Drama
Professors BERG (chair), LINDBLADE, WANG; Associate Professor MANLEY, DAVIS GREEN, EDMONDS (by courtesy); Assistant Professor PLATT, Adjunct Associate Professors AMES, DAVIS; Part-time Faculty HERMINJARD, MERCER; Guests in Drama and Dance, SHERMAN, HIJACK, HAPCIC, ALLNUTT, LOVE, FRUGIA, FILLMORE, SUN, HSIEH, TINSLEY-WEEKS; Riley Scholar NUR AMIN; Emeritus Professors JOHNSON, MALCOLM; Lecturers BUTLER, LASMAWAN, Department Coordinator QUINN; Technical Director MEDOVICH; Assistant Technical Director PRIEST; Costume Shop Supervisor AVRAMOV
Drama
Please use (DR) when signing up for a Drama Theory class
THE MAJOR — REQUIREMENTS:
Drama majors must complete a minimum of 13 units for the major: three units from theatre production (105, 110 or 111, 206), two units chosen from theatre backgrounds (220, 221, 222, 223) and one unit from diversity and globalism (224, 320, 321, 322). These six courses constitute the core requirement for the major. In addition all majors are required to take 225 and successfully complete 303 (junior seminar) and 404 (senior thesis). In completing 404, all majors must demonstrate their ability to do advanced work in the field. Outstanding work will be rewarded with distinction upon graduation. Students must also complete three adjuncts in theatre studio (.25 unit per adjunct, DR 212-215) and act in a department production (.25 unit per adjunct, DR 212-215). The remaining three units may be chosen according to individual interests in acting, directing, literature, or design. Drama majors are urged to elect at least one unit in dance that will not count toward the units required for the major. Students are urged to study one or more foreign languages. Please consult the Handbook for Drama and Dance Majors online for further clarification of the major.
DR 100 History of Performance – Surveys performance in the Western tradition from ancient sacred ritual to contemporary performance art; chronological, thematic and theoretical study of Greek theatre and Roman spectacle, the medieval masque and revelry, Lully’s ballets and Moliere’s plays, and Renaissance public forms of performance. Considers notions of class, genre, industrialization, and expression in 19th century dance and drama, including realism and the revolt against established forms. Introduces elements of technology, reproduction, and multimedia forms in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Considers film, installation, and early performance art as critical additions to performance. Creative projects and field trips augment the course. This class meets the Critical Perspectives: The West in Time requirement, and is also listed as Dance Theory 100. (DA 100) 2 units — Lindblade/Platt
DR 105 Acting I: Introduction – Work on basic acting skills through observation, improvisation, physical and vocal preparation, and the basics of Stanislavsky’s theories. The emphasis is on exercises and games that release the imagination and instinct of the performer with the aim of giving everyone the means to approach any role. Work will culminate with scripted scenes and a group presentation. Class limit of 18, 1 unit — Frugia
DR 110 Fundamentals of Design and Technical Theatre – Basic theatrical design and technical theatre, its vocabulary, theory and application in the areas of technical direction, sound, lighting, set and costume design. A foundation course with emphasis placed on understanding the collaborative nature of technical theatre in production. Limited to 14, 1 Unit – Davis-Green
DR 200 Topics in Drama – Courses offered by resident and visiting faculty on specialized topic areas, including theatre history, dramatic literature, dramatic theory, and film.
