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Courses

A summary of each course to help with your selection.

Academic Year

Programs

Course ID

Course ID	Course
THTR 325	THTR 325 Playwriting Course Credits: 3 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. Cross-listed: MCOM 362 Prerequisite(s): ENGL 103, 104 NB: Attendance at theatre performances is required.
THTR 331	THTR 331 Theatre History I: Origins to 1660 Course Credits: 3 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. Prerequisite(s): THTR 130, SAMC 111 and 112 NB: Attendance at theatre performances is required. Not offered every year. See department chair.
THTR 332	THTR 332 Theatre History II: 1660 to Present Course Credits: 3 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. Prerequisite(s): THTR 130, SAMC 111 and 112 NB: Attendance at theatre performances is required. Not offered every year. See department chair.
THTR 341	THTR 341 Shakespeare I Course Credits: 3 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. Cross-listed: ENGL 351 Prerequisite(s): 9 sem. hrs. of English and third- or fourth-year standing; or 6 sem. hrs. of English and 3 sem. hrs. of theatre and third- or fourth-year standing; or instructor's consent NB: Not offered every semester. See department chair.
THTR 342	THTR 342 Shakespeare II Course Credits: 3 An intensive study of selected works by William Shakespeare situated in their Elizabethan and Jacobean contexts. Works studied may include Venus and Adonis, the history play, Richard III; the comedy, The Merchant of Venice; the tragedies Titus Andronicus, Hamlet, and Antony and Cleopatra; and the romances, The Winter's Tale and The Tempest. Cross-listed: ENGL 352 Prerequisite(s): 9 sem. hrs. of English and third- or fourth-year standing; or 6 sem. hrs. of English and 3 sem. hrs. of theatre and third- or fourth-year standing; or instructor's consent NB: No overlap with ENGL 351/THTR 341.
THTR 343	THTR 343 Canadian Drama Course Credits: 3 A survey of Canadian plays, starting with the first official play written in North America (a seventeenth-century Canadian play) and progressing to twenty-first-century dramatists and their texts. Students will engage in detailed analyses of plays: their structures, historical/cultural contexts, and present-day relevance. The plays explore a variety of topics and themes, including but not limited to family life, social issues, class struggles, oppression, and marginalization. Students will also read plays about Indigenous culture and plays by Indigenous writers. Cross-listed: ENGL 393 Prerequisite(s): ENGL 103, 104; third- or fourth-year standing or instructor's consent NB: Attendance at theatre performances is required. Not offered every year. See department chair.
THTR 344	THTR 344 Modern Drama Course Credits: 3 A study of eight to ten modern plays—British, American, and Canadian—representing different forms and approaches to drama in the last 100 years. Cross-listed: ENGL 394 Prerequisite(s): 9 sem. hrs. of English and third- or fourth-year standing; or 6 sem. hrs. of English and 3 sem. hrs. of theatre and third- or fourth-year standing; or instructor's consent NB: Attendance at theatre performances is required. Not offered every year. See department chair.
THTR 345	THTR 345 Irish Drama Course Credits: 3 A survey of the dramatic literature of Ireland, focusing on twentieth century plays from Yeats to Beckett and Friel. After a quick review of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the course turns to the drama of Irish nationalism and follows its development into the international arena. Cross-listed: ENGL 395 Prerequisite(s): 9 sem. hrs. of English and third- or fourth-year standing; or 6 sem. hrs. of English and 3 sem. hrs. of theatre and third- or fourth-year standing; or instructor's consent NB: Attendance at theatre performances is required. Not offered every year. See department chair.
THTR 346	THTR 346 American Drama Course Credits: 3 A survey of significant American dramatic literature. Beginning with a brief background of eighteenth and nineteenth century drama influenced by European styles, the course progresses to Eugene O’Neill, widely considered to be the dramatist to define a distinct American voice in the theatre. This course then examines the work of significant playwrights such as Arthur Miller, Lillian Hellman, Tennessee Williams, Tony Kushner, Lorraine Hansberry and others, and includes a component on “the book musical”. Cross-listed: ENGL 396 Prerequisite(s): 9 sem. hrs. of English and third- or fourth-year standing; or 6 sem. hrs. of English and 3 sem. hrs. of theatre and third- or fourth-year standing; or instructor's consent NB: Attendance at theatre performances is required. Not offered every year. See department chair.

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