62 courses with the subject TH, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
The focus of the work is on relaxation, alignment, breathing, the development of free resonance flow, and good articulation of vowels and consonants.
Actors are introduced to the progression of voice exercises in Kristin Linklater’s “Freeing the Natural Voice.” The focus of the class is on developing techniques that foster the connection between the acting impulse and the voice.
This course for non-majors deepens students’ engagement with this communal art form. The perspective from which we set out to survey the theater is that of an audience member. Informed and literate audience members are crucial to theater; without an audience there is no performance. We start by demonstrating why this particular art form is/ has been ubiquitous not only globally today, but down through the annals of time, as well. The students are introduced to the cluster of different artists typically employed when a show is being created: writers, designers, directors, casting, actors, etc. A broad survey of genres and styles of plays is presented. Aside from seeing and thoroughly assessing five to seven LIVE productions during the course of the semester, class projects are designed for students to explore theatrical possibilities for telling their own stories.
Students work on basic acting skills such as developing the ability to produce free, imaginative, and purposeful behavior in relation to environments, objects, and other persons; individual silent exercises; and group exercises. This work leads to in-class performances of selected scenes from a variety of American contemporary plays with special focus given to the sensory requirements in the text. No previous experience is required.
In exploring the dimensions of theatrical self-expression, this course employs lecture, discussion and classroom activities to raise issues that stretch self-awareness through dramatic interaction involving imagination and creativity. Through theater games and dramatic situations, students learn a variety of performance skills and find themselves exploring their own creative and artistic possibilities. No previous experience required.
Through improvisation and ensemble work, students will develop fundamental acting skills such as imagination, concentration, listening, emotional accessibility, honesty and commitment. Students will develop characters, invest in given circumstances, and invent unscripted stories. In addition, students will become familiar with the history of actor training—from Stanislavski to Bogart. This course is open only to Theater Arts majors and minors and to others with prior approval from the Theater Arts faculty.
This course is an intensive study of the voice in the private studio. The teacher works with the student to improve vocal technique, to learn new vocal literature, to enlarge knowledge of diction and develop basic language skills, and to pursue other activities designed to better the voice for the musical theater actor. This course involves a 45 minute private lesson once per week at a time scheduled between the applied instructor and the student, a one-hour studio class once per month and public performances twice a semester in recital/cabaret format.
Long after the impact of Brecht, Artaud, Grotowski, Lecoq and Peter Brook, the art and practice of acting is still turning on the revelations and teachings of Constantine Stanislavsky. If the Stanislavsky “system” or “method” is applied literally, it leads merely to realism, but applied systematically with discrimination it can become the grammar of all styles. While based on the teachings of Stanislavsky, this course includes insights by other famous acting teachers such as Uta Hagen, Sanford Meisner, Lee Strasberg, Michael Chekhov and Stella Adler. This is an initial acting course with a focus on the practical and playable aspects of the “system’s” training, providing the actor with a resource to operate completely on his or her own in any and all production situations. Studio course with lab requirement.
This course introduces students to backstage professions and the practices of technical theater. The course will use readings, guest lectures from working theater artists, hands-on instruction and practical projects to reveal the many layers of a realm that stays mostly hidden from the view of the audience but is essential to the art of theater. Students will have the opportunity to work backstage with an Arcadia theater production, and build a foundation of experience and practical knowledge that can be applied to a range of performance and storytelling contexts. The course lab provides opportunities for students to apply training to hands-on work in Arcadia’s scene and costume shops, and as crew members for Arcadia Theater productions.
This course includes scene construction, rigging, costume construction, drafting and stage lighting. It examines theater architecture and elements of scene, costume and lighting production. All students in the first year of the program are assigned on a rotating basis throughout the year to various crews that build and run the shows in the Theater performing series.
This course includes scene construction, rigging, costume construction, drafting and stage lighting. It examines theater architecture and elements of scene, costume and lighting production. All students in the first year of the program are assigned on a rotating basis throughout the year to various crews that build and run the shows in the Theater performing series.