DR 200 Topics: New Music for Performance – This class is a creative laboratory for composers, writers and choreographers. We will explore and experiment with the intersection of music, theater and movement. Students will work in collaborative teams to create new works, culminating in the creation of a ten-minute work, presented to an invited audience. (DA 200/MU 227) 1 unit — Sherman
DR 200 Topics: Violence by Design - This is a studio class devoted to the exploration of design through the lenses of violent texts. We will interpret a variety of written materials that include plays, poetry, philosophy and performance art and will develop set design models, objects or installations that best portray this subject matter. Violence is prevalent in our society. In the same way we might study the winter landscape we will study the tendency toward violence. Can we examine the topic through design and develop a clearer understanding? (DA 200) 1 unit – Davis-Green
DR 200 Topics: The Plays of August Wilson - An investigation of the works of leading African-American playwright August Wilson, considering his texts’ socio-historical, economic, musical, folk, cultural, and poetic influences. (Meets the Critical Perspectives: Diverse Cultures and Critiques requirement.) (Also listed as Race and Ethnic Studies 200) 1 unit — Davis
DR 200 Topics: Intro to Performance Studies - In recent decades, the boundaries between theatre, dance, and theoretical discourse have become increasingly unclear. In response to the changing nature of performance, an alternative discipline has emerged– namely, Performance Studies. Going beyond the limits of page and stage, Performance Studies has introduced a broader range of academically legitimate subjects, including rituals, festivals, political rallies, concerts, and the aesthetics of everyday life. Moreover, its critical approach emphasizes the contingent, often-exclusionary construction of social categories, especially gender, sexuality, and race. In order to navigate this expanded field, the course seeks to familiarize students with Performance Studies’ most influential authors– such as Richard Schechner, Philip Auslander, and Diana Taylor, and principal theoretical models as drawn from theatre, anthropology, and rhetoric. In addition to these readings, the course will also ask students to reconsider their own artistic and critical interests as we explore performance outside the classroom in community events and our own daily lives. 1 unit – Platt
DR 200 Topics: Movement for Performance - The class will focus on the transformation of the body, for all types of performance, through imagination and technique – using the teachings of Rudolph Laban, Jacques LeCoq, Litz Pisk, Trish Arnold and Moshe Feldenkreis – working towards characterization. There will be particular focus on spatial awareness, freedom of movement and breath, and animal studies. Taught by eminent visiting professor from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London, 1 unit – Allnutt
DR 200 Topics: Acting and Directing for the Camera – A practical exploration of the challenges and techniques of acting for the camera and for directing actors for the camera. Culminates with a full presentation of work. .50 unit — Manley
DR 200 Topics: Good and Evil – An investigation into the birth, development, and evolution of good and evil as philosophical, anthropological, and even psychological terms, using dramatic texts as guideposts for the discussion. Do good and evil exit? If so, do they exist as entities, or do we create them because of a basic human need? Are good and evil inherently oppositional, or can they be gradated and value-laden? Critical texts will include Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Augustine’s Confessions, Nietzche’s Beyond Good and Evil, and selected essays of Foucault. Dramatic texts will include Medea, The Duchess of Malfi, Othello, The Devils, Fargo (filmscript), Aunt Dan and Lemon, and selected scenes. Prerequisite: None. (CO 200.) 1 unit — Lindblade
DR 200 Topics: Mourning Representation/Aesthetics of Aids – This course will investigate the particular ways in which AIDS, and queer culture more generally unsettles expectations of representational stability and questions our ethical implications as spectators. Do artistic depictions of AIDS inherently convict the spectator of political passivity? Do we experience literary pleasure despite ourselves? What are our responsibilities in regarding AIDS? Can an ethics be construed from this engagement? In answering these questions, we will investigate two opposing reactions: infectious melancholy and active outrage. The class will work from multiple disciplines will be considered, including drama, dance, film, photography, literature, and critical writing by artists and authors such as Kushner, Sontag, Guibert, Goldin, Bill T. Jones, Abdoh, Jarman, Román, Muñoz, E. Patrick Johnson, and Crimp. Prerequisite: (Writing Intensive) Class limit 12 (DA 200) 1 unit — Platt
DR 205 Acting Workshop - An extended-format adjunct class given twice a week over 4 blocks. Designed to enhance and practice the skills from Acting 1 through exercises and scene work. The format is designed to allow for a longer period of assimilation, keeping the acting muscles active and developing on a continuous basis, and for individual attention for each student. Prerequisite: Drama 105 (not offered 2010-11) 1 unit
DR 206 Directing I - Fundamentals of play directing, analysis and rehearsal procedure. Includes presentation of scenes. Prerequisite: DR 105 and DR 110 or 211 Fundamentals of play directing, analysis and rehearsal procedure. Includes presentation of scenes. Limited to 18 1 unit — Davis
DR 210 Intermediate Design Studio – Intermediate work in theater design, period styles, historical research, fieldwork, computerized and traditional rendering. Topic rotates among four sub-areas: 1) rendering for the theatre, 2) scene painting, 3) computer-assisted design and 4) stage makeup. (Not offered 2010-11.) 1 unit.
