Spring 2009 Courses
Theatre, History and Culture III
Theatre Arts 112-401 Tuesday & Thursday 12 Noon to 1:30 pm
Cross-listed with Engl 098-401
Cary Mazer
This course will examine the interplay of theatrical theory, theatrical practice, and dramatic writing, in relation to contemporaneous societies and cultures, from the first experiments in penetrating the boundaries of "realism” at the end of the nineteenth century, through the present day. Areas of exploration include the invention of the avant garde, the rise of the auteur-director, political theatre, competing theories about the actor's body and the actor's emotions, performance art, feminist theatre, queer theatre, and the integration of non-western theatre into shared theatre practice in the colonial and post-colonial world.
Playwriting Workshop
Theatre Arts 114-401 Monday 2 pm to 5 pm
Cross-listed with Engl 114-401
Kate Fodor
This course is designed as a hands-on workshop in the art and craft of dramatic writing. It involves the study of existing plays, the systematic exploration of such elements as storymaking, plot, structure, theme, character, dialogue, setting, etc.; and most importantly, the development of students' own plays through a series of written assignments and in-class exercises. Since a great deal of this work takes place in class - through lectures, discussions, spontaneous writing exercises, and the reading of student work - weekly attendance and active participation is crucial.
Introduction to Acting
Theatre Arts 120
Section 120-301 Wednesday 2:00 to 5:00 pm Marcia Ferguson
Section 120-302 Monday 3:00 to 6:00 pm Mary Beth Scallen
Section 120-601 Monday 6:00 to 9:00 pm James Schlatter
This section 601 is offered through the College of Liberal & Professional Studies, formerly CGS.
Rooted in the system devised by Konstantin Stanislavsky, this course takes students step by step through the practical work an actor must do to live and behave truthfully on-stage. Beginning with relaxation and physical exercise, interactive games, and ensemble building, students then learn and put into practice basic acting techniques, including sensory work, the principles of action, objectives, given circumstances, etc. The semester culminates in the performance of a scene or scenes, most often from a modern American play. This course strongly stresses the responsibility of the actor to work and especially to one's fellow actors. Practical work is supplemented by readings from Stanislavsky and a variety of other acting theorists, that may include Uta Hagen, Robert Cohen, Stella Adler, among others. Students are required to submit short essays over the course of the semester in response to the readings and in preparation for their final scene project.
Introduction to Directing
Theatre Arts 121-301 Tuesday & Thursday 9 am to 10:30 am
Marcia Ferguson
The aim of this course is to provide students with a basic knowledge of directing through an introduction to the functional tools of the craft. Classes provide lectures and practical work in dealing with topics such as the function of the director, analyzing a script, visual composition, blocking, stage business, and working with actors. This course is a prerequisite for Advanced Directing.
The Play
Theatre Arts 125-301 Tuesday & Thursday 3 pm to 4:30 pm
Rosemary Malague
How does one read a play? Theatre, as a discipline, focuses on the traditions of live performance. In those traditions, a play text must be read not only as a piece of literature, but as a kind of "blueprint" from which productions are built. This course will introduce students to a variety of approaches to reading plays and performance pieces. Drawing on a wide range of dramatic texts from different periods and places, we will examine how plays are made, considering issues such as structure, genre, style, character, and language, as well as the use of time, space, and theatrical effects. Although the course is devoted to the reading and analysis of plays, we will also view selected live and/or filmed versions of several of the scripts we study, assessing their translation from page to stage.
Introduction to Light, Set and Costume
Theatre Arts 130-301 Tuesday 3 pm to 6 pm
Eric Baratta
This course will introduce students to the traditional elements of scenic composition, including stage scenery and props, lighting, costume and sound design. Students will gain an appreciation for the breadth of historic scenic convention as well as an understanding of the roles played by historic convention in modern stagecraft. Theatrical relationships between actor/audience/setting/text will be examined using the analysis of play scripts, theatre history, theoretical writings, illustrations and other media as a series of case studies. Emphasis will be given to an understanding of the role of design and technology in the transformational event of the theatre production, and the various contextual approaches that inform the design process, including the role of the theatre designer/technician as artist and collaborator within the framework of the production team. Project work in this course includes design studies, research and critical writing, project presentation, and a practicum project associated with the Theatre Arts Program production schedule.
Concepts of Lighting
Theatre Arts 131-301 Monday & Wednesday 2 pm to 3:30 pm
Course will meet in the Performing Arts Shop
Peter Whinnery
An introduction to the nature and value of lighting in the theatre, emphasizing its functions, history, resources, techniques, and design.
Concepts of Stage Design
Theatre Arts 133-301 Monday & Wednesday 3:30 pm to 5 pm
Permission of Instructor
Peter Whinnery
Course will meet in the Performing Arts Shop
A history of the development of twentieth-century stage design and the exploration of the design process. Project work in the realization of stage designs through drafting, rendering, and model building.
Movement for the Actor
Theatre Arts 171-301 Wednesday 3 pm to 6 pm
Manfred Fishbeck
The study of the art of bodily expression throughout history in theory and practice, from Classical and Oriental forms to the contemporary theatre.
