Department of Dramatic Art

This seminar is designed to get the student doing theatre, sparking creativity, and making connections with the deeper lessons of this dynamic art form. Students will write, stage, and perform their own 10-minute plays.

The course seeks to help students find ways to articulate their own motivations for dress and then apply the ideas they have discovered to the ways in which individuality as well as group attitudes are expressed through clothing. Honors version available.

This seminar examines American drama from its colonial origins to the present as both a literary and commercial art form. The focus throughout will be on the forces that shaped American drama as well as drama's ability to shed light on the national experience. Honors version available.

This course examines how the theatrical designer uses scenery, costumes, and lighting to help create a production. Students will apply these techniques in creating their own design projects.

This course explores the political and social ramifications of documentary theatre in the United States. Students will investigate a local community of their choosing and create an interview-based performance. Honors version available.

This seminar studies the elements of design in their pure form, surveys a history of period styles and theatre, and identifies their causes. Honors version available.

This is a special topics course. Content will vary.

A survey of plays from the Greeks to the present, analyzed through such elements of the dramatic text as action, character, structure, and language. Honors version available.

A survey of the interrelationships of acting, directing, designing, and playwriting through the study of major periods of theatrical expression and representative plays. Honors version available.

A survey of non-Western drama and theatre with emphasis on the historical and aesthetic development of those regions. Honors version available.

Development of the skill to analyze plays for academic and production purposes through the intensive study of representative plays. DRAM 120 is the first course in the major and the minor in dramatic art. Honors version available.

Restricted course. Dramatic writing workshop open only to students in the writing for the screen and stage minor.

Introduction to basic processes and techniques of acting for the stage.

Fundamental principles underlying the effective use of voice and speech in performance.

The course explores how to gain facility in expression and truthfulness in action while communicating through a dramatic song. Challenges include how to navigate a scene that moves into song and how to manage breath and vulnerability in performance. Permission of the instructor required.

Introduction to acting tools, emphasizing playing actions and pursuing an objective by personalized given circumstances. Performance work drawn from short scripted, improvised, and contemporary scenes.

A topical survey of musical theater repertoire from its early inception in 18th-century Europe to current 21st-century incarnations. Various stylistic approaches, historical periods, and creative contributions to the genre will be explored. Examination of case studies through diverse perspectives of class, gender and race will situate the repertoire in a broad artistic and social context.

This course focuses on developing body and mind awareness and undoing habits (including habits of thought) which restrict the performer. The class explores strategies for reducing tension, re-discovering natural alignment, and replacing self-judgement with self-confidence.

Introduction to physical training. Individual/group exercises explore relaxation, breath, concentration, flexibility, and imaginative response that become physical tools for acting. May include stage combat, juggling, mime, improvisation, games, and yoga.

Beginning with a history of physical comedy and performance techniques, this experiential class will explore vulnerability and self-discovery through clown. Students will learn farce techniques which strengthen physical agility and comic timing. Through a process of rediscovering innocence in sound and movement, the student will begin to forget the filter of the socialized body, achieving a heightened presence.

General survey of materials, equipment, and processes used in technical theatre.

This course seeks to strengthen the powers of imagination, courage, spontaneity, and presence of the actor through theatre games and improvisation.

DRAM 191 or 192 required for dramatic art majors. Permission of the instructor for nonmajors. Introduction to equipment, procedures, and personnel in the design and execution of plans for scenery, lighting, properties, and sound for theatrical productions.

DRAM 191 or 192 required for dramatic art majors. Introduction to equipment, procedures, and personnel in the design and execution of costumes for theatrical productions. Permission of the instructor for nonmajors.

Permission of the instructor for nonmajors. Required for the dramatic art major. Practicum in production with PlayMakers Repertory Company in costuming, scenery, lighting, sound, or theatre management.

Permission of the department. May be repeated for credit. Restricted to juniors and seniors majoring in dramatic art. Intensive individual work in major areas of theatrical production: design, technical, directing, acting, playwriting, management.

This course introduces students to theatre histories and cultures from India, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, with reference to Western European/North American traditions. Students will investigate how drama, theatre, and performance develops both within individual cultural milieus and through contact with other cultures.

This course, with a theatre and social justice theme, is structured to give students an understanding of the role of the speaker before the public, the logical and sequential development of an idea, and the methodology for organizing and presenting materials and information. The course will cover information gathering, speech outlining, small group discussion, and provide extemporaneous, informative, and persuasive speaking opportunities.

Permission of the department. A practical course in writing for the stage with studio productions of selected works.

A continuation of DRAM 140.

The process of acting and its relationship to the technical and artistic demands of television/film production. Problems of continuity and out-of-sequence filming. Concentration and thinking on camera.

A deeper exploration of fulfilled actions prompted by an objective, with emphasis on developing techniques required by more formally structured texts such as Sophocles, Molière, Ibsen, Shaw, and Chekhov.

Development of balance, flexibility, strength, focus, grace, and precision through martial art of T'ai Chi Ch'uan. Emphasis on applying T'ai Chi principles to acting. Chinese philosophical bases for T'ai Chi explored.

The course provides practical applications of principles and techniques used in technical theatre. Lectures are supported by individually scheduled workshop sessions where techniques are applied to a theatrical production.

General principles of scenic, costume, and lighting design for the theatre.

