To act, to perform is to speculate with your body. Theatre is a transformative experience that takes performer and audience on an extensive journey in the playground of the imagination beyond the mundane world. Theatre asks us to be other than ourselves. We can for a time inhabit someone else’s skin, be shaped by another gender or ethnicity, become part of a past epoch or an alternative time and space similar to our own time but that has yet to come. As we enter this “imagined” world we investigate the normative principles of our current world.

The course is designed to explore the nature of design, in theatre and the visual arts. Students study the elements of set, costume, lighting and sound design while looking at the work of some of the most influential designers, past and present. Especially designed for those with a limited background in theatre, it involves discussions about assigned plays and projects, as appropriate to the topic. It is open to all students but particularly recommended for first-year students and sophomores. Enrollment limited to 16.

Filmmaking is storytelling. This story can be told by the actors or by its visuals. Every film employs a production designer who, with the director and cinematographer, is in charge of the visual design of the film. In this class we learn how a production designer breaks down a script to determine which scenes should be shot on location and which should be built as sets. Each student makes design choices for the entire script. Whether picking out locations or creating sets to be shot on a soundstage, this class examines what makes one design choice better than another.

The integration of the design elements of line, texture, color, gesture and movement into unified production styles. Further study of the history of clothing, movement in costume, construction techniques and rendering. Production work may be required outside of the class meeting time. Prerequisites: 254 and P.

This course further explores light as a tool to illuminate, sculpt and articulate ideas and their execution on and off stage. We examine various contemporary approaches to designing for a diverse range of performing arts such as drama, dance, concert and opera. We also probe light as an expressive medium in creative realms beyond theatrical venues, and investigate its role in cinematography, digital animation, architecture, interior design, industrial design, etc.

Advanced aspects of directing for the stage. Structural analysis of dramatic texts, with emphasis on articulating a unique vision for a text. Work on problems of visual composition, rehearsal techniques and development, in collaboration with actors and designers, of the inner score of action and its physical expression the stage. Prerequisites: Directing I. In addition, Acting II (THE 242) and a 200-level design class are strongly recommended. Permission of the instructor required.

This course focuses upon interpretative approaches to performance pieces (texts, scores, improvisations, etc.) and how they may be realized and animated through characterization, composition, movement, rhythm and style. Prerequisites: Acting I or FLS 280. Permission of instructor required. Enrollment limited to 12.

Intermediate and advanced script projects. Prerequisite: 261. L and P.

The means and methods of the playwright and the writer for television and the cinema. Analysis of the structure and dialogue of a few selected plays. Weekly and biweekly exercises in writing for various media. Goal for beginning playwrights: to draft a one-act play by the end of the semester. Plays by students are considered for staging. L and P with writing sample required, best submitted weeks prior to registration.

The elements of line, texture and color, and their application to design and character delineation. Research of clothing styles of various cultures and eras. Enrollment limited to 15.