Independent Study
Theatre Arts 199 arranged
Acting & Directing Lab
Theatre Arts 250-301 Tuesday & Thursday 10:30 am to 12 Noon
Permission of Instructor
James Schlatter
This course will explore the close working relationship between the director and the actor through the rehearsal and presentation of selected scenes from modern American and European plays. The semester will culminate in a public performance of a final major project. Students will enroll in the class as either directors or actors. The work will begin with classic American realism, move into modern European playwrights such as Chekhov and Ibsen, and venture beyond realism into other modern theatrical forms such as Absurdism and Expressionism. The course is structured as a practical workshop in which scenes are presented, discussed, and then presented again after further rehearsal. Focus will be given to effective text analysis, strong character development, and coherent theatrical vision. This course will also satisfy the Advanced Acting or Directing course requirement for majors seeking to do a Senior Thesis project. Those students who have already taken Advanced Acting or Advanced Directing may still take this course for credit. Class work will be supplemented by readings on the rehearsal process and technique, and attendance at local Philadelphia theatre productions.
Backstage Drama in Theatre and Film (Advanced Topics in Theatre)
Theatre Arts 275-401 Tuesday & Thursday 12 Noon to 1:30 pm
Cross-listed with Cine 225-401
Marcia Ferguson
Inviting audiences into a special relationship with illusion, backstage dramas and plays-within-plays reach beyond and alongside traditional plot-driven narratives to reflect on the process of representation itself. This course will examine a variety of plays and films that deal directly or indirectly with this phenomenon. From All About Eve to Marat/Sade to Being John Malkovich, from Shakespeare to Moliere to Pirandello, playwrights and filmmakers have used this device to elicit specific kinds of reactions and reflections from viewers. An examination of the workings of mimesis and metadrama, among other critical concepts, will help us articulate the complex network of responses and underlying assumptions (whether cultural, political, or social), about art and life, that these works engage.
Blackface, Yellowface, Redface, Jewface: Theatrical Representations of “Others.”
(Topics in Theatre History)
Theatre Arts 240-401 Tuesday & Thursday 10:30 am to 12 Noon
Cross-listed with Engl 376-401
Cary Mazer
This semester’s Topic in Theatre History focuses on the theatrical, dramatic, and histrionic representations of “Others” in select periods of theatrical history. Topics include (among others) the “barbarian” in ancient Greek theatre; representations of Africans, Turks, indigenous Americans, and Jews in Early Modern English theatre; Asians, Indians and Africans in Restoration and 18th-century theatre; Blackface plays (Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Octoroon) and popular entertainment (the minstrel show and vaudeville) in 19th- and early 20th-century America; issues of non-traditional casting in contemporary theatre; the Miss Saigon controversy; and modernist and post-modern theatre and performance art (Anna Deavere Smith, The Wooster Group, et. al.).
Contemporary American Theatre and Drama (Advanced Topics in Theatre)
Theatre Arts 275-402 Tuesday & Thursday 1:30 pm to 3 pm
Cross-listed with Engl 256-402
James Schlatter
Historically, great civic and national cultures have been identified with, and at times defined by, their great theatres. Today, in America, theatre is thriving due to the immense creativity of our playwrights and other theatre artists, the enthusiastic engagement of a wide audience, and a passionate commitment to critical social issues and political debate. This course will investigate the contemporary American theatre as an indispensable asset in helping our country sustain a vigorous public culture. It will also enable us to create a collective portrait of who we are as a culture at a very critical time in our history. This course will examine a range of new plays by authors such as Neil LaBute, Sara Ruhl, August Wilson, Tracy Letts, among others. Students will research major theatre companies, both traditional and experimental, and individual theatre artists who are continually forging new work. The course will include attendance at local Philadelphia theatres and a New York theatre trip at the end of the semester.
Transgressive Performance: (Advanced Topics in Theatre)
Theatre and Film That Question Gender, Sexual Identity and Sexuality.
Theatre Arts 275-601 Tuesday & Thursday 5 pm to 6:30 pm
Cross-listed with CINE 225 601 & ENGL 256 601
David Fox
This class is offered through the College of Liberal & Professional Studies, formerly CGS.
From the shocking frankness of Mae West's SEX to the "love that dare not speak its name" of Lillian Hellman's THE CHILDREN'S HOUR; from the repressed blondes of Hitchcock to the bawdy pistol-packers of Sam Peckinpah; from the joyless partying of Mart Crowley's THE BOYS IN THE BAND to the joyous self-invention of Charles Busch's THEODORA: SHE-BITCH OF BYZANTIUM -- theatre has explored and altered our notions of gender, sexual identity and sexuality. In this course, we will look at 20th Century plays, films, entertainments, and performers that have broken the rules. Queer, drag and camp theatre will be prominent topics, and we will include plays and musicals by Tony Kushner (ANGELS IN AMERICA) and William Finn (FALSETTOS); performance art by Lypsinka and Dame Edna Everage; cabaret and musical performances; bizarre paratheatrical phenomena (Paris Hilton); and more. We will also study material that breaks taboos of heterosexual behavior (FIGHT CLUB, SEX AND THE CITY).
Senior Thesis
Theatre Arts 299 arranged
REHEARSAL & PERFORMANCE: Crimes of the Heart
Theatre Arts 350-301 Meets primarily evenings, 7:00-11:00 p.m. until production.
Permission needed from instructor through audition or interview.
Rosemary Malague Director/ Instructor
Production has been cast; staff positions still available.
This course is designed to provide students with deep intellectual and artistic immersion into the theatrical process through intensive research, rehearsal, and performance of a full-length stage piece. Students may enroll in this course as actors (by audition only) or as assistant directors, stage managers, dramaturgs, or designers (by permission of the instructor). Theatre Arts 350 may be taken multiple times, as the research and performance process will be different for every project. Each semester, the faculty-directed play will be featured in the Theatre Arts Program production season.