Theatre

Units: 1

Fulfills General Education Requirement (FSVP)

An introduction to the role of actors, playwrights, directors, designers, and audiences in the highly collaborative art of theatre. Students learn to appreciate the artistic and intellectual processes of theatre artists and to use knowledge of historical forms and traditions in order to evaluate contemporary live theatre. Students will engage in creative projects in the classroom and interact with professional theatre artists via lab work on mainstage productions. Laboratory assignments with mainstage productions.

Units: 1

Fulfills General Education Requirement (FSVP)

Survey of the Broadway musical theatre from its 19th century roots to the present day. Provides basic introduction to music theory and culminates with performance of original one-act musical(s) written and produced by class members. In addition to regular class meetings, weekly labs are held for rehearsals and presentation of special topics. (Same as Music 119.)

Units: 1

Fulfills General Education Requirement (FSVP)

Introduction to scene design and construction, lighting design and execution, scene painting, sound design, and properties in theory and practical applications. Laboratory hours required.

Units: 1

Fulfills General Education Requirement (FSVP)

Study of function of scenic artist in theory and practice. Hands-on approach to scene painting. Laboratory hours required.

Units: 1

Fulfills General Education Requirement (FSVP)

Introduction to the technical aspects of lighting and sound design and roduction, and to the creative process required to make informed design choices. Laboratory hours required.

Units: 1

Fulfills General Education Requirement (FSVP)

Introduction to role of costume designer as collaborative artist in theatre process. Survey of historical implications for design. Basic skills of costume construction. Laboratory assignments with mainstage productions.

Units: 1

Fulfills General Education Requirement (FSVP)

Focuses on the fundamentals of script analysis and the characteristics of distinct theatrical genres. Reading of plays and examination of various productions to garner an understanding of the creative dimension of theatre making. Creative projects focus on: 1) imagined productions of the plays, both personal and culturally significant, and 2) embodied exploration of character and dramatic action.

Units: 1

Fulfills General Education Requirement (FSVP)

Students will examine the creative art of design in developing theatre/dance productions and projects. The study of style and composition will provide a framework for the analysis of design within the context of performance. Methods for assembling a design portfolio to represent their research and creative projects. Special attention will be devoted to the role of research in relation to scenic, costume, lighting, and sound design in live performance.

Units: 1

Furthers understanding of minority groups in America by investigating their social condition from an experiential base. Participants will explore existing portraits and issues associated with minorities as well as connect with important notions on cultural diversity in America. Special importance will be placed on celebrating ethnic achievements and lifestyles. Plays, poetry, and other performance art forms (including cooking and dressing) will constitute significant class presentations.

Units: 1

Fulfills General Education Requirement (FSVP)

Basic methods of analysis and performance techniques necessary to generate believable human behavior on stage. Study of roots (mind/body processes), not ends of acting (performance). Class exercises to develop and discipline actor's physical, vocal, and imaginative equipment. Laboratory assignments with major productions.

Units: 1

Art and application of theatrical makeup, realism to fantasy. Corrective makeup; specialty makeup (aging, scars, beards, animal faces). Laboratory assignments in conjunction with all major productions.

Units: 1

Fulfills General Education Requirement (FSVP)

A studio and seminar class inspired by African and European models in Theatre for Development, a specialized field of drama focused on social development and grounded in participatory procedure. The activity involves research, analysis, scenario building, and performance. Participants will be exposed to exercises in devising and performing work for impacting social transformation. The course will highlight issues within the immediate environment as well as the larger Richmond community, and practice will occur in both domains.

Units: 1

Fulfills General Education Requirement (FSVP)

Introduces students to the contemporary approaches to theatre-making which focus on the body. Through a series of workshops & creative projects, students will learn techniques for generating original material, developing their spontaneity and creativity, and creating theatre that is personally meaningful and collectively engaging.

Units: 1

Fulfills General Education Requirement (FSVP)

Exploratory class which attempts to generate honest and spontaneous responses from the actor to performance and play creating circumstances. Major emphasis is placed on teamwork, the search for truth and attaining actual potential in the art of playing. With a view to synergizing theatre activity with communal responsibility participants are encouraged to draw on issues around them and nurture creative inspiration from societal needs. Improvisation, storytelling, and multiple role playing are primary mediums for advancing the experience.

Units: 1

Fulfills General Education Requirement (FSVP)

Examines the development of solo performance from the 1970s to the present. Pays close attention to the ways solo practitioners use the body to highlight specific cultural, social, and political histories of marginalization encountered by the working class, people of color, women, lesbians, and gays. Engages with a multitude of genres including performance art, autobiographical forms, spoken word, stand-up comedy, and hip-hop based work.

