THTR 1000. Theatre at Northeastern. (1 Hour)
Introduces new students to the communities and procedures of Northeastern University; the College of Arts, Media and Design; and the Department of Theatre. Offers insights into the study of the liberal arts in general and the creative facets of theatre study, including the rehearsal and production process. Emphasizes the departmental values of generosity, respect, and rigor and seeks to familiarize students with the arts and culture of Greater Boston.
THTR 1100. Production Experience 1. (1 Hour)
Offers lab practice in technical production. May be repeated once.
THTR 1101. Introduction to Theatre. (4 Hours)
Reveals the dynamic world of theatre by exploring the artistry, ideas, and techniques of actors, designers, directors, and playwrights. Goes behind the scenes in the study of theory and literature with both in-depth discussions and in-class performances. Includes a survey of significant movements in theatre history and analysis of diverse plays from contemporary drama. No theatre experience required.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov, NUpath Interpreting Culture
THTR 1111. Stagecraft. (4 Hours)
Introduces students to the theoretical concepts, knowledge, skills, and responsibilities associated with a wide variety of stage technologies and activities to be found in the world of technical theatre. Combines a grounding in the history and theory of technical theatre practices with laboratory experience to offer students an opportunity to gain a fundamental understanding of key areas of production such as light and sound operation, scenic carpentry, properties, light hang and focus, organization of running crews, rigging, wardrobe crew, and costume construction. Addresses issues concerning stage safety, as well as imperatives of public assembly and fire codes. Requires 60 hours of practical laboratory work in the running of either a mainstage or Box Theatre production in addition to weekly classes.
Attribute(s): NUpath Integration Experience
THTR 1120. Acting 1. (4 Hours)
Focuses on the development of fundamental performance techniques and various significant acting methodologies needed by an actor to develop stage presence, strengthen the imagination, and increase freedom of expression. Studies, analyzes, and interprets contemporary texts through the performance of monologues and scenes.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov
THTR 1125. Improvisation. (4 Hours)
Introduces theatre improvisation principles through games, exercises, and readings. Offers a playful and rigorous environment for students to respond to unexpected situations with confidence and agility. In this experiential studio course, students participate in group and individual exercises that explore and practice creative impulses, adaptability, risk taking, intuition, and teamwork. Culminates in a self-reflection paper.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov
THTR 1130. Introduction to Acting. (4 Hours)
Introduces techniques that awaken the creative mind, body, and spirit of the actor. Through theatre games and voice/movement exercises, offers students an opportunity to explore and develop skills used by actors in preparation for a role. Students rehearse and perform scenes from contemporary plays. Designed for nontheatre majors; previous stage experience welcome but not required.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov, NUpath Interpreting Culture
THTR 1131. Introduction to Technical Theatre. (4 Hours)
Surveys the technical and stagecraft skills that are essential knowledge for all theatre professionals. Offers students an opportunity to develop a hands-on understanding of the areas of scenery and costume construction, stage management, props, and lighting. Covers the practical skills needed to participate in the creation, evaluation, and revision of a theatrical production. Coursework includes laboratory-based classes in the department scene shop and costume shop.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov
THTR 1150. Dance History. (4 Hours)
Examines how different movement traditions─ballet, modern, postmodern, jazz, hip-hop, social dance, and contemporary experiments─embody distinct artistic, cultural, and political priorities. Investigates how evolving concepts of beauty, virtuosity, and expressivity have influenced dance practice and reception through the course of the 20th century and into the 21st. Explores how dance reflects and shapes broader cultural values through the lens of specific dance artists including Marius Petipa, George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, Pina Bausch, Kyle Abraham, Crystal Pite, Alexander Ekman, and Ohad Naharin, among many others. No prior dance experience required.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov, NUpath Interpreting Culture
THTR 1180. Dynamic Presence: Theatre Training for Effective Interpersonal Interactions. (4 Hours)
Offers students across disciplines an opportunity to enhance the quality of their spoken voice and improve clarity of expression. Emphasizes being a dynamic presenter across digital platforms. Focuses on physical and vocal exercises drawn from theatre training and practice, providing tools to release tensions that inhibit the clear communication of thoughts and ideas in professional and interpersonal interactions across in-person and digital modalities. Students apply these skills directly to various texts, circumstances, and settings through active participation in spoken, written, and performative work.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov
THTR 1215. Activism and Performance. (4 Hours)
Explores the intersection of theatre, politics, and social transformation by studying and experiencing the work of activist theatre artists in both traditional and nontraditional forms, such as docudrama, ritual, dance, street theatre, and community-generated performance. Examines the texts, theories, and practices of international theatre artists committed to ethical reasoning, social change, peace building, human rights, and community empowerment. Culminates in the creation of an original activist performance.