This course is a study of the development of the physical theater and concurrent developments in dramatic literature and musical theater. It surveys styles in acting, directing, dramatic criticism and production from historical, analytical and performance perspectives. It requires individual and group projects. Attendance at theater productions is included when possible. No previous experience required.
The course gives students a reliable way to feel better in their bodies. The course provides an understanding of how bodies function and gives each student insight into his or her personal habits outside this design that create tension in the body. Students learn to move more freely and gain new understanding of their aches and pains. Students come away with a working knowledge of the musculoskeletal system and how to cultivate true core support and to balance functioning of all muscle groups. We review the newest research in back pain and neuroplasticity, study the respiratory system and breathing patterns, and study how perception contributes to our bodily feeling and use patterns. The class is catered to anyone with an interest in feeling better and moving with increased ease and coordination. Assignments include exercises around public speaking, working at the computer, and lifting challenging objects (including an evening in the weight room). Students gain increased powers of self-observation, impulse control and improved coordination.
There’s no other way to say it: Reading plays is difficult. To read a play in print is to encounter a work of art in unfinished and incomplete form. Visual artistry, physical presence and live audience dynamics are reduced to flat, static words on a page. In this course, students explore and practice with various techniques for reading and analyzing scripts: techniques designed to help theater artists discover more fully the dynamic potential of theatrical texts as blueprints for live performance. Students work with several techniques for analyzing play texts, explore conventional play genre labels (tragedy, comedy and tragicomedy), and examine the ideas of key theorists in Western theater history (Aristotle, and Brecht), to discover different perspectives from which plays may be read and evaluated critically. Class discussions, online discussions and writing assignments provide opportunities to develop and refine the critical/analytical skills addressed in course readings.
Actors explore second half of the Linklater voice progression. The focus is on developing each actor’s full vocal range. In addition to the voice exercises, students work on a variety of texts chosen to support their growing acquisition/skills.
The focus is on speech. Clarity of articulation and effective use of vowels is developed by learning the International Phonetics Alphabet.
Music Skills for Actors is a course designed to build and refine your musicianship, the ability to hear, perceive, understand, learn, and perform music. Specific focus will be placed on the practical applications of both aural and visual music theory skills commonly seen in the world of musical theatre. Basic and advanced rhythmic exercises, sight-singing, rhythmic, melodic and harmonic dictation, and tonal harmony will all be studied within the confines of musical theatre.
This course introduces study in the Indian exercises of relaxation and energy focusing. No previous experience necessary.
This course seeks to illuminate the actor’s quest for character through a concise, easily understood exploration of the connection between makeup and character, emphasizing the total visual impact of the character on the audience and discussing in depth the contribution of props and costume to the overall effect. The course is intended to help performers. Students bridge the gap between understanding a role and expressing that understanding in tangible form. (Theater Acting majors only.)
This course is suitable for students who have a basic understanding of yoga and want to deepen their practice through exploration of intermediate yoga postures and techniques that promote mental clarity, relaxation, and total well being. An emphasis will be placed on the chakra system, the subtle energy centers in the body.
Movement is inherently dramatic. Explore the wide range of movement that exists within our bodies and the world around us. This is a studio course that explores the elements of dance making and the craft of choreography through the manipulation of time, space and energy. The movement material explored is pedestrian movement and stylized dance. Each student works within his or her own technical skill level to uncover the endless possibilities of movement within the human body and the vast opportunities for communication of the human experience. No previous experience necessary.
Starting with the basics of hand-to-hand combat, or weaponless fighting, the students are introduced to the idea of personal safety, how to be safe and remain safe onstage, including all the fundamental moves every actor needs to get by in this business. Students then study and practice the art of the sword and learn the techniques that keep the actor safe long after training is over. Coursework includes training in unarmed and single sword. No previous experience required.
