DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Theatre 111 Backstage Production

THEA 111 explores the methods of theatre stage craft through experiential learning. Students work directly in support of a department production as both individuals and members of a collaborative team. Class focuses on the elements of planning, drafting, tools, and scenic construction. There is limited outside reading, but laboratory work required outside class time.

 

Theatre 130 Theatre and Culture

This course explores Western drama and theatre from its emergence in Ancient Greece through the late English Renaissance. Readings and discussions help students develop a sense of continuity and the broad development trends across many periods. With the assumption that theatrical practitioners must serve every text as best they understand it, students will learn how discerning the stylistic nature and original social significance of a play is foundational to making productions in the contemporary theatre. The use of video and other production documentation will assist the class in understanding and conceiving a broad range of approaches to dramatic texts.

Theatre 131 Theatre and Culture II

This course explores the evolution of Western theatre during a period of enormous change and upheaval: from the Spanish Golden Age through the dawn of the 21st century. Readings and discussions endeavor to help students develop a sense of continuity and the broad shape of development across many periods.

 

 

Theatre 171 Intro to Theatrical Design

Intro to Theatrical Design is a preliminary course designed to introduce both the foundations of theatrical design, and the concept of transforming the written word into events in three dimensional space. Initial projects are abstract, but as the students gain skill and knowledge of the technical aspects of theater we move into real theatrical spaces. The class will view demonstrations and practice basic model building skills as well as learn concepts of scale drafting and the anatomy of a theater groundplan. Throughout the class each student will have an opportunity to present the work of a current working set or lighting designer, pulling information from the internet and from emailed interviews where possible. The instructor will also do a brief presentation of her own work, and a slide lecture highlighting the history of set design. Each student is also required to see a production of live theater, at Guilford College or one of the local professional theaters, and write a review highlighting the effectiveness of the design elements.

 

Theatre 215: Play Analysis

This is a course in play analysis that seeks to develop the analytic, interpretive, and communication skills used by actors, dramaturgs, directors, and designers for a theatre of ideas that responds to and addresses the socio-political “currents” in its community. This particular vision of theatre treats thinking, creating, and entertaining as complementary, rather than conflicting, functions. Thus, the techniques at the heart of the course lay the foundation for thoughtful understanding of drama and perceptive creativity in production. The initial focus is developing skills required to read dramatic literature, which we will view as a blueprint for the production of live theatre. Secondarily, students will learn the specific methodologies of research and analysis used by particular theatre practitioners. Six schools of critical theory help students perceive intellectual content more deeply and develop an awareness of the various angles of vision that different individual readers may have on a text. Finally, because practitioners develop and express their ideas in different forms, the course seeks to help student understand and practice the modes of writing that are most common in the theatre.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.