Attribute(s): NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NUpath Interpreting Culture
THTR 1220. Race, Power, and Performance. (4 Hours)
Examines race, power, and privilege in global and national contexts by analyzing plays and theatrical performances as spaces of cultural representation. Analyzes performance as a communicative process for understanding and constituting identity. Students explore how they perform their own lives and racial identities and apply those theories to contemporary drama and performance texts that are read, watched, and created.
Attribute(s): NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Interpreting Culture
THTR 1230. The Evolution of Fashion and Costume. (4 Hours)
Traces the evolution of fashion and costume as a global cultural phenomenon. Focuses on the history and meaning of clothing design and the development of style using a non-chronological approach. Fashion does not occur only in Western capitals; it has existed for centuries in every region of the world. Clothing has been used to protect our bodies, establish relationships with others, indicate our status, and express our identities. Through readings, discussions, research, writings, and presentations, offers an opportunity to discover the extraordinary power of fashion and clothing.
Attribute(s): NUpath Interpreting Culture
THTR 1233. Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Fashion in Europe. (4 Hours)
Traces the evolution of fashion and costume in Europe from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the twenty-first century. Illustrated lectures focus on the history and meaning of clothing design and the development of style. Examines trends in fashion for men and women within its historical, cultural, political, and economic contexts. By studying fashion history in cities such as London and Paris, students have access to primary sources of fashion history, including paintings, sculpture, and textiles and garments from the periods being studied. Emphasizes current trends in fashion, with in-depth studies of the work of designers such as Dior, Chanel, McQueen, Westwood, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, McCartney, and more. Taught abroad.
THTR 1235. Fashion and Costume Design in Film and Television. (4 Hours)
Examines the role of costume and fashion design in media, from the movies of the Golden Age of Hollywood to the latest high-tech motion pictures to the most recent cable miniseries. Studies the history and social contexts of clothing in media, as well as the critical role of fashion in relation to the narrative, i.e., how it enhances the mood and propels the dramatic action of the production. Uses illustrated lectures, critical thinking and writing, and a major experiential component to focus on how/why clothing is worn, how fashion design and costume design intersect, and how we can understand the economic and cultural realities of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries through the shifting trends of fashion.
Attribute(s): NUpath Interpreting Culture
THTR 1236. Introduction to Global Fashion Studies: History, Theory, and Contemporary Practice. (4 Hours)
Offers students an overview of the most significant and relevant theories on fashion, focusing on the cultural significance of clothing and style. Examines the intersection of fashion and other areas of study including the arts, history, economics, business, sociology, and anthropology. Explores global issues of gender, race, class, identity, image, style, material culture, and sustainability. Examines how populations from several postindustrial nations think about fashion, how globalization impacts their cultures and identities, and how designers and trendsetters are emerging from the new capitals of fashion.
THTR 1237. Introduction to Global Fashion Studies Abroad: History, Theory, and Contemporary Practice. (4 Hours)
Covers the most significant and relevant theories on fashion and focuses on the cultural significance of clothing and style. Examines the intersection of fashion and other areas of study including the arts, history, economics, business, sociology, and anthropology. Explores global issues of gender, race, class, identity, image, style, material culture, and sustainability. Examines how populations from several postindustrial nations think about fashion, how globalization impacts their cultures and identities, and how designers and trendsetters are emerging from the new capitals of fashion. Taught abroad.
THTR 1240. Fashion Industry and Trend Forecasting in Europe. (4 Hours)
Examines the world of global fashion forecasting with industry professionals in European cities such as London and Paris. Studies how and why global fashion trends are designed, developed, and produced and how economic and cultural realities are revealed through the shifting trends of fashion. Recent developments in business, politics, economics, and culture all have a tremendous impact on trends in fashion. Examines the fashion industry in terms of the five basic pillars of the complex fashion system: cultures of design, production, representation, consumption, and disposal. The course includes illustrated lectures, site visits to couture fashion houses/studios, an experiential component (the global fashion trend presentation), and the development of a class blog dedicated to trends seen by the students on the streets of Europe. Taught abroad. May be repeated without limit.
