Theatre Courses

THTR 3005UN ACTING II - 3 points

Topics Descriptions

Please see below for general course description and days/times offered.

ACTING II: ACTING SONDHEIM

Mana Allen

This class is an in-depth exploration, through song performance and study, of Stephen Sondheim's artistic output from 1954 – 1981 (Saturday Night – Merrily We Roll Along) using as our textbook:

Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes by Stephen Sondheim, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010

In this compendium, the first of two volumes, Sondheim gives detailed insight into the development of his lyric writing process and guiding principles from his first professional effort at 24, through his decade of remarkable collaboration with Harold Prince, and includes his opinions on other major lyricists of the 20th century. This class builds performance skills in text analysis and musicality to develop the craft of effective storytelling through song.

In addition to building effective song performances, the class requires weekly study of chapters, listening to corresponding original cast recordings, writing ten critical essays, and participation in class discussion. The course also includes at least one visit with a guest artist who has worked closely with Sondheim. Guests in the past include Recording Producer Thomas Z. Shepard, Jim Walton, Ann Morrison, and David Loud.

ACTING II: ACTING SOLO PERFORMANCE

Kyle deCamp

This lab class explores composition, direction and performance of devised, interdisciplinary theater projects, and is grounded in research, experimentation and rigorous play. We work collectively, in solo and group forms, exploring developmental processes that engage your intuition, imagination and impulse, as makers and performers. In the first half of the course we work through a series of quick studies. These projects take you out into the field to hunt, gather and bring back juicy materials you’ll use in class and explore on your own. And while this is not a class in autobiography, the projects you create and perform will be uniquely expressive of … you! All the while, as individuals and as a group, we are in a process of discovering and defining what a solo performance can be. The second half of the intensive is devoted to the development of your final solo project, and an informal presentation at the end of term.

ACTING II: COMEDY

Crystal Finn

In this course we will explore the comic scene in classical and contemporary plays. We will use the traditions of Clowning and Commedia to explore the full range of comedic possibilities in each performer. Each performer will be encouraged to find their own entry point into the comedic world. We will spend time on how to table work comedic scenes, and listen to the rhythms inherent in comic writing. We will learn how physical comedy can teach us how to block a scene and how improvisation can live within that blocking. We will learn how to bring our own selves to the full realization of a comic script.

ACTING II: TEXT IN ACTION

Gisela Cardenas

Considering Shakespeare as one of the best acting sources we have, this class embraces the idea that diving inside his work is a way of training our acting muscles while learning more about ourselves and the society we create. It is also a way of solidifying and challenging the knowledge that a student interested in theater may have by approaching Shakespeare's work through a physical approach to the text. Shakespeare's words were created to be uttered by a company of actors in a time when the performers’ bodies solely achieved the truth of the event with minimum technical support. For this reason, his work triggers the importance of using the body as a way of entering his world and the experiences he proposes. The first part of this class will explore the sonnets and soliloquies; in the second, A Comedy of Errors and Richard III. In the third and final part, we will examine master playwrights whose work explores the text's muscularity and rhythm as a source for acting: Susan-Lori Parks, Samuel Beckett, Anne Carson, Edward Bond, among others.

ACTING II: SCENE AND CHARACTER STUDY

Gisela Cardenas

This class is designed approach the performer’s work as an independent artist capable of interrogating the material at hand and producing specific proposals on stage that can stimulate their collaborators and contribute to the overall creation of the staging.

The student will work a series of scenes during the semester chosen from diverse plays seeking to stimulate theatrical questions that can contribute to a playful, vital, and dynamic role. The class will teach active ways of analyzing the script at hand as well as a series of physical techniques to approach character work. The mindset this class seeks to foster rests upon the idea that an actor must hone their craft as a muscle. For this reason, the physicality of the actor will be trained through key techniques to understand the performer’s embodiment as an essential element to produce thought from and through the stage. Familiar practitioners we will be referring to are: Laban, Malmgren, Pagneaux, among others.

ACTING II: SUZUKI

Tina Mitchell

This class is designed to give the student a specific approach to the actor's rehearsal process that engages both the mind and body. The Suzuki Method of Actor Training, developed by Japanese theatre director Tadashi Suzuki, is a somatic approach to acting training that gives the student a practical way to enter into a scene rehearsal. The technique is a rigorous physical discipline drawn from traditional Japanese and Greek theatre, ballet, and martial arts. Focusing on the actor's use of breath, the center of gravity, and energy, this training develops power, presence, and precision both physically and vocally. Students will be led through a series of the basic Suzuki forms to cultivate an acute physical awareness, an energized stage presence, and discover the power of their voice. Students will study the theater practice of Tadashi Suzuki and The SITI Company, who adopted his training, and examine how this corporeal technique is used to build physical expressivity through its application to the rehearsal and performance of contemporary scenes. Suzuki's creative practice will also be examined, culminating in a final performance of a classic scene that is adapted and/or re-examined and presented in response to current world or social events.