Picking up from basic stage combat, the student is drilled in the sword and works toward its perfection. An emphasis on fencing with the foil epee and saber becomes part of the student’s regimen to teach better coordination and focus, as well as the practical applications thereof. The latter part of the class is dedicated to the quarterstaff and its use. Students explore the weapon through exercises and choreography. Basic certification with Fight Directors Canada is possible upon completion of training.
This beginning level dance technique class focuses on styles and performance elements of dance for musical theater. Through warm-up exercises and movement combinations, both set and improvisational, students will build a foundation of skills needed to dance in musical theater productions. Disciplines explored include jazz, ballet, African, tap, modern dance, partnering, ensemble work, solo work, floor work, hip hop and improvisation. Students will improve stamina, strength, range of movement, and performance commitment, and will acquire a deeper understanding of the challenges of musical theater dance.
This intermediate level dance technique class focuses on styles and performance elements of dance for musical theater. Through warm-up exercises and movement combinations, both set and improvisational, students will further develop a foundation of skills needed to audition for and dance in musical theater productions. Disciplines explored include jazz, ballet, African, tap, hip hop and modern dance. Class work will focus on partnering, ensemble work, solo work, floor work, and improvisation. Students will improve stamina, strength, range of movement, commitment to performance, and professionalism. Students will cultivate an ability to learn complex movement sequences, and will acquire a deeper understanding of the challenges of musical theater dance. Emphasis will be placed on differentiation of dance styles and strengthening audition skills.
This is a modern dance technique class focusing on the connection and coordination of the upper and lower body. To this end, emphasis is placed on increasing abdominal strength, thereby gaining freedom and fluidity in the limbs. Warm-ups and exercises increase strength, stretch and stamina. Traveling sequences are geared toward gaining rhythmic accuracy and coordination. Class combinations and exercises increase in length and difficulty throughout the semester.
This is a modern technique class that builds on the foundation in TH 230 Modern Dance . Emphasis is placed on increasing accuracy of articulation and range of movement and moving the body as a cohesive unit. As the body gains strength and flexibility, each student is encouraged to find his or her own stylistic voice and individuality in movement.
This is a scene study class focusing on characterization and motivation. Students rehearse and perform contemporary plays as a means of furthering skills and craft. Both performance and personal journals are maintained on a continuing basis, and outside rehearsals on scenes are expected. The emphasis is on interpretation of the playwright’s intentions and finding actable, interesting choices for the actor. Studio course with lab requirement.
The course begins with helping the student to feel the very heartbeat of the work, the students/actors have to know how to decipher and understand a text that may feel strange on the tongue, and they have to discover the text’s tone and tempo, mine its inner richness, and learn how to speak the text with ease. Lectures cover background with studio work and seminars built around improvised scenes along with scenes and monologues that are to be rehearsed outside the class for performance and critique during class. Studio course with lab requirement.
This course surveys some of the most influential plays written by American women of the 20th century. The course examines how female writers have participated in, responded to, and helped to shape the prevailing currents of American drama. No previous experience necessary.
This course views the social, political and cultural history of 19 th - and 20th-century United States through the lenses provided by a diverse selection of African American playwrights and other theater artists. The plays (which range from one act to full-length, from the tragic to the satirical) address a variety of issues, including slavery and its abolition, civil rights, inter-racial relationships, Black Nationalism, women’s rights, and gay rights. Classes include script, scene and character analyses as well as student-directed and acted readings from selected scripts. The course also explores the educational applications the theater arts can have in related fields.
What the heck is a dramaturg? What does a dramaturg do? Why do we need dramaturges in the theater? This course explores the theory and practice of dramaturg as a creative art. Together we examine the responsibilities of a dramaturg in helping to shape a theatrical production and complete practical exercises that will help to build the skills and sensibility needed for real-life dramaturgical work. Members of the class attend and discuss theater productions and work together on dramaturgical research for a Theater Arts program’s production.