Attribute(s): NUpath Interpreting Culture
THTR 1270. Introduction to Theatrical Design. (4 Hours)
Introduces the principles of contemporary theatrical design and how to apply the creative process to scenery, costumes, and lighting. Offers students an opportunity to discover how design concepts are developed and relate to each other through research, script analysis, color theory, and visual composition. Seeks to develop the student’s capacity for collaboration and techniques for conceptualizing a play into a multidisciplinary work of art. No theatre experience required.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov, NUpath Interpreting Culture
THTR 1400. Documentary Theatre Project. (4 Hours)
Creates original theater from interviews conducted with individuals who have something to say about an issue relevant to their lives. It is of and for the community. Starts with acquainting students with the history of the project's theme and then determines, through theater games and acting exercises, an acting vernacular to use during rehearsals. From there, guides students in the collection of video interviews of the subjects. Students transcribe, edit, and collate the interviews into a script to be used for rehearsal. The second half of the semester is devoted to rehearsing and performing the script for a community presentation.
THTR 1500. Musical Theatre Performance. (4 Hours)
Develops an ensemble-based musical theatre showcase. Studies character development, movement and staging, acting, "acting a song" technique, and theatre terminology. Offers students an opportunity to work as directors and choreographers. Solo singing and prior experience are welcome but not required. Sessions consist of lectures; discussions; viewings; and, most importantly, studio work.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov
THTR 1600. Movement: Embodied Approaches to Creativity. (4 Hours)
Emphasizes awareness of the body as an essential part of the actor’s training. Focuses on individual and group training to strengthen and free the body, enliven the imagination, and maximize onstage physical presence. Explores various methods of established movement training techniques. Students synthesize what they learn from those explorations to create their own movement performance pieces.
THTR 1990. Elective. (1-4 Hours)
Offers elective credit for courses taken at other academic institutions. May be repeated without limit.
THTR 2000. Production Experience 2. (1 Hour)
Offers lab practice in rehearsal and performance for production. May be repeated once.
THTR 2001. Technical Production. (4 Hours)
Covers the methodology of carrying the design from drawings to reality. Offers students an opportunity to learn how to estimate material and labor costs to achieve the set on time and within budget. Explores how to set up and monitor a production schedule and examines the collaborative process, which involves the entire production team. Projects include hands-on work related to the current term’s productions. Requires lab hours in addition to class sessions.
THTR 2020. Voice and Speech for the Actor 1. (4 Hours)
Studies voice theory and techniques that develop breath, tone, range of voice, and the muscles of the articulators toward the health of the voice while developing the actor’s authentic voice and clarity of speech. Through an integrated approach of movement and voice, the student may begin to develop balance among the body, voice, muscular activity of the articulators, and the thought. Techniques employed may include those of Clifford Turner, Catherine Fitzmaurice, Kristin Linklater, Arthur Lessac, and the Miller Voice Method. Bodywork may include Bartenieff Fundamentals, Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method, and yoga. Covers anatomy of the voice and symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet. Vocal practice and IPA transcription on short original texts provide the basis for application to dramatic texts and poetic interpretation of language.
THTR 2040. Voice and Speech for the Actor 2. (4 Hours)
Continues THTR 2020 through more advanced exercises. Students expand their practice of the International Phonetic Alphabet and relationship with their authentic voice on both original and scripted texts. Through research and practice, students have an opportunity to better understand their own idiolect and recognize the various possibilities for pronunciation of spoken English. Explores the basics of characterization through breath, tone, range, and muscular activity of the articulators and how the orchestration of text relates to character, given circumstances, tactics, and intention.
THTR 2100. Introduction to Costume Design. (4 Hours)
Introduces the exciting and collaborative world of costume design. Presents and explores methods of designing and styling characters through visual communication, script analysis, character development, storytelling techniques, design objectives, color theory, and fashion research. Coursework and design projects include drawings, mood and style boards, fabrics, paperwork, and presentations. Focuses on the design process and successful visual, verbal, and written communication. Students create art, presentations, and designs and participate in discussions. Includes a costume-focused, project-inspired field trip.
THTR 2110. Acting: Process and Technique. (4 Hours)
Introduces students to a wide variety of foundational principles and techniques designed to ignite and develop actor imagination, creativity, expressive freedom, personal and character exploration, and rehearsal process. Students apply these techniques to physical and vocal exercises, compositions, and improvisations. Written assignments and analyses offer opportunities for context and reflection.
THTR 2120. Beginning Scene Study. (4 Hours)
Offers students an opportunity to further develop foundational principles and techniques, concentration, imagination, expressive freedom, personal exploration, and rehearsal process. Students begin to incorporate script analysis, voice and body awareness, and a basic ability to identify and play character objectives and actions into the performance of scenes and monologues from published, contemporary plays. Written assignments offer opportunities for context and reflection.
