the genre and examine the horror film's evolution using these critical lenses. The goal is for students to develop a foundational understanding of the conventions of the genre and its relationship to evolving notions of identity.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

THEA 139 —  Great Film Actors Course count: 1 

This course is designed to introduce students significant film actors who embody different approaches to acting. Students will study acting theory and film criticism, applying those concepts to films of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

THEA 145 —  Queer Theatre Course count: 1 

Queer Film and Theatre is designed to examine how art (specifically film and theatre) helps us define ourselves, both collectively and individually. Films and plays from different periods and cultures allow the students to examine the evolution of the human condition for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered populations.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

THEA 160 —  American Film Course count: 1 

This introductory course teaches the student how to read a movie. Films are presented by genre and conventional examples of each genre are paired with movies that play with, undercut, or expand the conventions. The syllabus includes American movies from 1930 to the present.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

THEA 161 —  Theatre History Course count: 1 

Focuses on theatre in Europe, Asia and North America from the classical period until the mid-1800s. Readings include: Euripides, Moliere, Calderon, Montzaemon, Behn, and Boucicault.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts, Historical Studies

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

THEA 165 —  World Film Course count: 1 

Like American Film, this is an introductory course that teaches the student how to read a movie. However, the content is exclusively non-American films, viewed thematically and historically, as well as in their cultural contexts. The syllabus typically includes films from France, Italy, England, Japan, Sweden, Ireland, Spain, Mexico, Germany, Canada, and other countries.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

Typically Offered: Annually Fall

THEA 170 —  Modern Drama Course count: 1 

Surveys the major aesthetic movements of the last century, employing dramatic texts and theoretical writings to illustrate successive ideas. Movements such as naturalism, symbolism, expressionism, surrealism, and the absurd are examined through a close reading of works by Ibsen, Chekhov, Shaw, Wedekind, Pirandello, Brecht, Beckett, and others.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts, Literature

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

THEA 172 —  Modern British Drama Course count: 1 

Modern British Drama uses literary texts and movies to explore how English playwrights have grappled with the post-war loss of empire; the search for a new national identity, the emergence of Thatcherism, the vapid materialism of the Sloane Rangers, the challenges of multiculturalism, and the impending catastrophe of Brexit. In a seminar setting, students will read, reflect and critically analyze a series of challenging (and often disturbing) works of contemporary British literature.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

THEA 199-S02 —  Hip Hop: Breakbeats and Moves Course count: 1 

This course is an introduction to the mutual influences between music and dance in Hip Hop culture. Students combine creative dance processes with strategic music curation to study the histories and foundations of Hip Hop; engage with marginalized voices and perspectives within Hip Hop; and develop work in both music and dance to develop insights.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

THEA 199-S03 —  Street Styles Course count: 1 

Students examine various types of street styles and dance trends. An introduction to Hip Hop explores the influence of geopolitics, race, gender, and other social structures. Students will be introduced to the connection with the African Diaspora and will engage in contemporary performance connecting all forms (African, Hip Hop, and Commercial Dance).

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

THEA 202 —  Voice In Acting 1 Course count: 1 

Students learn how to correct regionalisms, support the voice, and increase range in songs and dramatic texts. Healthy vocal production, flexibility, relaxation, and power are emphasized.

Prerequisite: THEA 101

GPA units: 1

Typically Offered: Annually

THEA 203 —  Advanced Acting Course count: 1 

An intensive scene study class. Plays ranging in style from contemporary to Restoration are analyzed and performed. Physical and vocal exercises from Basic Acting and Voice in Acting will be continued with the addition of period style work.

Prerequisite: THEA 101 THEA 202

GPA units: 1

Typically Offered: Annually

THEA 204 —  Singing for Broadway Stage 1 Course count: 1 

Students will develop an approach to learning and performing pieces from musical theatre with equal focus on musicianship, vocal technique, and physical interpretation. Students will be assigned both solo and ensemble pieces and the course will culminate in a public showing of the work.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

Typically Offered: Fall

THEA 205 —  Speaking and Communication Course count: 1 

This course explores techniques of effective communication. Topics covered include creating clear intentions and objectives for moments of public speaking; connecting to others and listening actively in both casual and formal interactions; and cultivating strong, flexible vocal production. To develop these skills, interactive exercises inspired by theatre techniques serve as building blocks. Both impromptu and prepared speech techniques are explored with projects encompassing academic presentations, interview techniques, and presenting personal stories.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

Typically Offered: Alternate Years, Spring

THEA 210 —  Advanced Theatre Practicum Course count: 0 

Students participate in Department of Theatre major productions through crew assignments in scenery and props, lighting, costumes, sound, and stage management. Schedule for the course is determined by the production schedule. This course is taken pass/fail as an overload and may be taken multiple times. Theatre majors must take it twice.