Starting with a survey of object animation traditions spanning Asia, Africa, Europe and the United States, students develop an understanding of how puppets have and continue to be used as a vibrant medium for communicating sophisticated ideas and the needs of the people they represent. From this historical and cultural foundation, students create their own original works of puppet theater by writing, developing, designing and building an animated short. The focus is primarily on puppet theater geared toward adult audiences utilizing non-narrative storytelling.
This is a two-part program of study: scene design for display, culminating in a scenic model; and stage lighting theory and practice, culminating in a full light plot. The course examines the history of design and its influence on the actor’s art, tools and techniques. It surveys the practical and theoretical elements of lighting instruments, their function and design. It includes a theater laboratory and assistance in the actual lighting of a production. Offered in even years.
This is a two-part program of study: costume design for display, culminating in a full-costume plot. This examines the history of design and its influence on the actor’s art, tools and techniques. It surveys the practical and historical elements of costume, their function and design. It includes theater laboratory and assistance in the actual costuming of a production. Offered in even years.
This course includes scene construction, rigging, costume construction, drafting and stage lighting. It examines theater architecture and elements of scene, costume and lighting production.
This course is divided into pre-production, rehearsal period, tech/running, and maintenance of production segments. The objective is to thoroughly introduce the student to the different venues of theater, from small storefront theater to large regional theaters. Although the emphasis is on management practices for theater venues, there is an element of the practical, day-to-day “nuts and bolts” in the stage management process.
This is a course in the multiple aspects and practices of children’s theater in America. The course examines the theatrical conventions and structures of this distinct area of theater. It explores the multiple areas of children’s theater from performance to puppetry. The course includes writing a paper on a children’s theater or practitioner in America. The art of children’s theater is a loss of our present inhibition and a willingness to rediscover the child within. We discuss and explore all areas of performing for children. No previous experience required.
This offering focuses on expanding the student’s skill set to include highly employable, specialized techniques utilized in the entertainment industry, fine arts and theatre. Through project based exercises, students explore leatherwork, thermoplastics, millinery, simple circuits, sculpting, mold making and casting as a means to develop creative expertise, fine craftsmanship and critical thinking skills.
This course provides an introduction to the art of lighting design for the theater: from the reading and analysis of a script, through the design process and a completed production. Students will develop a sense of how lighting contributes to the audience’s understanding of a play, learn about the theories and concepts that inform lighting design, work with the various kinds of lighting instruments and other tools at a lighting designer’s disposal, and explore how the learn the qualities of light can be manipulated to shape audience perception of the human form, sculpt theatrical space and serve the needs of a theatrical production. Course work will also help students understand the basic scientific concepts of light and electricity, and master the technical demands of executing lighting designs in the theater.
Acting a Song is a workshop class aimed at beginning actors or others who have an interest in musical theater and performance. Musical theater is often the first point of contact for students of theater, yet high school theater settings often do not allow the time needed to explore the process of performing a song effectively. Using songs from the American Musical Theater cannon the course seeks to reinforce lessons learned in Improv and Scene Study. Each student will memorize and perform two solo songs and one duet. Students will work with a live accompanist in class and will be required to bring to class a recording device that will allow them to record piano parts to the songs they are working on so that rehearsal away from class is possible.
This course investigates non-Western theatrical histories, performance practices and dramatic texts from across the globe. We will read and discuss play scripts, watch and analyze performances on video (or live performances, if and when the opportunity arises), and investigate some of the cultural histories, folk traditions, religious ritual practices and other contexts that inform the theatrical lives of these global regions. We will use the study of theater and performance as a means of approaching the cultures of unfamiliar societies, and seek understanding of how these theatrical traditions compare and contrast with our own. Units of study include China, India, South Africa, Nigeria, Caribbean, and South America.
This course is an in-depth study in performance or production culminating in a performance project. The Theater Arts adviser must approve topic and project.
Neutral mask work is central in actor training because it enables the actor to experience in its most startling form the chemistry of acting. Because the face is hidden, all expression depends on the body—the mask becomes an energizing force leading the actor to depend upon the richness of his or her inner life within a calm and balanced body. The mask then is a tool to help the actor to strengthen his or her inner feelings and power of concentration, develop physical powers of outward expression and diminish self-consciousness. Studio course with lab requirement.