THTR 2150. Script Analysis. (4 Hours)
Focuses on in-depth analysis of theatrical structures of scripts primarily from the viewpoints of the actor, director, and designer. Emphasizes developing the student’s ability to synthesize the intellectual and intuitive work required to create a theatrical experience from a written text. Identifies and explores physical, thematic, musical, and abstract structures. Through critical thinking and analysis of plays and essays from a diverse and inclusive reading list, offers students an opportunity to develop a point of view and an informed perspective on both contemporary and canonical work, as well as a thorough understanding of beat analysis and the working vocabulary of actors. Requires secondary readings and several short papers.
THTR 2200. The American Black Theatre Experience. (4 Hours)
Introduces students to the art of Black theatre and cultivates an appreciation of the local Black theatre scene. Black theatre in the United States has a 200-year history that is important to understand for insight into contemporary Black theatre in the Boston area. Traces the growth of Black theatre from minstrel shows to James Brown’s "King Shotaway" in 1823, to William Wells Brown’s "The Escape" in 1858, to contemporary performances. Surveys the historical influence of the Harlem Renaissance, World War II, the Ethiopian Art Theatre, the Federal Theatre Project, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Black Arts Repertory Theatre to situate August Wilson, Suzan-Lori Parks, and George Wolfe as heirs to this rich heritage. Includes attendance at local theatre productions.
Attribute(s): NUpath Difference/Diversity
THTR 2240. Movement for Actors 1. (4 Hours)
Explores the individual’s body as an expressive tool of the creative imagination and the actor’s craft. Utilizes a series of guided studies and formal and informal exercises to help students build confidence in their ability to translate impulses into physical action. Concurrently, presents relevant knowledge of anatomy and leading theories of spatial and movement analysis. Assesses students on an individual basis in their development of dynamic alignment, breath connection, strength, flexibility, range of motion, stamina, and relaxation techniques leading to their kinetic application in acting choices.
THTR 2241. Movement for Actors 2. (4 Hours)
Continues THTR 2240. Translates impulse into physical action and offers students an opportunity to further develop their dynamic alignment, breath connection, strength, flexibility, range of motion, and stamina. Applies these skills to the interpretation of dramatic language by exploring the interactions between text and movement. Assesses students on an individual basis on the development of these skills as they are applied to text.
Prerequisite(s): THTR 2240 with a minimum grade of C
THTR 2242. Fashion Retailing. (4 Hours)
Introduces fashion retailing. Analyzes the different types and sizes of fashion retail operations; physical site location, including omnichannel; store layout and design; advertising and display; relation of the store to its intended target market; and store organization.
THTR 2260. The Business of Broadway. (4 Hours)
Introduces New York City’s Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre industry. Addresses the current practices of commercial theatre producing. Topics include producing and funding, optioning and developing work, theatre venues, the physical production, production and management personnel, budgeting, marketing, promotion, advertising, and media. Through discussions, readings, case studies, field trips, and projects, offers students an opportunity to acquire an understanding of how a Broadway show is produced from concept to opening night.
THTR 2280. Musical Theatre Techniques 1. (4 Hours)
Explores the techniques unique to musical theatre and emphasizes the expression of a dramatic situation through song interpretation, character, and movement. Covers solo song material drawn from musical theatre up to the 1970s. Students work with faculty to select material that they can personalize in order to support their artistic development. Close readings of scripts and character analysis are a component of the course, which requires outside reading and research. Includes private voice and daily dance labs.
THTR 2290. Musical Theatre Techniques 2. (4 Hours)
Continues THTR 2280. Explores the techniques unique to musical theatre and emphasizes the expression of a dramatic situation through song interpretation, character, and movement. Covers solo song material drawn from musical theatre from the 1970s to the present. Students work with faculty to select material that they can personalize in order to support their artistic development. Close readings of scripts and character analysis are a component of the course, which requires outside reading and research. Includes private voice and daily dance labs.
Prerequisite(s): THTR 2280 with a minimum grade of C
THTR 2310. History of Musical Theatre. (4 Hours)
Traces the creative evolution of the stage musical from its 19th-century origins to current Broadway hits—from popular entertainment to an important theatrical art. Examines this unique and original art form from multiple perspectives—historical, cultural, political, and aesthetic. Offers students an opportunity to develop insights into the concepts and methods of such pioneering composers, lyricists, and theatre artists as Gilbert and Sullivan, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Leonard Bernstein, and Stephen Sondheim.
