Global Arc

Directing assignments will be created for each student, who will work with the actors in the class and whose work will be analyzed by the instructor and other members of the workshop. Students will be aided in their preparations by the instructor; they will also study script analysis and formulation of a director's point of view, staging and visual storytelling, the musicality of language, collaboration and rehearsal techniques, productive methods of critique, and the spectrum of responsibilities and forms of research involved in directing plays of different styles.

This course is designed to encourage the development of directors for theater and musical theater, covering techniques and practices from both areas. The course will look at the practices of a small list of key figures in world theatre and how their work has influenced how directors approach the rehearsal room today. The course will incorporate a strong practical element, giving student directors the opportunity to explore and hone their own practices, developing useful and appropriate style and language as they move forward in their work as young directors.

Co-taught by design collective dots, the course aims to explore the world of visual storytelling, with an emphasis on collaboration as an essential part of the process of designing 3-dimensional space for narratives. The course will present narrative design processes as adaptable to many media including theater, film, installation and architecture and hopes to empower students with the ability to recognize their role as the designer of their own stories. Through individual research and a group project, we aim to encourage students to develop unique points of view within the context of a design that is worth more than the sum of its parts.

This course provides students with a rigorous and challenging experience of creating theater under near-professional circumstances, working with a professional director. It involves an extensive rehearsal period and a concentrated tech week, often requiring more time and focus than a typical student-produced production might. For the first time, students cast in the show, or those who take on major production roles (such as Stage Manager, Designer, Script Supervisor or Assistant Director), will receive course credit.

Introduction to Theatre Making is a working laboratory, which gives students hands-on experience with theatre's fundamental building blocks - writing, design, acting, directing, and producing. Throughout the semester, students read, watch and discuss five different plays and ensemble theater works. We will analyze how these plays are constructed and investigate their social and political implications. In-class artistic responses provide hands-on exploration as students work in groups to create and rehearse six different performances inspired by our course texts.

An introduction to the craft of acting. Emphasis will be placed on honesty, spontaneity, and establishing a personal connection with the substance of material.

We will explore the foundations of black performance theory, drawing from the fields of performance studies, theater, dance, and black studies. Using methods of ethnography, archival studies, and black theatrical and dance paradigms, we will learn how scholars and artists imagine, complicate, and manifest various forms of blackness across time and space. In particular, we will focus on blackness as both lived experience and as a mode of theoretical inquiry.

This is a workshop in the fundamentals of writing plays. Through writing prompts, exercises, study and reflection, students will be guided in the creation of original dramatic material. Attention will be given to character, structure, dramatic action, monologue, dialogue, language

Telling stories through performance is human nature, but how can we use technology to enhance, frame, or reveal new perspectives on stories told? Students will learn about tools and techniques from design professionals, and will engage directly and collaboratively with technology to design experiences focused around live performance. Areas covered may include projections and multimedia, lighting, interactivity, and programming for creative applications. This class hopes to bring together students with arts and STEM backgrounds, and does not require prior experience.

This course introduces students to set and costume design for performance, exploring theater as a visual medium. Students will develop their ability to think about the physical environment (including clothing) as key components of story-telling and our understanding of human experience. Students will expand their vocabulary for discussing the visual world and work on their collaborative skills. We'll spend half the semester focusing on costuming and half focusing of the scenic environment, both in a practical, on your feet studio class taught by professional theater practitioners. Absolutely no experience required.