ACTING II: ACTING THE MUSICAL SCENE

Mana Allen

Acting the Musical Scene is a course designed as an introduction to the world of the American Musical Theater through an exploration of scenes from Rodgers and Hammerstein, the Golden Era and Sondheim. Together with our musical director we will help develop the actor’s physical and vocal instrument, text analysis skills, as well as study the history of the art form which was born right here in New York City.

THTR UN2005 Acting Workshop. 3 points.

When offered in Fall semester, open only to first-year students.Not offered during 2022-23 academic year.

Prerequisites: Acting classes are open to all Barnard and Columbia undergraduates. Permission of Theatre Department through audition required: auditions for acting classes and for the semester's stage productions held 6pm on the first Tuesday and Wednesday class days of each semester. Acting classes begin meeting after auditions. For required details, consult "Auditions" on the Barnard Theatre Department website in advance: theatre.barnard.edu/auditions.

Course develops the processes and tools an actor needs to approach the text of a play. Students develop their physical, vocal, and imaginative range and skills through voice and speech exercises, work on non-verbal behavior, improvisation, and character development. IN THE FALL SEMESTER OPEN ONLY TO FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS. Course encouraged for prospective BC Theatre and CU Drama and Theatre Arts majors.

THTR UN2022 PRACTICUM PERFORMANCE SHOW 1. 1.00-3.00 points.

Course can be taken for 1-3 points.

Course may be taken for 1-3 points. Prerequisites: Open to all Barnard and Columbia undergraduates. Permission of Department through audition required. Students cast as actors in a departmental stage production register for this course; course emphasizes the collaborative nature of production, and appropriate research and reading required in addition to artistic assignments. Auditions for each semester's stage productions held 6pm on the first Tuesday and Wednesday class days of each semester. For required details, consult "Auditions" on the Barnard Theatre Department website in advance: theatre.barnard.edu/auditions. May be retaken for full credit.

THTR UN2023 Practicum Performance Show 2. 3 points.

Course may be taken for 1-3 points.

Prerequisites: Open to all Barnard and Columbia undergraduates. Permission of Department through audition required. Students cast as actors in a departmental stage production register for this course; course emphasizes the collaborative nature of production, and appropriate research and reading required in addition to artistic assignments. Auditions for each semester's stage productions held 6pm on the first Tuesday and Wednesday class days of each semester. For required details, consult "Auditions" on the Barnard Theatre Department website in advance: theatre.barnard.edu/auditions. May be retaken for full credit.

THTR UN2024 PRACTICUM PERFORMANCE THESIS 1. 1.00-3.00 points.

Course may be taken for 1-3 points. May be retaken for full credit. Prerequisites: Open to all Barnard and Columbia undergraduates. Permission of Department through audition required. Students cast as actors in a Senior Thesis in Directing register for this course. Auditions for each semester's stage productions held 6pm on the first Tuesday and Wednesday class days of each semester. For required details, consult "Auditions" on the Barnard Theatre Department website in advance: theatre.barnard.edu/auditions

THTR UN2025 PRACTICUM PERFORMANCE THESIS 2. 1.00-3.00 points.

THTR UN2026 PRACTICUM PERFORMANCE THESIS 3. 1.00-3.00 points.

THTR UN2027 Practicum Performance Dramaturgy. 3 points.

Prerequisites: Student dramaturgs are selected as part of the production team; students interested in dramaturging a faculty-directed production should have taken the Dramaturgy course (THTR UN3167) and consult with the instructor. Students interested in dramaturging a senior thesis in directing should be listed by the thesis director as part of the production proposal and register for this course in the semester of the production. Students doing a senior thesis in dramaturgy do not register for this course, but register for THTR UN 3997: Senior Thesis in Performance: Dramaturgy.

THTR UN2140 History and Practice of Producing for the Theatre. 4 points.

Prerequisites: Preference given to students who have taken New York Theatre and/or are Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors. Permission of instructor given at first class meeting, required. Course limited to 12.

Explores the role and responsibilities of the producer in commercial and not-for-profit theatre; the relationship of the producer to the cast and creative team; the creative development of plays and musicals; the evolution of the role of the producer over the twentieth century; and the pioneering work of great producers of the past century. Students develop criteria to assess artistic and financial merits of theatrical work. Attendance at productions on and off Broadway, meetings with producers and other theatre artists.