Attribute(s): NUpath Interpreting Culture
THTR 2321. Theatre Design Foundations. (4 Hours)
Introduces the elements of visual language and underlying principles of theatrical design. References elements of composition, color theory, script breakdown and analysis, research, and concept development. Aims to develop the student's ability to synthesize the intellectual and intuitive work required to create a visual theatrical experience based on a written text. Explores how to choose visual images and aural sources to inspire design ideas, analyze textual requirements, develop color palettes, and work with basic design concepts. Uses lectures, class discussions, visits to museums and galleries, and research assignments to sharpen awareness of the multiple ways designs are influenced by historical and cultural events. Emphasizes visual problem solving through conceptual analysis. Requires 20 hours of practical lab experience outside of class.
THTR 2330. Playwriting. (4 Hours)
Presents a collaborative workshop for developing authorial voice through creation of theatrical dialogue, scenes, and creative material. Analyzes contemporary plays, explores form and structure, and provides in-class writing prompts and workshopping of student work. Offers students an opportunity to write several short pieces, culminating in a one-act play.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov, NUpath Interpreting Culture
THTR 2331. Makeup for Stage and Screen. (4 Hours)
Explores various styles and techniques of makeup design and application. Topics include theatrical makeup; special effects; and makeup for events, film and television, and fashion photo ready. Offers various hands-on projects focusing on concept, design, application techniques, and professional terminology and practices. Includes an introduction to hair and wigs. Requires an instructor-curated professional makeup.
THTR 2335. Boston Theatre Experience. (4 Hours)
Offers a comprehensive experiential survey of professional theatre today. Students attend Boston-area productions that reflect a diverse range of styles and aesthetics, with special emphasis on the creation of new plays. Through preparatory readings and lectures, combined with postplay critical assessments (oral and in writing) and interactions with theatre artists (playwrights, actors, directors), offers students an opportunity to examine and discover how to interpret the art of contemporary theatre in the United States, from fringe companies to Broadway, as audience members and aspiring artists. Requires attendance at plays outside of class time.
Attribute(s): NUpath Interpreting Culture
THTR 2340. Theatre and Society. (4 Hours)
Focuses on historically important plays, productions, and theatre makers in the Western canon and how they have reflected─and led to─changes in society. Explores a wide range from agitprop and protest theatre to Broadway musicals. Questions how social pressures influence the craft and purpose of theatre, how theatre changes us, the power structures that make theatre possible, and how theatre subverts or supports those structures. May require students to attend live performances when possible.
Attribute(s): NUpath Interpreting Culture, NUpath Societies/Institutions
THTR 2341. Perspective Drawing and Rendering. (4 Hours)
Introduces the visual language needed to communicate design ideas. Explores various sketching styles, their historical precedent, and their suitability to current theatrical design presentations. Uses lectures, demonstrations, and class critiques to offer students an opportunity to develop analytical and critical skills and to understand both historical and contemporary approaches to design presentations. Studies Bibiena and Serlio through Mielziner, Walton, and Beaty as prime examples in this field. Students write response papers based on their appraisal of these and other designers. Focuses on the techniques and research skills needed to present theatrical design ideas in a professional manner. Includes drawing figures in period costumes, showing spatial relationships of scenic plans, and creating renderings showing stage lighting portraying a scene’s ambiance.
THTR 2342. Acting 2. (4 Hours)
Continues THTR 1120. Focuses on developing the actor’s sense of truth and emotional freedom. Emphasizes creating, developing, and sustaining character and developing ensemble. Includes monologues and scenes performed for classroom analysis.
Prerequisite(s): THTR 1120 with a minimum grade of D- or THTR 103M with a minimum grade of D-
THTR 2345. Acting for the Camera. (4 Hours)
Explores the craft and methods used by actors while working in front of the camera through monologues, scenes, and group projects. Provides students with techniques to identify and free their performance energy with a foundation on relaxation and authenticity. Includes the study and analysis of acting styles in diverse genres of film and television from situation comedies to dramas. Offers students an opportunity to explore a range of on-camera skills and acting techniques and apply them in filmed final projects. Previous acting experience suggested but not required.
THTR 2346. Viewpoints. (4 Hours)
Engages actors with an innovative technique that draws upon rigorous physical training exercises and practice in the nine areas of actors’ concentration known as Viewpoints. Creative improvisational sessions provide an intuitive and dynamic approach to acting. Culminates in the application of Viewpoints to new scripted works.