DR 211 Speech Arts – Introduction to public speaking and oral interpretation of literature. Class limited to 18, 1 unit — Butler
DR 212 – 215: Studio work in technical theatre and acting, required for the major. Students will earn technical theatre credit for work done on a specific departmental production over a span of 2 blocks. Subheading indicates type of work and title of the production:
DR 212 Theatre/Acting Studio – Block 2 – Studio work in technical theatre or acting required for the major. Students will earn technical theatre credit for work done on a specific departmental production over a span of 2 blocks. Subheading indicates type of work and title of the production. .25 unit
DR 213 Theatre/Acting Studio – Block 4 – Studio work in technical theatre or acting required for the major. Students will earn technical theatre credit for work done on a specific departmental production over a span of 2 blocks. Subheading indicates type of work and title of the production. .25 unit
DR 214 Theatre/Acting Studio – Block 6 – Studio work in technical theatre or acting required for the major. Students will earn technical theatre credit for work done on a specific departmental production over a span of 2 blocks. Subheading indicates type of work and title of the production. .25 unit
DR 215 Theatre/Acting Studio – Block 8 – Studio work in technical theatre or acting required for the major. Students will earn technical theatre credit for work done on a specific departmental production over a span of 2 blocks. Subheading indicates type of work and title of the production. .25 unit
DR 216 Theatre Institute – (Not offered 2010-11.) 1 unit
DR 220 Origins and Early Forms of Theatre – A study of origins, early texts, performance practices, and developing theatrical conventions in various cultures, with special emphasis on ancient Greek and Roman theatre (Not offered 2010-11.) 1 unit – Lindblade
DR 221 Medieval and Renaissance Theatre - A study of theories about the “rebirth” of theatre during the Middle Ages, tracing its development throughout Renaissance Europe, with special emphasis on Elizabethan England (CO 200/EN 280) 1 unit — Evitt/Lindblade
DR 222 Romantic, Commedia, and Neoclassic Theatre – A survey of Western theatre from the English Restoration through German Romanticism, culminating with the advent of realism throughout Europe. Studies will include the work of Racine, Corneille, Goethe, Schiller, Bichner, Gozzi, Goldoni, and the innovators of modern stage practice. (Not offered 2010-11.) 1 unit.
DR 223 Modern Theatre – A study of 20th Century movements in playwriting and theatre practice. Topics will include realism (Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov, Schnitzler) and the anti-realistic revolts against it, such as the work of Maeterlinck, Cocteau, Kaiser, Pirandello, Brecht, and various artists of alternative theatre. (CO 200/EN 280) 1 unit — Lindblade
DR 224 Contemporary Performance 1950-Present - Using an interdisciplinary arts approach, investigates varied performance aesthetics, theory and practices of the later 20th and early 21st century with a focus on the American experience, new and disenfranchised voices, and hybrid genres in the arts. Considers perspectives in music, dance, directing, multimedia, and of theorists and playwrights. Disillusionment of the post-WWII era, voices of protest, agitation/propaganda, performance art, and identity politics; Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgender performance, race relations, and the feminist aesthetic. (Meets the Critical Perspectives: Diverse Cultures and Critiques requirement.) (Not offered 2010-11.) 1 unit.
DR 225 Play-writing and Screenwriting – Practice through intensive exercises, study of genres and scripts, and the production of scripts in writing for live performance and for film or television. Culminates in public presentation of work. 1 unit — Manley
DR 300 Topics in Drama/Dance – Courses offered by resident and visiting faculty on specialized topic areas, including theatre history, dramatic literature, dramatic theory, and film.