THTR UN2201 ACTING ENSEMBLE DIRECTING II. 1.00 point.

Students may participate as actors in Directing II as a 1-credit course; these students will comprise the Acting Ensemble. Actors will be cast in all four student-directed scenes and will participate in the feedback process following the showings. Actors must be available for both days of the week the course meets, but are only required to attend when they are performing; they are welcome to attend additional classes that may be of interest. Actors will be graded on their in-class performances (moment-to-moment work, collaboration with on-stage partners, memorization) and ability to respond and adjust to notes. Actors who are responsible and collaborative will succeed as part of the Acting Ensemble. Grading is Pass/Fail

THTR UN2210 Theatre Workshop. 1 point.

Prerequisites: To be taken only for P/D/F. Auditions for this class are sometimes required; please check with Theatre Department in advance. If audition is required, auditions held 6pm on the first Tuesday and Wednesday class days of each semester. Class begins meeting after auditions. For required details, consult "Auditions" on the Barnard Theatre Department website in advance: theatre.barnard.edu/auditions

Various topics presented by visiting theatre scholars, artists, and practitioners in a lecture/seminar/workshop series that will meet for at least four sessions during each semester. Topics, times, and visiting instructors will be announced by the department. Students must attend all classes to receive credit for the course.

THTR UN2420 Technical Production. 3 points.

Prerequisites: Crew assignment optional. Enrollment limited to 10 students.

Introduction to the equipment, terms, and procedures employed in the creation of scenery, lighting, and sound for the stage. Classroom exercises and field visits emphasize approaches to collaborative process and production management.

THTR UN2421 Stage Management. 3 points.

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor, given at first class meeting.

This course explores the role of the stage manager and production manager in theatrical production. Students undertake hands-on exercises to develop the practical and collaborative skills essential to working both as a stage manager and production manager--script analysis; production timeline and rehearsal management; technical rehearsal; budgeting; working with directors and designers; working with unions; health and safety codes; house management; box office.

THTR UN2422 PRACTICUM PROPS ＆ PAINT. 1.00-3.00 points.

May be taken for 1-3 points.

Course may be taken for 1-3 points. May be retaken for full credit. Prerequisites: permission of Theatre Department Production Manager, Michael Banta (mbanta@barnard.edu). Training and practical props and/or scenic painting work on Departmental mainstage productions

THTR UN2423 PRACTICUM LIGHTS ＆ SOUND. 1.00-3.00 points.

Course may be taken for 1-3 points. May be retaken for full credit. Prerequisites: permission of Theatre Department Production Manager, Michael Banta (mbanta@barnard.edu). Training and practical lighting and/or sound work on Departmental mainstage productions

THTR UN2424 PRACTICUM WARDROBE. 1.00-3.00 points.

Course may be taken for 1-3 points. May be retaken for full credit. Prerequisites: permission of Theatre Department Costume Shop Manager Kara Feely (kfeely@barnard.edu). Training and practical costume construction and fitting work on Departmental mainstage productions

THTR UN2425 PRACTICUM STAGE MANAGEMENT. 1.00-3.00 points.

Course may be taken for 1-3 points. May be retaken for full credit. Prerequisites: permission of Theatre Department Production Manager, Michael Banta (mbanta@barnard.edu). Training and practical stage management work on Departmental mainstage productions

THTR UN2426 PRACTICUM DESIGN THESIS FESTIVAL. 1.00-3.00 points.

Course may be taken for 1-3 points. May be retaken for full credit. Prerequisites: permission of the Senior Thesis Festival coordinator. Training and practical work as student designer on the Senior Thesis Festival

THTR UN2427 PRACTICUM DESIGN ASSISTANT. 1.00-3.00 points.

Course may be taken for 1-3 points. May be retaken for full credit. Prerequisites: permission of the Senior Thesis Festival coordinator. Training and practical design work assisting student designers for the Senior Thesis Festival

THTR UN3004 ACTING I. 3.00 points.

Prerequisite: Open to all Barnard and Columbia undergraduates. Permission of Instructor required; students admitted from Waiting List. Course develops physical, vocal, and imaginative range and skills needed to approach the text of a play: text analysis, speech exercises, non-verbal behavior, improvisation designed to enhance embodiment, movement, and projection. Fulfills one course in Acting for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors. Gateway course to advanced courses; transfer students who have previous college-level course may be exempted with approval of Chair. May be retaken for full credit

THTR UN3005 ACTING II. 3.00 points.