Prerequisite(s): THTR 1120 with a minimum grade of D- or THTR 1130 with a minimum grade of D- or THTR 103M with a minimum grade of D-
THTR 2350. Scenic Painting and Treatments. (4 Hours)
Explores the skills and techniques needed to execute theatrical painting. Historical and contemporary techniques and practices include the mixing of various paints and colors, brush selection and attributes, specific applications of paint for effect, and the proper use of additives. Considers techniques such as appliqué and textures, faux finishes, ornamental details, foliage, and aging and distressing. Studies primary and secondary research sources. Emphasizes the safe use of paint and treatment products. Requires an additional two and a half lab hours each week, which feature projects that make use of current industry practices and enhance the development of speed and accuracy in execution.
THTR 2361. Vectorworks: CAD Drafting for the Theatre. (4 Hours)
Introduces the process and practice of computer-aided design. Presents the fundamental similarities and differences between CAD and mechanical drafting, as well as the inherent benefits and challenges. Through a series of projects related to drafting for the performing arts, offers students an opportunity to develop a basic to moderate familiarity with the tools and procedures of the Vectorworks software. Includes, but is not limited to, 2D and 3D drafting and modeling, digital workspace organization, project collaboration and sharing, and rendered presentation.
THTR 2370. Lighting Design. (4 Hours)
Examines basic principles and practices of stage lighting, including the qualities and functions of light, lighting instruments and controls, use of color and directionality, and script analysis for lighting design elements. Offers students an opportunity to develop foundational skills and practice systematic reasoning in the programming and operation of lighting computer equipment. Through group projects and individual lab work, students create and execute lighting designs. Includes work on electrics crews for university productions.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov, NUpath Formal/Quant Reasoning
THTR 2371. Drafting and Model Making. (4 Hours)
Offers students an opportunity to develop fundamental knowledge of the graphic and model-building concepts and skills required for the execution of designs in the theatre. Students apply principles of geometry to the creation of orthographic and isometric projections, sections, and elevations. Projects include the use of a wide variety of working materials and explore methods of graphic and visual communication.
THTR 2380. Costume Design. (4 Hours)
Introduces the fundamentals of costume design and the artistic roles and responsibilities of a costume designer. Working on classical and contemporary texts, students examine the creative steps of the design process, including script analysis, character development, research, and collaboration. Through lectures, discussions, and projects, students create a design concept and communicate it through language and images. Includes experience with drawing and other costume rendering techniques such as painting, collage, and Photoshop. Does not require prior art or design experience.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov
THTR 2385. Fashion Construction and Pattern Making. (4 Hours)
Offers students an opportunity to develop the skills and techniques necessary for creating and using basic master patterns and dress forms to create skirts, dresses, trousers, and tops. Covers basic fashion construction, flat patterning, draping, and finishing techniques.
THTR 2390. History of Period Styles. (4 Hours)
Surveys the evolution of period styles by examining selected examples of fine art, architecture, and fashion from Greece (375 BCE) to the postmodern era (1980s) that are the basis of theatrical design. Uses class lectures, discussions, academic readings, museum visits, and research assignments to present a methodical approach to understand the interconnections of religion, politics, geography, social history, patronage, technology, and aesthetics that are constantly at play in shaping period style. Focuses on Western civilizations but also includes a survey of pre-Columbian, Middle Eastern, and Asian cultures. Offers students an opportunity to develop active and thoughtful analytical and critical thinking skills to research, reflect, analyze, and synthesize the details of form, line, and material that link objects to a period style.
Prerequisite(s): THTR 2320 with a minimum grade of C
THTR 2400. Scenic Design. (4 Hours)
Introduces the theory and practice of theatrical scenic design; the role of the scenic designer in the production process; and how the designer's work affects their collaborators, practices, and audience experiences. Uses project work to examine the use of graphics tools—line, form, balance, color, rhythm, and the development of design ideas in collaboration—to contribute a unique point of view. Emphasizes understanding and utilizing spatial relationships; visually expressing conceptual themes; and understanding the various uses, problems, and practical considerations of proscenium, thrust, and arena staging.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov
THTR 2450. Theatre Histories 1: Early Evidence Through 1750. (4 Hours)
Examines trends in performance and theatrical production beginning with the earliest evidence and concluding at around 1750. Uses a global perspective to study many elements of theatre and performance including environments, architecture, scene and costume design, acting styles, textual and nontextual performance scripts, theory, and audiences. Considers the specific social and cultural conditions out of which these conventions emerged. Examines a wide range of sources and dramatic texts; engaging canonical pieces; as well as works that amplify the voices and stories of Black, Indigenous, people of color, women-identified, LGBTQIA+, neurodiverse, and disabled people and communities. Challenges students to recognize that history is never singular and that multiple histories of theatre necessarily coexist.