Prerequisite: THEA 110

GPA units: 0.5

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

THEA 214 —  Singing for Broadway Stage 2 Course count: 1 

Students will refine their approach to learning and performing musical theatre repertoire with equal focus on musicianship, vocal technique, and physical interpretation, building on the foundation established in the first level of the course. Particular attention will be given to building an audition book of diverse repertoire. The course will also dig deeper into exploring the history of musical theatre and examining its great composers. Students will be assigned both solo and ensemble pieces and the course will culminate in a public showing of the work.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

THEA 227 —  Scene Design Course count: 1 

Principles of scenic design and script analysis are used to create an environment for the action of the play. Includes a historical survey of scenic design, theatre architecture, period style, drafting, and rendering techniques. Work on a set for a Fenwick Theatre production provides practical experience.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

Typically Offered: Alternate Years, Spring

THEA 228 —  Lighting Design Course count: 1 

A study of the properties of light and the objectives of stage lighting in drama and dance, this course includes basic electricity and its control, lighting equipment, and drafting. Practical experience is obtained through designing and running a production.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

Typically Offered: Alternate Years, Spring

THEA 230 —  Costume Design Course count: 1 

An introductory course which involves the student in the process of script and character analysis as it relates to costumes. It develops sketching and painting techniques as well as research of Greek, Renaissance, and 18th- and 19th-century fashion.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

THEA 240 —  Directing 1 Course count: 1 

Introduces students to the craft and theory of theatrical production. Students function as autonomous artists-writers, dramaturgs, and directors, producing a series of dramatic pieces in a workshop environment. This practical work is augmented by extensive scholarly research that provides a theoretical underpinning. Emphasis is placed upon conceptualization, composition, blocking, textual analysis, and working with actors.

Prerequisite: THEA 101. Students without the prerequisite should consult the department.

GPA units: 1

Typically Offered: Fall

THEA 263 —  Selected American Film Artists Course count: 1 

This advanced course is an intensive study of the work of two playwrights and/or filmmakers. The authors on the syllabus vary, according to the current offerings of the Fenwick Theatre season and other considerations. By permission.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

Typically Offered: Every Third Year

THEA 264 —  Cult Films & Camp Movies Course count: 1 

This course is designed to examine films created outside the studio system or those whose unique, marginal qualities have led to significant critical and cultural discourse and reappraisal. The course will use readings and viewings to reframe analysis of film narratives, challenge canonical thinking, and develop students unique critical voices.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

Typically Offered: Every Third Year

THEA 340 —  Advanced Directing Course count: 1 

Explores advanced theories and practices of theatrical direction. The course begins with a series of lectures that introduces the avant-garde ideas and practices of artists such as Grotowski, Beck, Chaikin, Serban, Wilson, Akalaitis, Bogart, and Boal. Students are expected to put some of these ideas into production as they tackle a short classical piece (Greek or Elizabethan) and then mount a full-length one-act by a major figure of the modern theatre (e.g., Chekhov, Strindberg, O'Neill, Pirandello, Beckett).

Prerequisite: THEA 240

GPA units: 1

Typically Offered: Spring

THEA 360 —  Shakespeare Through Performance Course count: 1 

Functioning as scholarly artists in a laboratory setting, students - working from both the Folio and modern editions - master the rudiments of Shakespearean performance, become acquainted with historical and contemporary staging conventions, investigate the notion of textual integrity, and explore dramaturgical issues. Particular emphasis is placed upon the desirability and/or need to subvert problematic texts through performance.

Prerequisite: THEA 101 and THEA 202. Enrollment limited to 3rd and 4th year students.

GPA units: 1

Typically Offered: Spring

THEA 361 —  Film As Narrative Course count: 1 

This advanced course deals with narrative issues in film (point of view, time, structure, style, tone, adaptation). The syllabus includes American, British, French, Italian, Japanese and Scandinavian movies.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

Typically Offered: Every Third Year

THEA 370 —  Performance Art Course count: 1 

Students write, coach, design, and act in original work that they develop. Directors, actors, and theorists who stretch the limits of performance stylistically, socially, or conceptually  serve as models for students.

Prerequisite: THEA 101 and THEA 202 and THEA 203

GPA units: 1

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

THEA 399-S01 —  Dramatic Writing Course count: 1 

Dramatic Writing is a class that both instructs and gives students experience in writing for the stage or the screen, according to their predilection. The first half of the course will focus on five key elements of dramatic writing  theme, character, structure, dialogue and dramatic adaptation of source material  while the students are beginning to apply what theyve learned to original work. The students will write one scene, one short screenplay, one adaptation from another medium, and one longer cumulative screenplay.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts

THEA 400 —  Tutorial Course count: 1 

Tutorials consist of directed study in selected theatre, dance, and film topics such as acting, directing, play- writing, literature, dance, stage management, set, costume, lighting and sound design, film, and screenwriting.

GPA units: 1

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

THEA 406 —  Performance For Audience Course count: 1 

Advanced acting work in a major role.

Prerequisite: THEA 101 and THEA 203; by audition only

GPA units: 1

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring