Department of Performing Arts
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Focuses on learning to "see" and "hear" the form and music of the art of dance across world cultures. Students focus on specific dance ethnographies to understand cultural difference through a study of dance and human movement and to explore contemporary anthropological concerns about representation, globalization, history, and identity. Throughout their study, students focus on various theoretical models in anthropology for studying dance/performance. Fulfills the Aesthetic Perspective and the General Education Global Diversity requirements.Instructor: Jennifer Farrell
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Explores the fundamentals of ballet technique for beginning students. Through the traditional class sequence, students become familiar with ballet terms and technique. The class begins at the barre and progresses to center combinations, which emphasize the development of musicality, flexibility, strength, and control. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: permission of the dance area head.Instructor: Leslie Woodies
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An introduction to the American dance form of jazz, including blues and musical theatre dance. Utilizing East Indian and African-Cuban rhythms, this technique is based on exercises and movement developed by choreographer Jack Cole. Classes focus on the development of strength, flexibility, isolation, and control through a series of stretches, strengthening exercises, and center floor combinations. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: permission of the dance area head.Instructors: Alison Neill, Jennifer Farrell
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Students at the intermediate level are encouraged to explore the technical and artistic aspects of classical ballet. Each class begins with a series of exercises at the barre and continues into center floor combinations, which may include pirouettes, beats, and jumps. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: permission of the dance area head.Instructors: Leslie Woodies, Marlena Yannetti
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Training in American jazz dance integrates a number of jazz styles, including Jack Cole, Fosse, and African-Cuban, which are performed today in the musical theatre and in concert. Students work to develop control, strength, and speed, with an emphasis on movement isolation and a clear jazz style. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: permission of the dance area head.Instructor: Jenny Oliver
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Classroom work involves both lecture and studio work, focusing on educational philosophy supporting a dance curriculum, aesthetic principles of dance/movement, and technical aspects of body mechanics. A pre-practicum involving 40 hours of observing/assisting area dance teachers is required. Students learn to prepare lesson plans, which articulate behavioral objectives and methods of evaluation. Students are supervised teaching some of these plans. Prerequisites: 3.0 GPA and permission of the instructor and department chair are required prior to the end of the examination period of the preceding semester.
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An intensive and highly focused course in learning basic components of musicianship. Attention is given to sight singing, keyboard skills, and music theory.Instructor: Sariva Goetz
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Instructor: Sariva Goetz
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Intended for students with little or no experience in music who want to develop their listening skills and musical understanding. Emphasis is on a non-theoretical study of the elements and compositional principles of music, and careful listening to selected works of master composers in the context of a brief survey of classical music in its historical and social context. Fulfills the Aesthetic Perspective of the General Education requirements.Instructor: Fredericka King
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Investigates music-making within a variety of cultures, including societies from Africa, the Caribbean, India, the Far East, and Native Americans. Musical experience is examined from both the sonic and social perspectives, including musical form, instruments, and style, as well as music's role as a vehicle for defining and representing social values. Fulfills the Aesthetic Perspective and the General Education Global Diversity requirements.Instructor: Mina Cho
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An introduction to the analysis of music, especially as it appears in musical theatre. Topics include song structure, dance forms, and identification of the features in various genres and historical styles. Required for BFA Musical Theatre majors.Instructor: Scott Wheeler
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A continuation of Music Analysis I, this course focuses on the music and lyrics of songs and shows in the musical theatre repertoire. The focus moves from basic terminology to a more detailed connection between analysis and performance. Other topics include the structure of entire shows, detailed analysis of duets and other ensemble pieces, and an increased focus on recent musical theatre repertoire. Required for BFA Musical Theatre majors.Instructor: Matthew Stern
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This survey of American popular music from 1950 to the present traces the development of rock & roll, soul, disco, punk, metal, rap, hip-hop and other popular genres from their multicultural roots to the digital world of the 21st century. Students examine the cultural, social, political, and economic dimensions of these genres along with their impact on the global population and marketplace. Students also connect developments in technology (recording, production, etc.) with the enormous growth of the music industry and its effect on the consumer via means of production, distribution, and promotion. Students also address the work of female musicians, songwriters, producers, etc., and the obstacles they face in the commercial music industry.Instructor: Fredericka King
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A study of the evolution of jazz, a continuously evolving form synthesizing many different music styles. Attention is given to its African American origins, historical identifications, antisocial tendencies, political aspects, and subjective effects that have effected cultural change. Emphasis is placed on listening to the works of Armstrong, Ellington, Davis, Gillespie, Parker, Monk, Coltrane, and Mingus. Fulfills the Aesthetic Perspective and the General Education U.S. Diversity requirements.Instructors: Dylan Jack, Eric Hofbauer
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Studio course consists of ten 60-minute lessons with a private instructor. Students may pursue this course on a non-credit basis by payment of a course fee.Instructor: Scott Nicholas
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Examines the history of the American musical from its earliest roots in American popular culture through the present. There is a particular emphasis on the cultivation of its present form through an American socio-cultural perspective.Instructor: Sariva Goetz
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Motion pictures and the music that accompanies them do not exist in a vacuum; rather, they are influenced by the culture and society which creates them, and in turn they may also affect and change cultural norms and social conventions. This new course is designed to introduce students to the world of Film Music, beginning with a detailed chronology of significant films and their composers, viewed alongside the historical events and trends which inspired them. Specific emphasis will be placed on the relationship between Director and Composer (in history as well as today), along with the aesthetic and dramatic function of the score. Aspects of music associated with common film genres will be discussed, as well as the influence and tradition of non- Hollywood International filmmakers and their composers. Our goal this term will be to see how music can help to tell a story, how it often reflects and affects popular culture, and how it can even stand effectively on its own.Instructor: Jack Freeman
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Advanced work in vocal technique and development of a repertoire, consisting of ten weekly 60-minute lessons with a private instructor. Required for BFA Musical Theatre majors. No more than 8 credits of Applied Music: Voice may be counted toward credits required for graduation.