DR 300 Topics: Staging Shakespeare and his Contemporaries (March 7-14 at the Blackfriars Theatre/American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, VA) – After two weeks at CC studying five early modern plays—Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors and 1 Henry VI; Marston’s The Malcontent, Middleton’s A Trick to Catch the Old One, and the anonymous Look About You—as well as the history and culture of the early modern English theatre, this course will travel to Staunton, VA, where the American Shakespeare Company performs under original staging conditions in the reconstructed Blackfriars Playhouse. In addition to daily class meetings, our work with the Blackfriars company will include: a reception and lecture tour of the playhouse; performances of all five plays we have studied; observation of rehearsals for A Trick to Catch the Old One; workshops with the company personnel including the fight choreographer; a lecture by ASC founder director Ralph Cohen; and more. Using the Blackfriars Playhouse as a kind of laboratory, the course will focus on both early modern theatre history (staging conditions, theatre and production design, acting style) and contemporary performance of early modern plays by Shakespeare and others (“original” performance practice, audience response, marketing). (EN 320) (See English Department for more information.) EXTRA EXPENSE This course cannot be counted as an elective for the drama major. (EN 320) 1 unit – Love
DR 300 Topics: Devising Performance – Through a combination of discussion, research and practical experience this class will examine ways and means of devising new performances as a group collaborative process from diverse source materials and for a variety of audiences and outcomes. With an emphasis in practical application of methods and theories the class seeks to equip the student with a clear route map for making contemporary ensemble performance. By the end of the class students should be able to apply knowledge of devising methodologies in the production and realization of a short performance. 1 unit – Manley
DR 300 Topics: Costume as Form/Form as Costume – This experimental course is designed to challenge students at the intermediate and advanced level who have an interest in the relationship between costume, architecture and various other traditions in the realm of three dimensional design. Assignments will address formal compositional elements applied to the exploration of concepts and the realization of ideas and works in three-dimensional space. An interdisciplinary approach to creative projects developed in collaboration with students in other classes, particularly DR/DA303: HIJACK: Collaborative Practices will be encouraged in an effort to investigate three-dimensional design in unpredictable ways. (AS 310) 1 unit – Ames/Reed
DR 300 Topics: Locution, Location & Locomotion in Modern Drama and Contemporary Performance – Creative activity has presupposed the capacity to freely move and speak. This course traces an artistic counter-tradition that imposes obstacles upon language, movement, and space across multiple disciplines: puppetry, surrealist poetics, novels, experimental theatre, contemporary American plays, performance art, and dance. Contrary to their apparently disruptive purpose, these obstacles aid artistic expression. Recent examples of walking– such as Merce Cunningham’s Biped, novelist W.G. Sebald’s historical strolls, and Terence Davies’ cinematic tour of Manchester– will allow us to study the potential of prosthetics to repair personal and historical trauma, even as they impair speech and mobility. The course may also include works by Büchner, Kleist, Ibsen, Jarry, Beckett, Mabou Mines, Jelinek, Kentridge, Schwitters, Kantor, Beuys, Acconci, Nauman, Bausch, Fornes, Suzan-Lori Parks, Spalding Gray, Tim Etchells, Vera Mantero, and Marie Chouinard. 1 unit – Platt
DR 300 Topics: Theories of Theatre: From Plato to Performativity – Traditional definitions of theatre generally emphasize dramatic action and thus place its praxis at odds with theoretical reflection. By proposing that theatre and the history of aesthetics are inextricably related, this course seeks to correct the widely accepted opposition between theory and praxis. We will first examine theatre’s philosophical roots in Greek thought, whose influence determined the establishment of representational conventions at the advent of modernism. The course will investigate 20th-century thinkers– like Benjamin, Derrida, and Deleuze– who mobilized theatre as a means of theoretical intervention. We will ultimately consider how these theorists’ efforts resulted in concepts that may surpass theatre, such the Neo-Baroque, the postdramatic, and performativity. Although the course will focus on theoretical texts in order to prepare students to engage theatre’s current critical discourse, we will also consider plays, performances, and choreography. Additional readings may include selections from texts by Nietzsche, Artaud, Szondi, Butler, Weber, Franko, Lepecki, Hans-Thies Lehmann, Kristeva, Foucault, Pavis, and Puchner. (DA 300) 1 unit – Platt
DR 303 Junior Seminar: Collaborative Practices - Activates theoretical and practical aspects of creative collaboration between drama and dance majors respectively, and also among artistic disciplines. Studies include immersion in performance theory, aesthetic philosophy, and collaborative strategies to create an integral final group public performance. Collaboration and collision through a process of experimentation and rehearsal to discover which elements (visual, kinesthetic, audio, textual, temporal, and spatial) lend themselves to a unified event in performance. For this course, HIJACK visits from the field asking, “What is dance? What is theater?” The field is a blur of merged forms. The disciplines of Contemporary Dance and Contemporary Theater are indistinct and perhaps obsolete. Together these forms are wrestling with the impact of now old new frontiers exposed by visual artists, music, film, YouTube, etc. HIJACK will share our strategies for collaboration. Together we will re-draw and re-fuzz the lines between forms, borrowing from each other’s tool bags, demarcating our turfs. (DA303) 1 Unit – Hijack
DR 305 Acting 2: Intermediate - Developing and furthering the skills from Acting 1 with an emphasis on intensive scene work that will focus on a wide range of contemporary playwrights. Work will culminate with a public presentation of scenes. Class is limited to 18 Prerequisite: Drama 105. (Not offered 2010-11) 1 unit
DR 306 Directing II - Advanced theory and practice of directing. Class is limited to 18 Prerequisite: Drama 206. (Not offered 2010-11.) 1 unit.