Units: 1

Fulfills General Education Requirement (FSVP)

Examines the evolving formation of Latina/o identity in Broadway and community productions as well as popular culture with special attention to issues of globalization, migration, and transculturation.

Units: 1

Explores different ways to tell complex historical narratives and how to use documentary performance in order to foster conversation about difficult issues with the goal of expanding the possibilities for social change. Conduct interviews, do archival research, and create, produce, and perform a docudrama.

Units: 1

Artistic aspects of stage setting in theory and in practice. Consideration of mechanical perspective, watercolor sketching, color schemes, and history of period design. Stresses how the design process is inspired by the script and how the design of scenery is only part of the larger creative process called theatre. Laboratory hours required.

Theatre 115, 201, 207, 208 or permission of instructor.

Units: 1

Exploration of the field of sound design through "hands-on" experiences with the design process, as well as the use of various types of recording and editing equipment, software programs, and research protocols and materials used by sound designers to create the aural environment for a production.

THTR 203 or THTR 207, 208 or permission of Instructor

Units: 1

Upper-level course in lighting design for the stage. Special emphasis on project-based, "hands on" learning with students implementing their own designs through analysis, research, creative and practical applications. Laboratory hours are required.

THTR 203 or 207 or 208.

Units: 1

Principles and techniques of directing the realistic modern play. Case studies and scene work. One-act play prepared for production by each student. Laboratory assignments with major productions.

Theatre 207, 208, or 212 or permission of instructor.

Units: 1

Survey of theatre history from ancient Greece to mid 18th-century Europe, with emphasis on representative plays, performance practices, and theories, as well as the cultural, economic, and political contexts from which they emerged. Lecture/discussion format.

Units: 1

(See Music 310.)

Theatre major, theatre minor, dance minor, or permission of instructor.

Units: .5-1

Representative topics: acting for the camera, advanced courses in costume, directing, makeup, critical theory, directing, improvisation, makeup, performance theory, stage combat, documentary film making, voice and speech for the stage. Can be taken more than once for credit if topic varies.

Theatre 207, 208 or permission of instructor.

Units: 1

Designed to enable students to utilize and transfer the skills acquired in Theatre 214 into the larger community. Working in smaller groups, they are responsible for implementing and evaluating a theatre-centered project within the context of social and sustainable development. They will foster the creation of a play by community members on issues affecting their daily lives. Significant emphasis is given to cultivating an interaction with experts in related areas of concern towards galvanizing meaningful future growth in the selected community.

Units: .5-1

Restriction: Prospectus must be submitted and approved prior to the end of advance registration. Does not count for theatre or dance minor.

Permission of instructor.

Units: 1

A survey of theatre history from mid 18th-century Europe to the present, with emphasis on representative plays, performance practices, and theories, as well as the cultural, economic, and political contexts from which they emerged. Lecture/discussion format.

Units: 1

An examination of the major theories that have shaped the discourse on, and practice of, the art of acting in the 20th century. Concentrated scene study class that explores relationship between 20th-century dramatic literature and acting techniques and theories that developed to meet demands of these plays. By preparing scenes from various modern genres of theatre, acting students examine techniques and research methods necessary to unlock performance elements of the most demanding dramas of the last 100 years.

Units: 1

Designed to give students a recognition/understanding of the evolution of clothing from the ancients to the 21st century. Beginning with the physiological and psychological reasons for clothing. Includes focus on the relationship of fashion to the social and political issues of the time period.

Units: 1

Further exploration of various construction, patterning, design, research and rendering problems and the methods for solving them. Building on the techniques learned in the introductory course, students will gain a deeper understanding of the variety of methods used in problem solving, and how to know which approach is best suited to the needs of the script in question. The course will culminate in a public presentation of students' projects.

Theatre 206 or permission of instructor.

Units: 1

Fulfills General Education Requirement (FSLT)

Systematic approach to understanding and realizing the theatrical implications of play scripts. Script study as if in preparation for mounting production. Laboratory hours required.

Units: 1

Introduction to methods of textual analysis and literary research necessary to prepare a Shakespearean play for performance.

Units: .25-1

Understanding theatre arts through analysis of and participation in creative theatrical efforts. Forty hours work for .25 units of practicum credit. Includes research and written work appropriate to the theatrical activity involved. Four units maximum credit; 1.5 units maximum per semester. Does not count for theatre or dance major or minor.

Permission of department.

Units: .25-1

Understanding theatre arts through analysis of and participation in creative theatrical efforts. Forty hours work for .25 units of practicum credit. Includes research and written work appropriate to the theatrical activity involved. Four units maximum credit; 1.5 units maximum per semester. Does not count for theatre or dance major or minor.