Prerequisite: Open to all Barnard and Columbia undergraduates. Permission of Instructor required; students admitted from Waiting List. Students must have taken Acting I or equivalent to be eligible for Acting II sections. Acting II will offer several different sections, focusing on a specific range of conceptual, embodiment, and physical acting skills. Each course fulfills one course in Acting requirement for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors. Please check with the Theatre Department website forspecific offerings and audition information. May be retaken for full credit

THTR UN3006 ADVANCED ACTING. 3.00 points.

Not offered during 2022-23 academic year.

Prerequisites: Preference given to juniors and seniors; THTR UN 3004 or 3005 prerequisite. Enrollment limited to 14 students. Acting classes are open to all Barnard and Columbia undergraduates. Permission of Theatre Department through audition required: auditions for acting classes and for the semester's stage productions held 6pm on the first Tuesday and Wednesday class days of each semester. Acting classes begin meeting after auditions. For required details, consult "Auditions" on the Barnard Theatre Department website in advance: theatre.barnard.edu/auditions
Prerequisites: Preference given to juniors and seniors; THTR UN 3004 or 3005 prerequisite. Enrollment limited to 14 students. Acting classes are open to all Barnard and Columbia undergraduates. Permission of Theatre Department through audition required: auditions for acting classes and for the semesters stage productions held 6pm on the first Tuesday and Wednesday class days of each semester. Acting classes begin meeting after auditions. For required details, consult Auditions on the Barnard Theatre Department website in advance: theatre.barnard.edu/auditions Special problems of performance. In-class scene work, extensive outside research, rehearsals, and reading. Fulfills additional coursework in Acting for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors. May be retaken for full credit

THTR UN3007 Scene Lab. 3 points.

Not offered during 2022-23 academic year.

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 16 students. Acting classes are open to all Barnard and Columbia undergraduates. Permission of Theatre Department through audition required: auditions for acting classes and for the semester's stage productions held 6pm on the first Tuesday and Wednesday class days of each semester. Acting classes begin meeting after auditions. For required details, consult "Auditions" on the Barnard Theatre Department website in advance: theatre.barnard.edu/auditions.

Provides an overview of the creative process of acting: text analysis, circumstance, establishment of place, pursuit of intention in coordination with exercises and improvisation designed to enhance concentration, imagination, resonance, movement, and projection. Rehearsal 2 hours per week outside class, participation in discussion of plays, playwrights, and performances required. Fulfills one course in Acting for Theatre/Drama Theatre Arts majors.

THTR UN3008 Performing Greek Tragedy on the Modern Stage. 3 points.

This course aims to explore performing Greek tragedy on the modern stage. It will include an introduction to original performance practices in ancient Greece (space, masking, choral performance, costume, acting techniques) and an examination of how artists from different contemporary theatrical traditions have adapted ancient texts in modern performances and new versions of the plays. The bulk of the course will be focused on the problems of acting, interpreting, and reinterpreting parts of three plays on the stage, Sophocles’ Antigone, Euripides’ Medea, and Sophocles’ Ajax along with a new version by Ellen McLaughlin, who teaches playwriting at Barnard, Ajax in Iraq. Students will view all or parts of particularly interesting recent productions from various theatrical traditions, which will help them to tackle challenging issues such as choral performance and choral rhythms, masking, character work, dialogues and presenting formal political debates.

For contemporary actors training in Greek tragedy offers a unique opportunity to improve their performance on stage through ensemble work and representing character through speech. It enhances dramaturgical capacities that a contemporary theater practitioner must exercise in exploring theory in practice and vice versa.

This class is directed to students particularly interested in dramaturgy, directing, designing, translation, and Greek tragedy as well as acting.

THTR UN3140 Performing Women. 4 points.

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 16 students. This course examines the category of "woman" as it is mobilized in performance, considering both a variety of contemporary performances chosen from a wide range of genres and a diversity of critical/theoretical perspectives. Course may fill either the Theory requirement, or one (of two) required courses in dramatic literature/theatre studies/performance studies for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts major, but not both.

THTR UN3141 Socialism/Communism in Performance. 4 points.

Not offered during 2022-23 academic year.

Prerequisites: Sophomore standing. Enrollment limited to 16 students.

Analyzes dramatic texts and performances under the Communist regimes behind the Iron Curtain before 1989. Principal focus is on Czech, Polish, and East German playwrights and their productions; we will consider their work in both legal and illegal contexts. In order to gain a wider understanding of the diversity of underground performative cultures, works from Hungary, Romania, and Slovenia will be considered as well. The seminar also attends to dissident performative activities in the framework of the 1980s revolutions, and reflects on works by western authors and emigrant/diasporic writers produced on stages behind the Iron Curtain. Fulfills one (of two) required courses in dramatic literature/theatre studies/performance studies for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts major.