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For students for whom the study of piano is relevant to their professional goals. Students have a weekly 60-minute individual lesson. No more than 8 credits of Applied Music: Piano may be counted toward credits required for graduation.Instructor: Scott Nicholas
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Explores the fundamentals of improvisation for comedic performance through the use of games and exercises in a fast-paced, challenging learning environment. Guides students through the fundamentals of short form improvisation, focusing on building trust and spontaneity, and exploring aspects and techniques of storytelling, ensemble playing, movement, developing characters (status and emotion) and using space. Students will explore other forms of improvisation, including solo performance improvisation, structured audience interactive improvisation, and longer forms of improvisation.Instructors: Erin Schwall, Holly Tarnower
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This course will provide students with the foundations of sketch writing and the knowledge of how to turn those ideas into tight 3-5 minute pieces. Student will build on what they learned in PA125, and use improvisation to develop a portfolio of characters, ideas, monologues, and sketches. Students will write alone and with classmates, and through in-class exercises and homework assignments, they will learn to find comedic material in their lives, creating sketches that are unique and truthful to their voice. This course will culminate in a performance where students perform in pieces they wrote, as well as in pieces written by their classmates.Instructors: Matthew McMahan, Nathaniel Justiniano
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An intensive training in the principles, practice, and direction of physical comedy. Through highly physical games, exercises, and the creative process, students will investigate the array of physical performance-based options available to them. Emphasis is placed on developing a sense of play, rhythm, risk-taking, complicity, and total embodiment within multiple comedic styles, traditions, and contemporary contexts. Students will also learn the fundamentals of directing physical comedy including scene and character analysis, working with performers, safety, and articulating a vision through physical storytelling.Instructor: Nathaniel Justiniano
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Building on the skills developed in PA 125, this advanced course will further explore how to build well-structured improvised scenes, work as an ensemble, expand their improvisations from single scenes into long performances, and create an improvised revue. Students will study advanced improvisation theory and techniques including solo performance, musical improvisation, genre based storytelling pulling from classic literature and new media, and longer improvised forms. This course will culminate in a performance.Instructor: Erin Schwall
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Students focus on the fundamentals of acting and performance techniques to truly master the art of the comedic scene. Through focus on physicality, timing, vocalics, facial expression and emotional heightening, students will work extensively on a few different scenes over the course of the semester with different scene partners. Scenes will range from classic to contemporary, sketch to screen as well as taken from full length plays. Students must be prepared to memorize a good amount of material and dedicate time to rehearse outside of class. The semester will conclude with a live revue.Instructor: Holly Tarnower
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Building on the skills developed in PA 125, this advanced course will further explore how to build well-structured improvised scenes, work as an ensemble, expand their improvisations from single scenes into long performances, and create an improvised revue. Students will study advanced improvisation theory and techniques including solo performance, musical improvisation, genre based storytelling pulling from classic literature and new media, and longer improvised forms. This course will culminate in a performance.Instructor: Erin Schwall
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Students with junior standing may define project work in acting, directing, design technology, stage and production management, arts and business management, musical theatre, theatre education, dance or dramaturgy. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor and department chair.
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Students with senior standing may define project work in acting, directing, design technology, stage and production management, arts and business management, musical theatre, theatre education, dance or dramaturgy. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor and department chair.
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Introduces students to the various means of expression available to the art of the stage. In addition to an exploration of the techniques of the written script, students are introduced to the visual forms of artistic communication, their history, and the conventions of all theatrical forms. (Performing Arts students only)
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Introduces the acting process to the non-performance major. Group and individual exercise work develops a relaxed instrument able to respond freely, in the body and the voice, to emotional and external stimuli. The course moves from fundamental explorations through improvisation to work on scripted material.Instructor: Joseph Antoun
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Prereq TH121 may be waived by the PA Department.Instructors: Josie Bray, Rebecca Schneebaum
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An intensive exploration of movement and improvisation. A variety of improvisatory approaches are employed to tap into individual creativity and to discover the power of group creation. Physical demands increase as the body is emphasized as the instrument of communication. The work includes exploration of space, energy, dynamics, rhythm, and sensory response. Actors learn to channel their physical and emotional energy into dramatic action. Prerequisite: by audition only.
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Bases the actor's work in the experience of voice and language. The goal is a free voice in a free body and the ability to express thought and emotion with openness and truth. The course guides students through awareness of and release from habitual tensions and into body alignment, breathing, resonators, sound and movement, group interaction, and the exploration of individual and group creativity. Students use both scripted and improvised material as they discover the two to three octaves of the speaking voice and its connection with thoughts and words. Prerequisite: by audition only.
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Introduces performance majors to improvisation, developing listening skills, spontaneous playing, and the art of presence. Required for all students enrolled in the Actor Training Program. Prerequisite: by audition only.