Permission of department.

Units: .25-1

Understanding theatre arts through analysis of and participation in creative theatrical efforts. Forty hours work for .25 units of practicum credit. Includes research and written work appropriate to the theatrical activity involved. Four units maximum credit; 1.5 units maximum per semester. Does not count for theatre or dance major or minor.

Permission of department.

Units: .25-1

Understanding theatre arts through analysis of and participation in creative theatrical efforts. Forty hours work for .25 units of practicum credit. Includes research and written work appropriate to the theatrical activity involved. Four units maximum credit; 1.5 units maximum per semester. Does not count for theatre or dance major or minor.

Permission of department.

Units: .25-1

Understanding theatre arts through analysis of and participation in creative theatrical efforts. Forty hours work for .25 units of practicum credit. Includes research and written work appropriate to the theatrical activity involved. Four units maximum credit; 1.5 units maximum per semester. Does not count for theatre or dance major or minor.

Permission of department.

Units: .25-1

Understanding theatre arts through analysis of and participation in creative theatrical efforts. Forty hours work for .25 units of practicum credit. Includes research and written work appropriate to the theatrical activity involved. Four units maximum credit; 1.5 units maximum per semester. Does not count for theatre or dance major or minor.

Permission of department.

Units: .25-1

Understanding theatre arts through analysis of and participation in creative theatrical efforts. Forty hours work for .25 units of practicum credit. Includes research and written work appropriate to the theatrical activity involved. Four units maximum credit; 1.5 units maximum per semester. Does not count for theatre or dance major or minor.

Permission of department.

Units: .25-1

Understanding theatre arts through analysis of and participation in creative theatrical efforts. Forty hours work for .25 units of practicum credit. Includes research and written work appropriate to the theatrical activity involved. Four units maximum credit; 1.5 units maximum per semester. Does not count for theatre or dance major or minor.

Permission of department.

Units: .25-1

Understanding theatre arts through analysis of and participation in creative theatrical efforts. Forty hours work for .25 units of practicum credit. Includes research and written work appropriate to the theatrical activity involved. Four units maximum credit; 1.5 units maximum per semester. Does not count for theatre or dance major or minor.

Permission of department.

Units: 1

(See MUS 345; same as ARTH 345.) Does not satisfy major or minor requirements.

MUS/THTR 310 or ARTH 322 or permission of instructor.

Units: 1

Study of selected plays and theatre productions with a focus on the representations of gender and gender relations. Readings in feminist, gender, and queer theory provide critical frameworks for analyzing representations of gender as well as representations of race and class as they intersect with gender. Culminates in a staged reading of a play.

Units: 1

Research and preparation for honors thesis or project in theatre or dance.

Acceptance in the department honors program.

Units: .5-1

Practical application of theatre and dance principles and skills in supervised, out-of-class environment. Does not count for theatre major or minor or dance minor. No more than 1.5 units of internship in any one department and 3.5 units of internship overall may be counted toward required degree units.

Majors and minors only; faculty approval before beginning work.

Units: 0-.5

Majors-only course requiring a student to assume a position of significant responsibility (excluding performing) in one of the department's major productions. These positions include stage manager, assistant stage manager, designing or assistant designing (costumes, lights, scenery, sound), assistant directing, dramaturg, head props master, or head dresser. Graded: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.

Departmental approval.

Units: 0

Documentation of the work of students who receive summer fellowships to conduct research [or produce a creative arts project] in the summer. The work must take place over a minimum of 8 weeks, the student must engage in the project full-time (at least 40 hours per week) during this period, and the student must be the recipient of a fellowship through the university. Graded S/U.

Approval for summer Arts and Sciences fellowship by faculty mentor

Units: 1

Requires students to form a production organization and produce a substantial play. The production will be staged at the beginning of the next semester and students will receive their final grade after successful completion. Students must select play, analyze material, provide requisite dramaturgical research, create a budget, design all visual elements, raise funds for and publicize the production, conduct rehearsals, and provide a thorough critique of the results.

THTR 207, THTR 208, and one of the following: THTR 301, THTR 305, THTR 307, THTR 322, or department approval.

Units: 1

Seminar in which students engage under faculty supervision in individual research projects (scholarly and/or creative) in specific fields or forms of theatrical expression.

THTR 207, THTR 208, and one of THTR 301, 305, 307, or 322.

Units: 1

Research and writing honors thesis or realization (including rehearsals and all drawings) of a creative honors project in theatre or dance.

Acceptance in the department honors program.