THTR UN3142 Bertolt Brecht: The Making of Theatre. 4 points.

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 16; permission of instructor given at first class meeting. Course is conducted in English and readings are in English; German majors and German-speaking students may do readings and papers in German.

This class provides a comprehensive overview of the drama, theatre, and theory of Bertolt Brecht, the most influential European playwright and theorist of the twentieth century, in the context of their original historical contexts and subsequent legacies. Fulfills one (of two) required courses in dramatic literature/theatre studies/performance studies for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts major.

THTR UN3144 Ecologies of Transmedia Performance. 4.00 points.

Exploring transmedia performance as both a medial interaction in the physical space of theatre and a multiplatform environment expanding and extending beyond it, Ecologies of Transmedia Performance engages the NYPL for the Performing Arts archive to create an environmentally and socially self-aware, virtual transmedia performance/experience. To strengthen academic and digital competencies, the course consists of a seminar (meets on Tuesday) and a lab (meets on Wednesday), integrating several activities: experiencing and studying transmedia performances; conceptualizing transmediality; conducting archival research into transmedia theatre; and designing a transmedia performance (the digital tools we will work with include Google Sites, Google Scripts, and Google Cloud AI). Course enrollment is limited to 12; permission of instructor given after first class meeting. Fulfills one of the two required courses in dramatic literature/theatre studies/performance studies for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts major

THTR UN3146 American Drama in the 1990s. 4 points.

Not offered during 2022-23 academic year.

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 16.

Examines American drama in the period between the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the attack on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001, considering a range of aesthetic (epic theatre, performance art), social (AIDS), and political (Reaganomics) issues of the period. Fulfills one (of two) required courses dramatic literature/theatre studies/performance studies for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts major.

THTR UN3149 PERFORMANCE IN/OF SOUTH ＆ SOUTHEAST ASIA. 3.00 points.

This course actively interrogates the region of Southeast Asia as it is mobilized in performance. It will investigate performance as a theoretical lens, artistic medium, and everyday practice across Southeast Asia. Research and writing will draw upon theatre, dance, performance art, and ritual, focusing on the construction of national and personal identity through performance. The course examines themes of gender, sexuality, imperialism, and globalization. Through discussion, viewing, and weekly writing assignments, students hone their critical thinking skills and learn to formulate research questions and arguments that will culminate in one critical essay and two in-class exams. Course may fill either the Global Theatre requirement, or one (of two) required courses in dramatic literature/theatre studies/performance studies for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts major, but not both

THTR UN3150 Western Theatre Traditions:Classic to Romantic. 3 points.

Dialectical approach to reading and thinking about the history of dramatic theatre in the west, interrogating the ways poetry inflects, and is inflected by, the material dynamics of performance. Course undertakes careful study of the practices of performance, and of the sociocultural, economic, political, and aesthetic conditions animating representative plays of the Western tradition from the classical theatre through the early modern period to early romanticism; course will also emphasize development of important critical concepts for the analysis of drama, theatre, and performance. Specific attention will be given to classical Athens, medieval cycle drama, the professional theatre of early modern England, the rival theatres of seventeenth century France and Spain, and eighteenth-century theatre in England and Germany; topics include the sociology of theatre, the impact of print on conceptions of performance, representing gender and race, and the dynamics of court performance. Writing: 2-3 papers; Reading: 1-2 plays, critical and historical reading per week; final examination. Fulfills one (of two) Theatre History requirements for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors.

THTR UN3151 WESTRN THTR TRAD: MODERN. 3.00 points.

Dialectical approach to reading and thinking about the history of dramatic theatre in the west, interrogating the ways poetry inflects, and is inflected by, the material dynamics of performance. Course undertakes careful study of the practices of performance, and of the sociocultural, economic, political, and aesthetic conditions animating representative plays of the Western tradition from the late eighteenth century to today; course will also emphasize development of important critical concepts for the analysis of drama, theatre, and performance. Specific attention will be given to the ideology of realism and naturalism, the development of epic theatre, the theatre of cruelty, postcolonial performance, and the continuing invention of dramatic forms (theatre of the absurd, speechplays, postdramatic theatre), as well as to the political and theoretical impact of race, gender, sexuality in modern performance culture. Writing: 2-3 papers; Reading: 1-2 plays, critical and historical reading per week; final examination. Fulfills one (of two) Theatre History requirements for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors