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Introductory course intended to provide the acting foundation necessary for more advanced scene study. Students apply fundamental concepts explored in first-year voice, movement, and improvisation into written scenes. The emphases are on experiential exercises: improvisations, open scenes, and basic contemporary scene work.Instructors: Erin Schwall, Joseph Antoun
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Structured to develop fundamental skills in observation, drawing, painting, and modeling, with an emphasis on the application of these skills to the theatrical design process. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed. This is the first course required of students in the Design/Technology concentration.Instructor: Luciana Stecconi
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Offers experience in standard technical craft practices for the theatre. Students study fundamental techniques in selected technical/craft areas including, but not limited to, scenic construction and handling, scene painting, sculpture for the stage, costume and properties construction, make-up prosthetics, masks, electrics, and lighting. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed. Students may complete different Stagecraft units to a total of 8 credits. The Performing Arts core curriculum requires completion of two laboratory units, or 4 credits.Instructor: Nicole Cerra
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Offers experience in standard technical craft practices for the theatre. Students study fundamental techniques in selected technical/craft areas including, but not limited to, scenic construction and handling, scene painting, sculpture for the stage, costume and properties construction, make-up prosthetics, masks, electrics, and lighting. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed. Students may complete different Stagecraft units to a total of 8 credits. The Performing Arts core curriculum requires completion of two laboratory units, or 4 credits.Instructors: Brynna Bloomfield, Maddison Young
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Offers experience in standard technical craft practices for the theatre. Students study fundamental techniques in selected technical/craft areas including, but not limited to, scenic construction and handling, scene painting, sculpture for the stage, costume and properties construction, make-up prosthetics, masks, electrics, and lighting. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed. Students may complete different Stagecraft units to a total of 8 credits. The Performing Arts core curriculum requires completion of two laboratory units, or 4 credits.Instructors: Richelle Devereaux-Murray, Robert Colby
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Offers experience in standard technical craft practices for the theatre. Students study fundamental techniques in selected technical/craft areas including, but not limited to, scenic construction and handling, scene painting, sculpture for the stage, costume and properties construction, make-up prosthetics, masks, electrics, and lighting. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed. Students may complete different Stagecraft units to a total of 8 credits. The Performing Arts core curriculum requires completion of two laboratory units, or 4 credits.Instructor: Sarah Spollett
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Offers experience in standard technical craft practices for the theatre. Students study fundamental techniques in selected technical/craft areas including, but not limited to, scenic construction and handling, scene painting, sculpture for the stage, costume and properties construction, make-up prosthetics, masks, electrics, and lighting. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed. Students may complete different Stagecraft units to a total of 8 credits. The Performing Arts core curriculum requires completion of two laboratory units, or 4 credits.Instructor: Joe Keener III
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Offers experience in standard technical craft practices for the theatre. Students study fundamental techniques in selected technical/craft areas including, but not limited to, scenic construction and handling, scene painting, sculpture for the stage, costume and properties construction, make-up prosthetics, masks, electrics, and lighting. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed. Students may complete different Stagecraft units to a total of 8 credits. The Performing Arts core curriculum requires completion of two laboratory units, or 4 credits.Instructors: Nadine Grant, Susana Ramirez
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Offers experience in standard technical craft practices for the theatre. Students study fundamental techniques in selected technical/craft areas including, but not limited to, scenic construction and handling, scene painting, sculpture for the stage, costume and properties construction, make-up prosthetics, masks, electrics, and lighting. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed. Students may complete different Stagecraft units to a total of 8 credits. The Performing Arts core curriculum requires completion of two laboratory units, or 4 credits.Instructor: Brynna Bloomfield
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Explores the development of styles of Western architecture, furniture, and clothing as a demonstration of the human need to express the social, cultural, and psychological ideals of the period in which it occurs. From the Greeks to the 17th century, the period is presented within its historical-sociological context. The period visual elements are examined according to shape, style, construction, function, and evolution of appearance.Instructor: Nadine Grant
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Emphasizes the building of a collaborative process among theatre artists. Students research historical collaborative relationships, create and conceptualize approaches to various texts, and familiarize themselves with the approaches of artists currently working in the theatre.Instructor: Courtney O'Connor
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Looks at theatre and performance as an essential component and expression of culture. Surveys material in select time periods and global settings to demonstrate how the various elements of theatre work to reflect and shape culture on issues such as nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, gender, sexuality, class, and age. In order to do so, this course examines the roles and practices of directors, designers, dramaturges, and playwrights throughout the world from the classical to the postmodern period, and of varying theatrical styles. Readings include plays and historical material, as well as dramatic theory and criticism. Students attend lectures, participate in group work, view theatrical performances and videos, and talk to professionals in the field. Fulfills the Aesthetic Perspective of the General Education requirements. Performing Arts majors are not permitted to ernoll in this course.Instructors: Joshua Polster, Nancy Finn
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Explores the artistic languages of theatre and film. Dramatic material written for the stage is read and analyzed and the process of adaptation of that material is explored. Texts include the works of such playwrights as Shakespeare, Strindberg, Williams, and Albee. Film texts include the work of directors such as Lumet, Cukor, Solberg, and Nichols. Fulfills the Aesthetic Perspective of the General Education requirements.Instructors: Damon Krometis, Nancy Finn
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Surveys theatre and drama from the Greeks through the Restoration, with a focus on the major periods of Western theatre and dramatic literature: the Greeks, Roman theatre and drama, Medieval theatre, Elizabethan drama, Italian Commedia Dell'arte, Spanish Golden Age, French Neo-Classicism, and Restoration. In addition, students survey Eastern classical theatre and drama with a particular emphasis on the Sanskrit theatre, the Chinese drama and the Peking Opera, and the classical theatre of Japan, including Kabuki, No, and the puppet theatre. There are selected readings of plays in their historical context with particular attention paid to theatrical styles of plays and production.
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Surveys theatre and drama from the late 17th century to the present. The major periods of world theatre and drama, Romanticism, Modernism, and Post-Modernism are studied with particular emphasis on 20th-century theatre and drama throughout the world, including Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Attention is given to the work of both women and men. Theatrical conventions, innovations, and techniques developed in the Western and non-Western theatres are explored.
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This intensive acting class builds on the first?year acting courses to ensure a personal commitment in the way students approach and experience scene work and acting technique. Through exercises and improvisations, students increase awareness, strengthen the ability to talk and listen, and practice recognizing and experiencing moment-to-moment acting. They then apply these skills to dramatic scripts. Students learn how to read a play from the actor?s perspective and how to break down and explore a scene in terms of given circumstances, relationships, and character needs.
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Strengthens and deepens the work begun in TH 221. Students are now ready to codify their experience into a meaningful acting vocabulary. Terms such as action, objective, super-objective, obstacle, and subtext are layered into scene work from American and British realism. Students begin to use imagery in order to more fully encounter and receive the imaginary world of the play.