Students learn how the entertainment industry works and how to get started upon a career.
Breath work, vocal sounding and physical alignment are focused on poetry.
This course introduces students to the methods of working on and learning a stage dialect. Students learn to analyze dialect speech patterns in terms of musicality, rhythm, resonance, intonation, phonetic changes of vowels and consonants. We will work with Standard British, Cockney, Irish, American Southern, New York, French and German dialects. Additionally, students will build skills for teaching themselves new dialects, and learn one additional dialect of their own choosing.
This course is intended as an introduction to directing for the stage. The principles of working with actors and leading a team of designers accompany a series of small assignments leading to a final directing project. The course includes theory and practice in play directing: play selection, playscript interpretation, composition, movement, business management, casting, rehearsal, performance, director/designer and director/actor relationships. Students focus on perception and expression as a means of drawing inner and physical expression from others. The course requires prompt preparation of scripts, direction of scenes and one-act plays, and theater laboratory.
This is a scene study of modern classic writers, such as, Ibsen, Strinberg, Chekhov, and American writers O’Neill, Miller, Hellman, Wilson, and Vogel. Studio course with lab requirement.
Not regularly scheduled.
In this course, students learn to deliver performances that are truthful, based on instinct rather than intellect. Participants work with student directors in preparing scenes selected from film, television, theater, or original material to be recorded on videotape for in-class presentation, discussion and critical analysis by the instructor. Studio course with lab requirement.
Advanced Scene Study is a workshop class aimed at upper level acting majors or others who have a serious interest in acting. Students in consultation with the instructor and other members of the theater arts faculty will work on scenes that will strengthen identified weaknesses and take advantage of identified strengths to codify and deepen the understanding of the principles of acting. Individualized instruction will be given to each student as they work in class on scenes. Students will be expected to work at least 5 hours a week with partners outside of class. Students will present to the instructor and invited members of the theater arts faculty 4 prepared scenes for evaluation and comment.
Using the creative approach, the course examines several forms of scriptwriting (e.g., playscript, the screenplay and scripts for audio/visual media), introduces tools of critical analysis through critique of the student’s original work, and presents practical aspects of marketing the stage of screenplay. No previous experience required.
This course is designed to help young actors begin to negotiate the world of the audition. Students hone their audition skills in a supportive atmosphere, through hands-on workshops focusing on various types of auditions: contemporary and classical monologues, commercials voiceovers, dance, and cold-copy commercial. By meeting and auditioning for working artists and casting directors from the professional world, students will gain insight into what awaits them in the real world as theatre artists, and refine the skills that will help them audition more effectively in all contexts.
This course is exploration of the styles and techniques of modern century theater, including selected British, American, and Continental plays by modern dramatists such as Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov, Shaw, Synge, O’Neill, Pirandello, Brecht, and Pinter.
This is a working internship for one semester at a professional theater, television, or radio station.
In-depth study and research culminates in a substantial paper or performance project.
Musical Theater Scene Study examines and develops the various elements/techniques used to craft process for the musical theater actor. Specific focus is placed on partnering methods and ensemble collaboration through the active preparation and performance of musical theater scenes.
This is an advanced course on special topics such as Solo Performance, Performance: From Ritual to Theater, autobiographical Adaptations: Ethnographic method for playwriting and performance, Spirituality and Theater, Movement Theater and the New Vaudeville, or New Perspectives on Theater Adaptation. The course is designed as a means of addressing the interdisciplinary nature of the art of theater and poses subjects of interest to students and faculty.
This course is individual or small-group projects in acting styles, directing full-length plays, scene and lighting design, theater management, or other theater areas. It may involve directing or designing a major college production, a formal advanced class, or other approved topics.
Source: Arcadia University's catalog, linked per course · table learning_unit · CourseShelf publish 59