THTR UN3152 NAZISM IN PERFORMANCE. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: Course enrollment limited to 16; permission of instructor given at first class meeting.
Prerequisites: Course enrollment limited to 16; permission of instructor given at first class meeting. Explores the cultivation of national and transnational performances as a significant force of National Socialism, at the same time as challenging the notion of “Nazi Theatre” as monolithic formation. The core of the course inquires into the dialectical analysis of artistic creations in diverse art genres, while working towards an understanding of the social dramaturgy of such events as staging the Führer and the racialized body of the privileged people. Nazism did not harbor ideologies without benefits for the allied nations. Thus, the dynamic performance of transnationalism among the “brothers in arms” will be included as well, in order to elucidate how works of art crossing into the Third Reich were reimagined, sometimes in ways challenging to the presumed values of the state stage. Fulfills one (of two) required courses in dramatic literature/theatre studies/performance studies for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts major

THTR UN3154 Theatre Traditions in a Global Context. 3 points.

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 50 students.

Provides a broad introduction to several traditions of nonwestern drama and theatrical practice, often placing recent and contemporary writing in relation to established conventions. Taking up plays and performance traditions from Asia, South Asia, and various African traditions, it may also consider the relation between elite and popular culture (adaptations of Shakespeare, for example), and between drama, theatre, and film. Course may fulfill either the Global Theatre requirement, or one (of two) required courses dramatic literature/theatre studies/performance studies for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts major, but not both.

THTR UN3155 TRADITIONAL INDIAN PERFORMNCE. 4.00 points.

Course provides a perspective on traditional forms of Indian performance from classical theory to contemporary traditional practices. Course covers Sanskrit drama, Kathakali, Ramlila, and Chhau; extensive video of performances and guest practitioners.Course may fulfill either the Global Theatre requirement, or one (of two) required courses in dramatic literature/theatre studies/performance studies for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts major, but not both

THTR UN3156 MODERN ASIAN PERFORMANCE. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor given at first class meeting; enrollment limited to 16. Corequisites: Fulfills one course in World Theatre requirement for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors. Course studies contemporary Asian performance with focus on modernity, covering most nations on the Asian continent; readings cover theoretical and aesthetic questions from performances of healing to revolutionary theatre to diasporic performance. Course may fulfill either the Global Theatre requirement, or one (of two) required courses in dramatic literature/theatre studies/performance studies for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts major, but not both

THTR UN3157 POSTCOLONIAL DRAMA:THE CANON ＆ ITS OTHER. 4.00 points.

This class is a close reading of postcolonial plays, both as they form a recognizable canon, and as counters to it. Through a grounding in postcolonial theory, students will explore how the colonial encounter leaves a lasting impact on language and performance. How do these playwrights tackle questions of authenticity, influence, inspiration and agency? What stories do they adapt, translate or reimagine? Also, we read in equal measure male and female playwrights, attending to the ways in which power and authority are negotiated by them. This class looks both at plays that are seminal to postcolonial writing and also newer ones that unsettle the position of the greats. Do we then understand postcolonialism as a historically bound literary trend or an ongoing process of exploration? Fundamentally we ask, in our efforts to decolonize the theatre, how do we find new ways or reading?

THTR UN3160 Queer Performance. 4 points.

This course surveys key theoretical and historical writings in the field of Queer Performance, both within and without Theatre and Performance Studies, as well as significant dramatic and performance works in the field. Beginning with an introduction to queer theory and questions surrounding gender and sexuality in performance, the course then moves into contemporary theories to examine works that use embodiment to question constructions of gender and sexuality onstage. Performances are regarded as provocations: what constitutes queer performance? Is sexuality all we mean by queer? What are the historical, aesthetic, and political aspects of queer performance? We will also pursue questions of practice and production: Where is queer performance staged and how is it received? How is it produced, fo whom, by whom, and with what funding? Is queer performance inherently or even necessarily radical? The course explores crosscultural performances, as well as performances spanning from theatrical stages to ritual to everyday performance. Course may fill either the Theory requirement, or one (of two) required courses in dramatic literature/theatre studies/performance studies for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts major, but not both.

THTR UN3165 THEORIES OF PERFORMANCE STUDIES. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 16 students. Course surveys the wide range of genres and categories addressed by the practice of modern "performance studies"; it introduces a number of performance practices, as well as relevant interdisciplinary methodologies. Students consider live performances as well as a number of mediated works, learning to think critically and creatively about the relation between text, technology, and the body. Course may fill either the Theory requirement, or one (of two) required courses in dramatic literature/theatre studies/performance studies for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts major, but not both

THTR UN3166 Drama, Theatre, and Theory. 4 points.