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Through weekly projects, students learn graphic techniques in drafting for theatrical production. The focus is on conventional symbolization, development of ground plans, sections, elevations, orthographics, isometrics, and construction drawings. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed.Instructor: Janie Howland
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Basic principles of stage lighting design are introduced, including the mechanics and optics of lighting instruments, electrical theory and practices, control systems, basic design concepts, and color theory. Controllable qualities of light are investigated and demonstrated through students' participation on a lighting crew for a department production. Design techniques are developed through a complete lighting design project. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed.Instructor: Scott Pinkney
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Introduces basic costume patterning and construction methods. Students not only study draping, drafting, and flat-patterning, but also learn terminology, equipment usage, and the skills necessary to the entire costuming process. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed.Instructor: Laurie Bramhall
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Introduces the fundamental principles of design. Students learn how proficiency in a core set of design skills can lead to effective performance in a variety of theatrical and commercial production situations. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed.Instructor: Luciana Stecconi
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Presents a comprehensive study of the art of traditional make-up for the stage. Through the use of cosmetics and prosthetics, students learn to execute corrective, character, and age make-up. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed. Co-requisite: TH 347.Instructor: Robert Fitz
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Students develop an understanding of the basic principles of costume design, character analysis, and costume design presentation. Lectures and class discussions prepare students to confront specific problems in design projects. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed.Instructor: Nadine Grant
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Introduces the theatrical design process and personnel within the regional theatre model. Emphasis is placed on the interconnection between the various design areas and their function in the process of making theatre. Students explore script analysis from the designer's point of view, review various production styles and venues, and experience current production design approaches. This course exposes students to some of the basic skills and processes employed by theatrical designers. Students are expected to supply appropriate materials as needed and attend selected theatrical productions.Instructor: Janie Howland
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Studies the tools of lighting, principles of electricity, and the technical electrical skills required to become safe and proficient as a theatrical electrician as well as the process of creating paperwork, budgeting shows, and leading crews as a master electrician.Instructor: Alex Brandt
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Examines the basis of public education and the teaching process from a theoretical and methodological viewpoint. Multiple perspectives are employed to investigate these issues, including, but not limited to, the philosophical, historical, sociological, psychological, economic, and political. Required course for initial licensure as a Teacher of Theatre.Instructor: Bethany Nelson
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Explores the theory and practice of arts management, with particular focus on theatre management. Extensive readings in arts management provide a foundation for further work in the field.Instructors: Heather Fields Stern, Sara Glidden
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The fundamentals of stage management explored through readings, discussion, written exercises, and appropriate hands-on experience.Instructor: Debra Acquavella
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Introduces students to the art and skill of play analysis, with an eye toward production and cultural significance. Students learn building blocks of dramatic structure and analyze how structure contributes to the understanding of a play. They study plays, critical essays, and performances spanning 25 centuries of Western theatrical practice. Part of the class time is devoted to mapping the structures of the plays and analyzing how these structures may be used to create textually supported interpretations both on stage and in writing. Students explore the material through lecture, discussion, videos, and group activities.Instructor: Joshua Polster
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Unarmed theatrical combat techniques suitable for both stage and screen are taught, including: shared-weight illusions and grappling, contact and non-contact strikes, and falls and rolls. Another unit focuses on incorporating combat props such as knives and found objects. Scene work ranges from classical to modern to self-scripted. This is an acting class using physical lines of dialogue; students bring all of their acting, voice, and movement skills to bear on this work.Instructor: Ted Hewlett
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bet on share pricesTH321 - Introduction to Fight Direction (4 Credits)Stage Managers, Directors, and Theatre Educators will frequently need to deal with productions that involve staged violence, sometimes without the expertise of a professional Fight Director. This class will introduce students to fundamental techniques and principles so that they can safely stage simple conflicts, as well as know when it is imperative to bring in a Fight Director to maintain safety for actors, crew, and audience members. Course work includes: hand to hand combat; swordplay; weapons maintenance; firearm safety; fight notation; blood illusions; how to be a fight captain and run fight calls; and communicating effectively with Fight Directors and other members of the creative team.Instructor: Ted Hewlett
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Prepares acting students for work on camera. Students explore the actor's relationship both to the camera and to the medium. Coursework includes improvisation, monologue, and scene work. A portion of the course is devoted to "the business of acting" with special attention to film and television auditioning. Technical skill for film and television performance and an introduction to the element of film production (script/story structure, editing, lighting, and cinematography) are components of the course.Instructor: Ken Cheeseman
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Continues the actor?s work of experiencing voice and language in a free body as a means to develop versatile and intelligible speech. Using specific Linklater Sound and Movement exercises as a bridge to text and as a physical connection to phonetics, students explore and expand the actor?s range, stamina, and expressive ability. Students use these tools, along with Paul Meier?s textbook, Accents and Dialects for Stage and Screen, to acquire British Standard (RP), Cockney, Irish, German, Russian, New York, and American Southern dialects as well as other specialty dialects as time allows. The goal of the class is to expand the actor?s choices of speech and vocal expression and to acquaint her/him with the resources necessary to learn dialects.Instructor: Amelia Silberman
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Intensive discovery of acting technique that builds on the first two years of voice and movement/improvisation work to ensure a personal commitment in the way a student studies and experiences scene work through the vocabulary of intentions, actions, obstacles, subtext, and objectives. This studio course integrates experiences in voice, movement, and acting work through team teaching. Significant personal and group preparation is required outside of class time. At least four additional hours per week are protected in the schedule of all students to facilitate this important work. May be repeated once for credit. Prerequisite: BFA Acting majors only who have successfully completed a faculty review, audition, and TH 222. Co-requisite: TH 326.Instructors: Kathleen Donohue, Sarah Hickler