Attribute(s): NUpath Interpreting Culture, NUpath Societies/Institutions, NUpath Writing Intensive
THTR 2455. Theatre Histories 2: 1750 Through Tomorrow. (4 Hours)
Examines trends in performance and theatrical production beginning in the mid-18th century and continuing to the present, with perspectives on future developments. Uses a global perspective to study many elements of theatre and performance including environments, architecture, scene and costume design, acting styles, textual and nontextual performance scripts, theory, and audiences. Considers the specific social and cultural conditions out of which these conventions emerged. Examines a wide range of sources and dramatic texts; engaging canonical pieces; as well as works that amplify the voices and stories of Black, Indigenous, people of color, women-identified, LGBTQIA+, neurodiverse, and disabled people and communities. Challenges students to recognize that history is never singular and that multiple histories of theatre necessarily coexist.
Prerequisite(s): THTR 2150 with a minimum grade of C
Attribute(s): NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Writing Intensive
THTR 2460. Stage Management. (4 Hours)
Studies the role of the stage manager and the essentials of stage-managing a production in the preproduction and rehearsal processes. Covers the role of the stage manager; communication, organizational, and production skills; the development of interpersonal and problem-solving techniques required in the production process; methods of blocking notation; and director/stage manager collaboration. Readings and discussions support paper projects and other production assignments. Requires 60 additional hours of lab time.
THTR 2500. Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Women in Theatre. (4 Hours)
Surveys a wide range of dramatic forms, gender theories, and distinct theatrical techniques used by women artists to reveal larger social issues and encourage activism. Examines how the plays’ sociocultural contexts represent female playwrights’ diverse views of identity as well as their cultural, ethnic, racial, and geographical experiences. Identifies how women as artistic leaders are perceived and received by society and the industry. Analyzes why the issue of gender equity in theatre remains unresolved. THTR 2500 and WMNS 2501 are cross-listed.
Attribute(s): NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Interpreting Culture
THTR 2520. Lighting Mechanics. (4 Hours)
Covers the skills necessary for the execution and running of stage lighting through a comprehensive look at lighting equipment, electrical hookups, and rigging. Offers students an opportunity to learn how to read a light plot and the related paperwork necessary to turn the concept into reality. Requires lab hours in addition to class sessions.
THTR 2530. Scenery and Prop Technology. (4 Hours)
Presents the fundamentals of the planning, building, finishing, and shifting of stage scenery and props. Engages students in a hands-on exploration of the materials, tools, and construction techniques currently used to create scenery and props. Offers students an opportunity to learn how to read a drafting and turn it into a three-dimensional object. Requires lab hours in addition to class sessions.
THTR 2540. Audio Technology for Performance 1. (4 Hours)
Examines the science, equipment, theory, and practice associated with sound reinforcement and support of live entertainment. Includes specifications, layout and installation techniques, and operation and maintenance of basic theatre sound systems. Requires lab hours in addition to class sessions.
THTR 2560. Stage Management in Performance. (4 Hours)
Studies the essentials of stage-managing a production during technical rehearsals and performances. Topics include running technical rehearsals, artistic and technical challenges of cueing in a variety of settings, the artistry of cue calling, and stage-managing new works. Readings and discussions support Box Theatre production assignments. Requires 60 hours of additional lab time.
THTR 2600. Voice and Speech Training. (4 Hours)
Offers students an opportunity to develop the skills to enhance the quality of the spoken voice —the clarity and vitality with which actors express themselves on the stage. Follows the pedagogy known as “Freeing the Natural Voice,” developed by Kristin Linklater. Includes learning and applying the International Phonetic Alphabet as a tool to clarify speech sounds.
Prerequisite(s): (THTR 1120 with a minimum grade of C or THTR 103M with a minimum grade of C ); THTR 2342 with a minimum grade of C
THTR 2660. Costume Construction 1: Sewing Techniques and Upcycling. (4 Hours)
Introduces the basic skills necessary to construct, fit, alter, treat, and maintain costumes and fashion garments. Offers students an opportunity to acquire various techniques for hand and machine sewing through lectures, demonstrations, and hand-on sewing. Assigns sewing samplers and introductory build projects. Covers and practices costume shop safety and professional terminology.