Not offered during 2022-23 academic year.

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 16 students.

Intensive immersion in fundamental principles and practices of world drama, theatre, and performance, past and present. Close readings of performances, plays, video, film, and digital media. Assignments include presentations, performance projects, and critical writing. Fulfills one course in Drama, Theatre, and Theory requirement for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors.

THTR UN3167 Dramaturgy. 4 points.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor, given at first class meeting; enrollment limited to 12. This course teaches the research skills and practices a production dramaturg develops as part of the conceptual work of theatrical production. Course is focused on a series of activities: analyzing dramatic text, comparing different versions of script, conducting archival and cultural research, and presenting it to the production team. Fulfills one (of two) required courses in dramatic literature/theatre studies/performance studies for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors. Required for students undertaking a senior thesis in dramaturgy. Required for students undertaking a senior thesis in directing prior to the thesis year.

THTR UN3200 DIRECTING I. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor given at first class meeting. Exploration of the evolution of the director's role in Europe and the US, including the study of important figures. Emphasis on text analysis, and varied schools of acting in relation to directing practice. Students gain a foundation in composing stage pictures and using stage movement to tell a story. All students will direct at least one fully-realized scene. Fulfills one course in Directing requirement for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors. Fulfills one of three courses in performance fields for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors: directing

THTR UN3201 DIRECTING II. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: Students required to have taken THTR UN3200 Directing I or THTR UN3203 Collaboration: Directing and Design, or equivalent. Enrollment limited to 14 students. Permission of instructor given at first class meeting. Course focuses on developing an individual directorial style, placing emphasis on visual research, and the use of different staging environments: end-stage, in the round, environmental. Class is structured around scene-work and critique, and each student will direct at least three fully-realized scenes. Material typically drawn from European avant-garde. Fulfills additional coursework in Directing required for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors concentrating in Directing

THTR UN3202 Advanced Directing. 4 points.

Prerequisites: Open to students who have taken at least one course in directing. Required for students approved for Directing thesis, but open to all qualified students. Permission of instructor given at first class meeting.

This course requires students to draw on all previous theatre training, synthesizing scholarship and research toward dynamic fully-realized scene work. Emphasis is on the director-actor relationship; students will direct at least three fully-realized scenes, typically drawn from Shakespeare, Chekhov, or other playwrights. Students may have the opportunity to make devised work, and will collaborate with students in the Advanced Acting class. Required for, but not limited to, students undertaking a senior thesis in directing. Fulfills additional directing coursework in Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts major.

THTR UN3203 COLLABORATION:DIRCTNG/DESIGN. 3.00 points.

Not offered during 2022-23 academic year.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructors given at first meeting; enrollment limited to 24. Course focuses on developing both technical and collaborative skills of directors and designers. Students are assigned to different roles in creative teams working on a series of at least three fully realized and designed scenes. Introduction to various design disciplines and directing practice. May be counted as one course in either directing or a design toward the three courses in performance fields for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors; counts as second or third course in either directing or design

THTR UN3211 Performance Lab. 4 points.

Not offered during 2022-23 academic year.

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 12 students. Course typically involves visiting critics/scholars/artists in developing experimental theatrical work.

THTR UN3300 Playwriting Workshop. 3 points.

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor given at first class meeting. Students will create and workshop plays, with a focus on learning new approaches to language and structure. Recommended for students undertaking a senior thesis in playwriting. Fulfills one of three courses in performance fields for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors: playwriting.

THTR UN3301 PLAYWRITING LAB. 3.00 points.

Students will develop original dramatic scripts. Students will also read drafts of writers currently produced on New York stages to understand why changes and rewrites were made. Recommended for students undertaking a senior thesis in playwriting. Fulfills one of three courses in performance fields for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors: playwriting

THTR UN3401 Sound Design. 3 points.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor given at first class meeting. Studies the art and practice of designing sound and scoring music for dramatic performance. Students study the relationship between concert and incidental music, and read plays toward the production of a score for live theatre. Students also read broadly in the fields of sound, music, acoustics, and the cultural analysis of sound as a component of performance. Background in music or composition not essential. . Fulfills one of three courses in performance fields for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors: design.

THTR UN3402 COSTUME DESIGN. 3.00 points.