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Continuation of the intensive studio training work of TH 325 students in the BFA program in Acting. This studio course integrates experiences in voice, movement, and acting work through team teaching. Significant personal and group preparation is required outside of class time. At least four additional hours per week are protected in the schedule of all students to facilitate this important work. May be repeated once for credit. Prerequisite: BFA Acting majors only who have successfully completed a faculty review, audition, and TH 222. Co-requisite: TH 325.Instructors: Ted Hewlett, Lauren Hallal
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Intensive technique work in acting and musical theatre repertoire. Significant personal and group preparation is required outside of class. Semester includes specific instruction in "clean singing." Prerequisite: BFA Musical Theatre majors only who have successfully completed a faculty review, audition, and TH 222. Co-requisite: TH 329 or TH 429.Instructor: Scott LaFeber
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Continuation of the intensive studio training work of TH 327 for students in the BFA program in Musical Theatre. Scenes from musical theatre and plays as well as advanced musical solo work are considered. Significant personal and group preparation is required outside of class. Semester includes specific work in dialects. Prerequisite: TH 327. Co-requisite: TH 329 or TH 429.Instructor: Scott LaFeber
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Students are assigned to class by skill level as determined by musical theatre and dance faculty. Students explore various styles of musical theatre dance and hone their audition and performance skills. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: BFA Musical Theatre majors only who have successfully completed a faculty review, audition, and TH 222. Co-requisite: TH 327, TH 328, TH 427, or TH 428.Instructor: Jennifer Farrell
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Students learn to use the technology of computer assisted drafting (CAD) to communicate common graphical information required in theatre design and technology. This includes the creation of ground plans, elevations, section views, orthographic views, technical details, and light plots. Students produce both electronic files and printed documents that conform to accepted theatre graphics standards. The techniques of 3D modeling and rendering are also introduced.Instructor: Keith Cornelius
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Presents approaches to lighting design and poses specific design problems for students to solve. Attention is also given to color, composition, cueing, and production through presentations and discussions in class. Students participate in department productions as assistant designers and electricians. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed.Instructor: Scott Pinkney
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Builds on the experience of fundamental level coursework. Students develop methods for solving the practical and aesthetic problems that a professional designer, working in theatre and allied fields, will encounter. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed.Instructor: Luciana Stecconi
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2 credits This basic course in the art of film and television make-up effects includes the use of refined cosmetics and prosthetic techniques to execute character, age, and casting molds to create appliances for extreme stylistic character make-up on a studio partner. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed.Corequisite: TH247.Instructor: Robert Fitz
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Explores advanced design principles and processes in all areas of costume design. Students experience the complete process of designing costumes for a given project, including (a) creating and presenting the design concept; (b) developing appropriate paperwork for counting, building, and running costumes; and (c) budgeting specs and rendering final sketches. Students produce a portfolio of work and learn to communicate professionally with other members of the theatrical production team. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed.Instructor: Nadine Grant
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This course explores the theory and methods of participatory design and research, including design thinking, human-centered design, participatory action research, speculative design, and more. Students will learn about the history of participatory methods and its evolution from the mid-twentieth century to the present day and be encouraged to think critically about how these methods are used today across the private and public sectors. They will gain hands-on experience organizing design workshops, conceptualizing design problems, and working with the Engagement Lab to facilitate real world processes. PA students will learn to apply their skills in theater to facilitating design processes and/or learn methods for seeking public input into the design of performances.Instructor: Eric Gordon
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A detailed exploration of the theory and practice of arts management using current case studies from within the field. Exploration will include extensive readings, guest speakers, research, group discussions and writing exercises.Instructor: David Colfer
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Addresses the students' needs for comprehensive intermediate instruction, primarily focusing on the position of the assistant stage manager and how he or she functions not only within the stage management team but also as a collaborator/facilitator on plays and musicals.Instructor: Heather Fields Stern
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Major principles of play directing are studied. Through comprehensive script analysis, students become familiar with the structure of a play as a basis on which the various elements of theatre can be organized to achieve dramatic unity. Laboratory application of directing practices introduces students to the techniques employed by a director to communicate with actors and audience, including principles of composition, movement, stage business, and rhythm.Instructors: Maureen Shea, Spiro Veloudos
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Working from the reading and analysis of contemporary plays, from discussions of contemporary theatrical techniques, and from exercises through which the student writer gains access to personal material, the major focus of the semester is the writing and revision of several drafts of at least 1 one-act play suitable for production on stage. Pieces, scenes, and whole plays are read in class and active participation in the workshop process is a required component of the course.Instructor: Andrew Clarke
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Examines the development and language of multidisciplinary art from the 20th century to the present day, with reference to specific artists, trends, and movements. Lectures, slide and video presentations, museum visits, student research, reading, writing, and in-depth experiential processes address how different artistic disciplines inform one another and come together in visual art performance and installations. Culminates in final presentations of multidisciplinary work by student groups documenting and mapping sources, methods, and process of their collaborations.Instructor: Brian Cronin
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This course will study some of the major artistic innovations that helped to shape U.S. theatre, and the seminal plays, productions and practitioners. Topics to be discussed will include the Theatre of Chance, Absurdist Theatre, the Theatre of Cruelty, Musical Theatre, Actos and Epic Theatre, Performance Art, Intercultural Theatre and Documentary Theatre. This course will also focus on current productions and presentations in Boston.Instructor: Joshua Polster
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Provides theoretical and critical background to the profession of dramaturgy. Explores the history of dramaturgy as well as different professional venues and the variety of tasks that dramaturges perform within a particular venue. Introduces students to the areas of dramatic criticism (theatre critics and scholars, translators, script analysts, and editors), literary office dramaturgy (new script analysis, season planning, literary management of the theatre, etc.), and production dramaturgy (working with the director, audience outreach, new play development, etc.).Instructor: Robert Duffley