An overview of the major functions of management in the American nonprofit theatre including marketing, fundraising, finances, strategy and operations. Presentation skills will be practiced.

Survey of theatre practice and writing from the Greeks to 1700.

Survey of theatre practice and writing from 1700 to 1920.

Survey of theatre practice and writing from 1930 to the present.

May be repeated for credit. Seminar in dramatic theory and criticism with emphasis on the modern period. Honors version available.

Evolution of modern British drama from 1956 through the present. Honors version available.

This course investigates the history and legacy of African American drama through the study of its literary texts, performance styles, and cultural history.

This course assesses different models of theatre for social change through change theory, playwriting, and collaboration. Students will be guided through the process of creating new works.

The study of a topic in dramaturgy, theatrical design, or theatrical production. Content and instructor will vary. May be repeated for credit.

This course considers the anatomy and diversity of the American musical, exploring its history and aesthetics and employing an interdisciplinary approach to examining and celebrating its shows, sounds, stars, structures, styles, and sensibilities, within the genre's dominant contexts of Broadway, Hollywood, and Utopia.

An introduction to the principles of arts criticism through study of the work of a variety of critics, by distinguishing between the nature of criticism and reviewing the arts (both performing and plastic), and through the students' own practice of critical writing by means of a series of short essays.

Generally limited to majors. An introductory course in the principles of stage directing; analysis for concept, organization of production, and methodology of staging.

A practical course in writing for the theatre, taught at an advanced level.

Practice in the techniques necessary for successful auditions for the theatre. Previously offered as DRAM 134. Permission of the instructor.

Development of the actor's technique in verse drama with emphasis on scansion and textual analysis as guidelines for actions, characterization, and given circumstances. Scene and monologue work drawn from the works of Shakespeare.

This course aims to provide an in-depth understanding of projection mapping in the context of theatre and entertainment design. Through a combination of theoretical and hands-on learning, students will gain the skills necessary to conceptualize, design, and implement projection mapping projects.

Permission of the department. Individual programs or internship in acting, directing, design, management, and playwriting under the guidance of professional practitioners in conjunction with PlayMakers Repertory Company or other professional theatre organizations.

As image makers, the work we do has a powerful and lasting impact on perception. When writing beyond ourselves and our experience, special care must be given the development of characters and exploration of the world of the play. This class explores the impact of social identity on playwriting and how we can use the power of storytelling to reflect a greater vision for humanity.

Permission of the department. A study of the basic principles and practices of modern stage management.

The study of general principles of sound design for the theatre. Theory and application of sound design techniques for the stage, including script analysis, staging concepts, special effects, sound plots, and technology.

Permission of the instructor. General principles of visual design as applied to scenery for the theatre. Instruction in standard techniques of planning and rendering scene design.

Permission of the instructor. Studies and practicum in play analysis and costume design for the theatre. Instruction in techniques of planning and rendering costume design.

Permission of the instructor. General principles of lighting design as applied to the performing arts. Theory and instruction in standard techniques of lighting for the stage.

A survey of historic costume forms from ancient Egypt to the present time. Honors version available.

This seminar seeks to introduce students to the principles of arts criticism through study of the work of a variety of different critics, by distinguishing between the nature of criticism and reviewing the arts, and through the students' own practice of critical writing.

This course explores the historical and aesthetic development of Latin American theatre, focusing on particular factors that distinguish this theatre from the Western European tradition.

Investigation of United States Latino/a theatre texts and performance practices as a discreet genre. United States Latino/a theatre will be distinguished from the dominant culture, and the diversity of forms and styles will be discussed.

Arts management issues taught through analysis of case studies. Course includes management theories, organizational structures, and current issues.

Practicum in theatre management procedures and business of the theatre involving box office, audience development, research, publicity, operational, and contract procedures in regard to artists, technicians, managers, and producers. Students actively engage in management areas of the PlayMakers Repertory Company and productions of the Department of Dramatic Art.

Permission of the instructor. Taught in a four-semester rotation. May be repeated for credit for a total of six hours for undergraduates and 12 hours for graduate students. Series of topics in costume for use in design and production for the stage.

Advanced costume production techniques with an emphasis on millinery. Undergraduates-Instructor permission only. Permission of the instructor.

Permission of the instructor. Advanced costume production techniques with an emphasis on creating masks and armor.

Advanced costume production techniques with an emphasis on decorative arts, with an emphasis on fans and shoes. This class requires permission of the instructor.

The study of a topic in dramaturgy, theatrical design, or theatrical production for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. Content and instructor will vary. May be repeated for credit.

Required preparation, one performance studies course above COMM 400. Permission of the instructor for students lacking the required preparation. Project-based class where students acquire skills and critical approaches to create collaborative, professional, multimedia works.

Study of proportions and the effects of corsetry and body padding to body proportions. This class requires permission of the instructor.

Required preparation, 3.3 cumulative grade point average and permission of the department. The commencement of a special project (essay or creative endeavor), approved by the department, by a student who has been designated a candidate for undergraduate honors.

Permission of the department. The completion of a special project by a student who has been designated a candidate for undergraduate honors.

Close study of the interrelationships between theory and practice in contemporary world theatre, placing developments in their cultural contexts, and exploring current theatrical trends in an international framework.