Courses

Students must fulfil assigned technical crew responsibilities during the semester.

Students must fulfil assigned technical crew responsibilities during the semester.

The study of lighting theory and practice for the stage: fundamentals of light, basics of electricity, lighting equipment and its use, historical overview of lighting for theatre productions, examination of current lighting methodology, introduction to lighting design. This course is two hours of lecture and four hours of lab each week.

An introduction to the principles of design and their application for the theatre. Includes: (1) play analysis focusing on visual and spatial design requirements; (2) research into period styles as well as practise in adapting and recreating styles for the stage; and; (3) drawing, mechanical drafting, painting, and model making. Attendance at outside performances may be required.

A study of the art and practice of directing, this course begins with an understanding of the director's role and an appreciation for the traits of successful directors. Students read basic directing theory, analyze play scripts, direct scenes, and critique the work of other directors. Activities are designed to develop students' communication and conceptualization skills, aesthetic sense, and critical faculties. Students have opportunity to observe directors at work and to attend guest lectures by professional directors.

Playwriting is a workshop course designed for any student interested in developing their storytelling skills by writing for the stage. Students will study major components of playwriting, including dramatic formatting, structure, plot and character development, writing actionable dialogue, analysis, dramaturgy, and more. Students will deepen their understanding of these components and of the creative process through writing exercises, pitching ideas, reading work out loud, and respectfully providing and receiving feedback. By the end of the semester, students will have written one or more plays.

Theatre History I instils in students the knowledge that to understand the present and prepare for the future, they must first come to terms with the past by engaging in methodical research of archival documents and artifacts from the early years of European and Asian Theatre. In training students to grasp the intimate relation between past events, present circumstances, and future possibilities, this mode of inquiry equips them to apply that past to theatre practice and to become engaged, socially responsible citizens. It also teaches students that all accounts of past events are shaped by the interpretive practices of the historian, enabling them to detect and interrogate the ideological dimension of historiography.

Theatre History II instils in students the knowledge that to understand the present and prepare for the future, they must first come to terms with the past by engaging in methodical research of archival documents and artifacts of the modern and contemporary eras. In training students to grasp the intimate relation between past events, present circumstances, and future possibilities, this mode of inquiry equips them to apply that past to theatre practice and to become engaged, socially responsible citizens. It also teaches students that all accounts of past events are shaped by the interpretive practices of the historian, enabling them to detect and interrogate the ideological dimension of historiography.

An intensive study of selected works by William Shakespeare situated in their Elizabethan and Jacobean contexts. Works studied may include the sonnets, the history plays, Henry IV(Parts 1 and 2) or Henry V; the comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and As You Like It; the problem play, Measure for Measure; the tragedies, King Lear and Macbeth, and the romance Cymbeline.