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Introduces three weapons commonly found in plays and films: broadsword (for example, from Richard III or The Lord of the Rings); quarterstaff (such as in Robin Hood or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon); and rapier and dagger (think Romeo and Juliet or The Three Musketeers). Students explore the fundamentals of creating safe illusions of violence using footwork, distance, targeting, blocks, strikes, and simulated wounds and kills. Scene work focuses on classical material. This is an acting class using physical lines of dialogue; students bring all of their acting, voice, and movement skills to bear on this work.Instructor: Ted Hewlett
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In this unique class, students will embark on a multidisciplinary journey involving Journalism, Creative Writing (Fiction and Non-Fiction), Literary Research, Editing, Playwriting, Dramaturgy, and finally Acting via intensive rehearsal and performance. Students begin by identifying a topic they are passionate about. They then generate and gather material, through interviewing, their own writing, and researching related literature and media materials. Students then shape and edit their material into a working script for a ten minute solo play. The last month is spent rehearsing, both in class and in required individual rehearsals outside of class. The course ends with Curricular Project Presentations of the plays in mid-April. This is a demanding class, but also one in which students receive an enormous amount of individual attention, support, and guidance at every stage of the process. And each student will end the semester with a meticulously constructed solo play that can then be used as the core for a longer dramatic or literary piece, for audition monologues, for applications to advanced classes and degrees in creative writing, dramaturgy, playwriting, cultural anthropology, etc.Instructor: Jonathan Fried
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In this course students will collaboratively devise an original ensemble performance under the guidance of Rinde Eckert that will be produced in Emerson Stage?s season in the spring. Rinde is an award winning interdisciplinary performer, actor, director, writer, composer, librettist and musician, and the Performing Arts Department?s Waldeman Chair. With virtuosic command of gesture, movement, language and song, this total theater artist moves beyond the boundaries of what a `play,? a `dance,? or `musical? might be. This is a rare opportunity for upper class students of any Performing Arts major to experiment, collaborate and perform innovative work with the expert guidance of an extraordinary theater artist. If you are interested in registering for this class, please email Sarah Hickler at sarah_hickler@ bet on share prices www.mamasmeatballsphilly.com no later than March 22.Instructor: Rinde Eckert
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Action Theater? is a training system in physical theater improvisation that integrates vocal, physical, and verbal skills while connecting to the agility of the imagination. Exercises isolate the components of action -time, space, shape, and energy- so they can be examined, experienced, and altered in order to expand the expressive range and palette. The work provides tools to examine one's perceptive and responsive process, and address habits that limit one's ability to remain embodied, engaged, and in the moment. Students apply these skills to structured solo and ensemble improvisational performance.Instructor: Cassandra Tunick
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Continuation of the intensive studio training work of TH 325 and TH 326 for students in the BFA program in Acting. Scene study problems move toward issues of style, including a range of aesthetic and acting style issues. This studio course integrates experiences in voice, movement, stage combat (including unarmed and Elizabethan rapier), and acting work through team teaching. Significant personal and group preparation is required outside of class time. At least four additional hours per week are protected in the schedule of all students to facilitate this important work. Co-requisite: TH 426.Instructors: Craig Mathers, Risher Reddick
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Continuation of the intensive studio training work of TH 425 for students in the BFA program in Acting. Beyond continued scene work, significant attention is paid to audition technique and to a thorough orientation to the profession and the business of acting. This studio course integrates experiences in voice, movement, and acting work through team teaching. Significant personal and group preparation is required outside of class time. At least four additional hours per week are protected in the schedule of all students to facilitate this important work. Co-requisite: TH 425.Instructors: Cassandra Tunick, Nathaniel Justiniano
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An intensive investigation of pop-rock styles, both in pure pop repertoire and contemporary musical theatre repertoire, in solo work and scenes. The semester culminates in individual cabaret performances, created by the students themselves. Co-requisite: TH 329 or TH 429.Instructor: Diane DiCroce
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Senior-level BFA Musical Theatre majors continue the exploration of musical theatre genres and styles as they spend the semester working strictly on works by emerging composers. The composers are invited to visit and participate in classes, creating opportunities for networking and connecting with the artists who are creating new works of musical theatre. In addition, one class per week is devoted to preparations for the Senior Showcase, which is performed for students, families, and industry professionals during commencement weekend. Co-requisite: TH 329 or TH 429.Instructor: Diane DiCroce
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Students are assigned to class by skill level, as determined by musical theatre and dance faculty. Students explore various styles of musical theatre dance and hone their audition and performance skills. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: BFA Musical Theatre majors only who have successfully completed a faculty review, audition, and TH 222. Co-requisite: TH 327, TH 328, TH 427, or TH 428.Instructor: Rachel Bertone
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Explores Shakespeare?s poetry through the body and voice as a way not only of avoiding intellectual pitfalls but also as a path to nurture and experience this poetry through embodied vibration, sensation and image. Rhetorical structure and devices are explored as well in the manner, via the body rather than the brain.Instructor: Sarah Hickler
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The advanced acting course centers on the acting technique of Michael Chekhov and employs his ?psycho-physical? approach to the craft of acting. Working via movement and the body?s inherent capacity to experience space, direction, and image, we will explore the actor?s impulse to transform. Psycho-physical exercises will be employed to introduce students to the foundational work and, from this platform, discoveries will then be applied to group and solo scripted work as well as scenes.Instructor: Craig Mathers
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Based on the Linklater Voice Method, this course roots the actor?s work in the experience of breath, voice, body, and language. It is an advanced re-exploration and deepening of the work from first-year Voice and Text. Students are guided through the Linklater Voice Progression with greater sophistication and hands-on experience. Rather than strive to get through a certain amount of work, this course is more about finding presence within the work and supporting each individual?s journey and growth. Questions explored include: Why do I want to free my voice? How can I approach text and not lose the connection to my breath and voice, especially when I am speaking words that are not my own? Additional sound and movement exercises, journaling and self-scripting, and group and individual work on found text are incorporated to provide the actor with many opportunities to communicate fully and open up all the channels for listening and responding.Instructor: Melissa Healey
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An introduction to the principles of audio engineering in the context of live sound reinforcement and theatrical sound reproduction. Topics include: understanding the qualitative characteristics of sound, basic principles of acoustics and the components of sound systems including microphones, loudspeakers, mixers and signal processors.Instructor: Steven Deptula
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Introduces the organization of the scene shop, tool maintenance and usage, construction techniques, technical drawing development, computer applications, rigging, and time and material budgeting. Students complete class projects and work on Emerson Stage productions. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed. May be repeated for credit.Instructor: Keith Cornelius