Studio course exploring designing costumes for the stage. Students become familiar with textual and character analysis, research, sketching and rendering, swatching and introductory costume history. Fulfills one course in Design for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors Fulfills one of three courses in performance fields for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors: design. Application Instructions: E-mail the instructor kfeely@barnard.edu with the title of the course in the subject line. In your message, include basic information: your name, school, major, year of study, and relevant courses taken, along with a brief statement about why you are interested in taking the course. Admitted students should register for the course; they will automatically be placed on a wait list, from which the instructor will admit them as spaces become available

THTR UN3403 LIGHTING DESIGN. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 12 students. Focuses on both the technical and creative aspects of theatrical lighting design. Students will learn the role of lighting within the larger design and performance collaboration through individual and group projects, readings, hands-on workshops, and critique of actual designs. Fulfills one course in Design for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors. Fulfills one of three courses in performance fields for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors: design Application Instructions: E-mail the instructor (acasey@barnard.edu) with the title of the course in the subject line. In your message, include basic information: your name, school, major, year of study, and relevant courses taken, along with a brief statement about why you are interested in taking the course. Admitted students should register for the course; they will automatically be placed on a wait list, from which the instructor will admit them as spaces become available

THTR UN3404 SCENE DESIGN. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 12 students. Permission of instructor given at first class meeting. Introduction to designing for the theatre. The course will focus on set design, developing skills in script analysis, sketching, model making, storyboarding and design presentation. Some investigation into theatre architecture, scenic techniques and materials, and costume and lighting design. Fulfills one of three courses in performance fields for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors: design

THTR UN3405 PROBLEMS IN DESIGN. 3 points.

Prerequisites: Some design experience is helpful, though not required. Enrollment limited to 12 students. Studio-based course explores the main elements of theatrical design: sets, costumes, lighting, and sound through objects, materials, theatrical and non-theatrical environments. Students examine these design elements as both individual and interrelated components within a performance. Fulfills one course in Design requirement for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors. Fulfills one of three courses in performance fields for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors: design.

THTR UN3406 Media & Production Design. 3 points.

Uses analysis and design to explore how media and projections can be used to construct narrative in theatre and support non-narrative forms of performance. Digital and analog media are explored for their potentials and limitations. Students learn how the media is produced and transmitted will be discussed as part of creating a video design. Students will produce projection projects using different kinds of media during the course requiring work outside of class time. Fulfills one of three courses in performance fields for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors: design.

THTR UN3997 SENIOR THESIS IN PERFORMANCE. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: Appropriate coursework and substantial production experience, including a major crew assignment in the junior year. Enrollment limited to senior Theatre majors. Combined and special majors may be considered under exceptional circumstances. Permission of the instructor required. Students register for this course to pursue approved theses in acting, design, directing, dramaturgy, solo performance, or stage and production management. Students will act in, direct, design, stage manage or dramaturg a play in the Barnard Department of Theatre season, or write a short play or solo performance piece that will be produced (according to departmental guidelines) in the Senior Thesis Festival. Collaboration is expected and students will meet weekly with faculty and other seniors. A written proposal must be submitted in the spring of the junior year and be approved. In addition to the performance, an extensive written Casebook is required: see departmental guidelines

THTR UN3998 SENIOR THESIS IN RESEARCH. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to senior Theatre majors. Combined and special majors may be considered under exceptional circumstances. Permission of the instructor required.
Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to senior Theatre majors. Combined and special majors may be considered under exceptional circumstances. Permission of the instructor required. In-depth research project culminating in a substantial written thesis on any aspect of drama, performance, or theatre research

ENTA GU4625 SHAKESPEARE PERFORMANCE STUDIES. 4.00 points.

This course will work across three general approaches to Shakespearean drama and performance. First, we’ll consider the historical forms of performance that have used Shakespearean drama as the material for theatrical endeavor. Second, we’ll consider theoretical paradigms for performance that resituate an understanding that privileges either the “theatrical” or the “literary” identity of Shakespeare’s plays. And, finally, we’ll consider how we might consider the plays as themselves theoretical instruments for thinking about performance. Throughout the semester we will consider stage, film, and online productions, and the ways they articulate a sense of both “Shakespeare” and “performance.” This course is a seminar, and while there is no formal prerequisite, students who have had a previous Shakespeare course will find the reading more manageable: we will rarely be doing the kind of “overview” of a play, but will be incisively considering specific elements of performance. Application Instructions: E-mail the instructor wworthen@barnard.edu with the title of the course in the subject line. In your message, include basic information: your name, school, major, year of study, and relevant courses taken, along with a brief statement about why you are interested in taking the course. Admitted students should register for the course; they will automatically be placed on a wait list, from which the instructor will admit them as spaces become available

THTR UN3999 Independent Study. 3 points.

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor and the chair required.

Students submit, before the semester begins, a detailed proposal for independent research to a faculty sponsor.