DR 307 Lighting Design - History, theory, and practice of lighting design for the stage. Script analysis, drafting, plotting, and color theory. Laboratory required: participation in one stage production. Class is limited to 15 Prerequisite: Drama 110 or consent of instructor. 1 unit — Fillmore
DR 311 Stage Costuming – Costume design and construction, including the recreation of period dress pattern drafting, rendering, and costume-related crafts. Laboratory required. (Class limit 10) 1 unit — Ames
DR 320 African and African-American Theatre - History of African and African-American theatre, emphasizing the synergy between the two forms and the two continents from the griot-driven oral tradition and African folk-tale languages of performance grounded in the talking drum through American minstrelsy and other African-American musical and theatrical traditions (choreo-poems, performance art, jazz). Examines the development of the two forms in their theatrical, literary and performance traditions. (Meets the Critical Perspectives: Diverse Cultures and Critiques requirement. (CO 200/ES 200) Chicago/ Newberry Extra Expense 1 unit — Davis
DR 321 Latino/a and Latin-America Theatre – Examines Latino/a and Latin American theatrical works as forms of socially accepted resistance and politically charged art forms. Considers plays and performances that challenge governments, inequities, and the status quo using humor, passion, spectacle, and simplicity. Considers performance art, theatre of the oppressed, agitation/propaganda, activism, post-colonialism, existentialism and feminism. Contextualizes Latino/a and Latin American performance in political and social landscapes. (Meets the Critical Perspectives: Diverse Cultures and Critiques requirement.) (Not offered 2010-11.) 1 unit.
DR 322 Asian and Asian-American Theatre – Studies at least two of four Asian traditions-Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, and Indian-and the combined effect of these traditions on contemporary Asian-American theatre. Traditional styles considered may include Chinese opera, Bunraku, Noh, Kabuki, Kyogen, Indonesian shadow/puppet plays, and Sanskrit drama. Modern American authors and companies may include David Henry Hwang, Chay Yew, Jeannie Barroga, Velina Hasu Houston, Theatre of Yugen, East-West Players, and Asian American Theatre Company. (Meets the Critical Perspectives: Diverse Cultures and Critiques requirement.) 1 unit — Davis
DR 325 Projects in Drama - Independent work in dance appropriate to the needs or interests of qualified students.
DR 330 Drama Away – Class attendance at theatre in a selected city with written analysis of the works seen, Concentration on the social, cultural, historical, and national parameters of drama 2009–10 London Extra expense $$$. 1 unit — Manley
DR 331 Site Specific Theatre – Theatre doesn’t need theaters. It can and should happen anywhere and everywhere. Practicum aims to investigate, develop, and present, via an overview of site specific performance history and practice, any type of performance work wherever is appropriate, exploring both the performance work and the space in which it is presented. (Not offered 2010-11.) 1 unit.
DR 400 Topics in Drama – Courses offered by resident and visiting faculty on specialized topic areas, including theatre history, dramatic literature, dramatic theory, and film.
DR 400 Topics: The Art of Persuasion - This course combines acting techniques with classical rhetorical theory as a way to guide students in the development of persuasive argument. We will elaborate on ways to structure public speech, debates and lectures. Examples from political speeches and legal opinions may be used as templates for structuring persuasive arguments. This course is especially suitable for seniors. Prerequisite: Consent of department. 1 unit — Edmonds
DR 404 Senior Thesis – Advanced work in drama and/or dance culminating in performance, written thesis, major creative or choreographic work, scenic or lighting design, or other work appropriate to the discipline. Proposal must be approved at the end of the junior year by the department faculty. Offered in block 5 of the senior year. (Prerequisite: consent of department. 1 unit — Department
DR 405 Acting 3 – Consolidating skills from Acting 1 and 2 and working on heightened and poetic texts including Shakespeare, the Greeks, and the Jacobean and Restoration eras. The class is dedicated to seeing Shakespeare as our contemporary and the verse as no barrier to expression or understanding. Work will culminate with a public presentation. Class is limited to 18. Prerequisite: Drama 305. 1 unit — Manley
DR 410 Advanced Design Workshop – Advanced study of topics related to theory, criticism, literature, and history of the theatre. Resultant performance or thesis required of all drama majors. Limited to majors and minors or with consent of instructor. (Not offered 2010-11.) 1 unit.