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Examines the philosophy behind the teaching of theatre and the use of drama as an educational tool in classroom, workshop, and production settings. Students learn to assess the learning needs of their students, develop appropriate educational goals, and design and implement teaching strategies. There are 40 hours of pre-practicum work, including observations of area theatre and drama classes from grades pre-K through 12. Course is open to any Performing Arts major and others with permission of instructor. It is required for Theatre Education majors seeking initial licensure as a Teacher of Theatre.Instructor: bet on share pricesBethany Nelson
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Students delve more deeply into the philosophy and practice of teaching through drama and theatre. Forty hours of pre-practicum work with students from grades pre-K through 12 is required. Course is required for Theatre Education majors seeking initial licensure as a Teacher of Theatre.Instructor: Bethany Nelson
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Students concurrently enrolled in TH 465, Student Teaching Practicum, also attend this weekly seminar to explore issues, resources, questions, problems, and solutions to the teaching/learning challenges they are facing in their practicum experience. Topics pertinent to beginning teachers, including classroom management strategies and curriculum and lesson plan development are explored. Students reflect on their teaching experiences and critically examine their current and future roles as classroom instructors. Students will understand the need for a community of teachers and gain a sense of confidence about their teaching skills. Co-requisite: TH465.Instructor: Sarah Ploskina
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This course provides an introduction to some of the techniques that make up the arsenal of the Theatre of the Oppressed. Pioneered by Brazilian artist and activist Augusto Boal, these forms were inspired by the pedagogical theories of Paulo Freire and political theater of Bertolt Brecht. Now they are used internationally and have been developed and adapted to countless settings around the world. This introductory level course will engage students with some of the foundational theories and interactive exercises that form the foundation of this work. All students will do embodied and performance work but no performance experience is necessary.Instructor: Lizzy Cooper Davis
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Introduces students to a variety of perspectives and approaches to multicultural education. Includes an exploration of the range of issues involved in this complex topic, such as curricular and teaching issues, social and behavioral issues, bilingual education, testing systems, tacking, and unequal power dynamics. Also focuses on the ways in which drama and theater can facilitate change in these areas.Instructor: Bethany Nelson
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In this advanced course of study, students develop the required practical skills necessary for the design and execution of a theatrical production design. Students further develop the ability to analyze a script, song, or score and translate the ideas therein into visual images. They learn to move a design from concept to completion under the actual "in theatre" conditions, while still maintaining a safe, constructive learning environment. They put into actual practice the equipment, methods, procedures, and skills necessary to implement a successful design. Students are expected to provide appropriate materials as needed.Instructor: Scott Pinkney
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Provides students with the additional tools, techniques, and information to build the bridge from practicing stage management in an educational environment to the professional theatre or MFA program through in-depth study of the Actor's Equity Rules, creation of complex repertory rehearsal schedules of multiple productions, and hands-on training exercises of calling musical show cues with lighting, automation, and fly to music with cue lights.Instructor: Debra Acquavella
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This comprehensive course covers the organizational, business, legal, accounting, marketing, and job execution strategies necessary to succeed in the business side of the design arena. It approaches issues relevant to the requirements forming a business entity; admission to and interaction with professional trade unions and exploration of producing organizations; issues of insurance, bookkeeping, licenses, and/or permits; preparing a professional resume and portfolio; job strategies using online sources for entry-level work; entrepreneurial opportunities; and interaction with allied businesses and other topics.Instructor: Scott Pinkney
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Some of the most exciting work in the field today is by artists who are playing with the feedback loop between audience and actors to create experiences that cannot be replicated in other art forms. But how does a director create such work? What rules, if any, exist when dealing with ever-changing audiences? How does a director help an audience know how to properly engage with work that does not ask them to sit back and simply watch? This class challenges students to use their previously honed skills in analyzing texts, collaborating with designers, and working with actors to experiment with different levels of audience engagement. Students study current practitioners working at each level, and explore the unique obstacles inherent to such work.Instructor: Damon Krometis
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Instructor: Debra Acquavella
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Includes, but is not limited to, the study of dramaturgical elements in the work of contemporary and classic playwrights, as well as continued study of story development, structure, and the use of dialogue. Students present a variety of work in class, their own and the work of others, looking at plays from the perspective of the actor, director, designer and, most importantly, the audience. By the end of the semester, students complete the first draft of a newly conceived full-length play or the third draft of the one-act play begun in Playwriting I.Instructor: Andrew Clarke
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This course will examine how theatre can be used as a tool to address human rights issues and violations. Students will analyze how theatre in performance, both as an aesthetic product and as a creative process, has the potential to engage both audiences and production members in critical dialogues regarding human rights. We will critically examine dramatic literature, as text and through scene work, in an effort to develop an interdisciplinary vocabulary across human rights & theatre. Students will also have the opportunity to explore curriculum design and development in which dramatic activities are used to address diverse topics in human rights education. We will read both theoretical texts and plays to inform our study of the intersection between human rights and theatre.Instructor: P. Carl
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Introduces the scope, purposes, and history of theatre experiences for children and adolescents. Topics include play reading and analysis, the examination of formal and participatory theatre, and theatre-in-education techniques.Instructor: Robert Colby
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Building on the experience of one directing class, students are instructed in the particular challenges of directing a musical theatre production: from coaching singing and acting performance to staging complex scenes that involve music and dance, from learning the skills needed to create a collaborative atmosphere to understanding the communication skills needed to work well with designers, technicians, stage managers, and all other personnel involved in the production of musical theatre.Instructor: Diane DiCroce
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TH614 - Theatre Studies Seminar Topics: Theatre Without Borders: Transcultural Collaborations (4 Credits)This workshop-style course will be conducted in collaboration with TheTheatreTimes.com, a global theatre portal. Since its launch in November 2016, TheTheatreTimes.com has published over 2,200 articles covering theatre in 80 countries and regions. With 20 thematic sections, more than 140 Regional Managing Editors, over 50 media partners around the world, and 60,000+ followers on social media, TheTheatreTimes.com has grown to be the most far-reaching and comprehensive global theatre portal today. Working in groups and individually, the students will develop their own transcultural online projects centered around the issues of global theatre education, transcultural collaboration, curation, and digital theatre management, publishing and editing. The students will be able to choose and develop their own projects in consultation with the instructor. TheTheatreTimes.com is all- volunteer organization.Instructor: Magda Romanska
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This hands-on course aims to provide students with an overview of documentary theatre, including its foundations in the "Living Newspapers" of the Federal Theatre Project, the work of Anna Deavere Smith, the Tectonic Theater Project, The Civilians, Dan Hoyle, and Eric Jensen and Jessica Blank. In addition to exploring these landmark artists and their works, students will get the opportunity to work as a class to build a documentary play that explores a topic of the class's choosing. Over the course of the semester, students will be guided in the exploration of this topic through discussion, interviews, research, drama games, and writing activities, all of which can be taken into the classroom or community and used with students ages 12 and older. The course serves to empower participants to adapt this theatrical form to meet the needs of their particular students or community, allowing the work to spring from and speak to the issues that matter most to them.Instructor: Melissa Bergstrom
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This course will introduce students to the training and performance-building method devised by Anne Bogart and used by the SITI Company. The Viewpoints provide a framework for collaboration and play while facilitating group improvisations that are highly attuned and surprisingly bold. It is a method that gives performers and their collaborators (directors, designers, composers, etc.) a shared vocabulary for and understanding of the core elements of live performance. This is a physical class for actors and non-actors. No movement experience is necessary.Instructor: Lizzy Cooper Davis
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Voice & Text bases the actor-teacher's work in a fully embodied experience of voice and language. The goal of the course is to cultivate a free voice in a free body, and the ability to express every nuance of thought and feeling with clarity, ease, and truth. The course guides students through an awareness of and release from habitual tensions into a more effective and economical use of the body as an instrument for human communication and expression. Additional focus will be on self-awareness, breathing, resonance, sound and movement, ensemble-building skills, the actor-audience relationship, and the teacher's presence. Classroom discussions will deal with the importance of voice training in theater education, as well as the challenges and pedagogical issues that arise when teaching the material.Instructor: Melissa Healey
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Examines the relationships between theatre and culture, where culture is understood as a process of knowing the other, of looking and listening, of creating and maintaining connection in a community. An examination of theoretical texts in economics, history, sociology, cultural studies, politics, and performance provides a foundation for exploring and experiencing various techniques of making theatre in community.Instructors: Lizzy Cooper Davis, Mara Sidmore
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This course is a comprehensive survey of scene, lighting, and costume design as they relate to the work of the non-design specialist. Emphasis is placed on the interconnection among the various design areas and their function in the process of making theatre. Students are expected to supply appropriate materials.Instructor: Brynna Bloomfield
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Students examine the philosophical foundations of theatre, speech, and the use of drama as an educational tool. They explore the uses of creative drama/improvisation in both formal and informal learning environments. Students learn to assess needs, develop appropriate educational goals and objectives, and design and implement teaching strategies using drama. This course is required for students seeking the Initial License in Massachusetts as a Teacher of Theatre (pre-K through grade 12). Readings, class participation, and participation in laboratory teaching sessions are required.Instructors: Bethany Nelson, Sarah Ploskina
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Students explore the principles of educational drama and the teaching of drama and speech. A survey of various educational resources available to drama and speech teachers is included. The role of drama and speech within the wider context of the arts in education is discussed. This course is required for students seeking the Initial License in Massachusetts as a Teacher of Theatre (pre-K through grade 12).Instructors: Robert Colby, Sarah Ploskina
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Students concurrently enrolled in TH 665, Student Teaching Practicum, also attend this weekly seminar to explore issues, resources, questions, problems, and solutions to the teaching/learning challenges they are facing in their practicum experience. Topics pertinent to beginning teachers, including classroom management strategies and curriculum and lesson plan development are explored. Students reflect on their teaching experiences and critically examine their current and future roles as classroom instructors. Students will understand the need for a community of teachers and gain a sense of confidence about their teaching skills. Prerequisite: Permission of the Theatre Education Program Director. Co-requisite: TH665.Instructor: Sarah Ploskina
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This course will explore the principles and practices of education and community engagement offices at professional theaters. We will learn about initiatives from a diversity of theaters, discuss various goals and pedagogical approaches, and explore the politics of community engagement through the arts. The course will have a significant focus on the Boston-area and include discussions with guests from local theaters.Instructor: Lizzy Cooper Davis
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This course provides an introduction to some of the techniques that make up the arsenal of the Theatre of the Oppressed. Pioneered by Brazilian artist and activist Augusto Boal, these forms were inspired by the pedagogical theories of Paulo Freire and political theater of Bertolt Brecht. Now they are used internationally and have been developed and adapted to countless settings around the world. This course will engage students with some of the foundational theories and interactive exercises that form the foundation of this work.Instructor: Sarah Ploskina
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Introduces students to a variety of perspectives and approaches to solving the "problem" of multicultural education. Includes an exploration of the range of issues involved in this complex topic, such as curricular and teaching issues, social and behavioral issues, bilingual education, testing systems, tracking, and cultural and ethnic power dynamics. Also focuses on the ways in which drama and theatre can facilitate change in these areas.Instructor: Bethany Nelson
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The directorial process is examined, beginning with textual analysis of dramatic action, and covering such areas as ground plans, pictorial composition, movement, and stage action. The relationship of the director and other theater artists is also studied. Student work includes selected scenes and projects prepared for class presentation.Instructor: Courtney O'Connor
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Students prepare and present a graduate project related to educational theater. The project is to be completed independently, but under the supervision of the project supervisor. The performance is recorded as pass/fail at the completion of the project. Prerequisite: departmental permissionInstructors: Diane DiCroce, Lizzy Cooper Davis, Joseph Antoun, Maureen Shea, Melissa Bergstrom, Robert Colby
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Individual conferences with the student's thesis supervisor are held for planning, organizing, writing, and completing a research thesis. The performance is recorded as Pass or Fail at the completion of the thesis.Instructors: Magda Romanska, P. Carl