THTR 2740. Fundamentals of Musical Theatre 1. (4 Hours)
Consists of two modules─one in musicianship and the other in the history of the musical. Uses archival video and recordings along with selected readings to survey and critically analyze musical theatre history. Introduces students to a range of periods and styles but does not take a strict chronological approach to the development of the form. Designed to offer students with varying levels of experience in musicianship training an opportunity to learn how to read and analyze music in the musical theatre repertoire. Includes private voice and daily dance labs.
THTR 2745. Fundamentals of Musical Theatre 2. (4 Hours)
Continues THTR 2740. Consists of two modules─one in musicianship and the other in the history of the musical. Uses archival video and recordings along with selected readings to survey and critically analyze musical theatre history. Introduces students to a range of periods and styles but does not take a strict chronological approach to the development of the form. Designed to offer students an opportunity to learn how to read and analyze music in the musical theatre repertoire. Includes private voice and daily dance labs.
THTR 2973. Topics in Fashion Design Studies. (4 Hours)
Offers students an opportunity for early undergraduate-level examination of a subject of particular significance in the fashion industry. May be repeated up to four times.
THTR 2983. Topics in Theatre History and Culture. (4 Hours)
Offers opportunity for early undergraduate examination of a subject of particular significance in the history of theatre. May be repeated up to four times.
THTR 2990. Elective. (1-4 Hours)
Offers elective credit for courses taken at other academic institutions. May be repeated without limit.
THTR 2991. Research in Theatre. (1-4 Hours)
Offers an opportunity to conduct introductory-level research or creative endeavors under faculty supervision.
THTR 2993. Topics in Dance. (4 Hours)
Offers early undergraduates an opportunity to examine a subject of particular significance in the art, culture, history, or practice of dance. May be repeated four times.
THTR 3020. Scenic Design 1. (4 Hours)
Studies aesthetics and practices of scene design. Emphasizes the theoretical, imaginative, and analytical underpinnings of the design process. Focuses on the various modes of execution available to present a design concept, historical context, production styles, organization, and techniques of production. Offers students an opportunity to enhance the development of collaborative skills through lab work and design projects.
THTR 3050. Elements of Directing. (4 Hours)
Introduces the history, theory, and technique of stage direction. Studies basic directorial concepts and applies them to scenes and short plays. Topics include stage visualization, composition and movement, play analysis with an emphasis on the theatrical content of scripts, production research, rehearsal techniques, and collaboration with other theatre artists. Student work includes selected scenes and projects prepared for class presentation. Requires outside rehearsal work. Concurrently studies the history of stage directing through assigned readings and discussions. Requires a major research paper on a director and an oral report based on their work.
THTR 3060. Acting: Heightened Language and Historical Contexts. (4 Hours)
Focuses on plays from the United States and international plays (in translation) that use heightened language. All plays are set in a variety of time periods. Emphasizes cultural practices and the complex psychological and social behaviors found within the plays studied. Offers students an opportunity to learn effective use of props; integration of costume elements; relevant speech requirements such as operative words, punctuation, subtext, pitch, and phrasing; and to develop use of language and research skills for acting. Requires advanced and rigorous research and writing assignments to contextualize the material covered.
THTR 3100. Creative Storytelling for Social Engagement. (4 Hours)
Explores the immersive learning process of creating a contemporary living newspaper play by critically examining important social issues or questions; identifying, synthesizing, applying, and revising ideas; and engaging in team-building performative activities. Explores innovative ways to address civic engagement through a culminating workshop production of a treatment for the play.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov
THTR 3101. Fashion, History, and Society. (4 Hours)
Presents a cultural exploration of the history of clothing from its origins through to the present day. Discusses how fashion influences and is influenced by politics, geography, society, and aesthetics throughout Western civilization. Emphasizes historical research. Uses New York City as a visual and literary source, particularly through visits to museums, galleries, and libraries.
THTR 3110. Shakespeare, the Stage, and Humanity. (4 Hours)
Explores Shakespeare’s work, both in its original Elizabethan context as well as through the long tradition of cross-cultural, cross-temporal, cross-gender adaptation. Examines selected plays to study how Shakespeare gave dramatic expression to his understanding of human experience. Considers how the human condition depicted in these plays relates to our own multicultural, pluralistic society.
THTR 3170. Design for Directors and Choreographers. (4 Hours)
Offers students an opportunity to obtain an understanding of the design process. Emphasizes visual clues in text and music, research methods, and collaborative skills. Briefly discusses the history of design and knowledge of a design vocabulary. Explores the common ground in designing sets, lights, costumes, media, or sound, as well as their specific goals and needs.
Prerequisite(s): DANC 3510 with a minimum grade of C or THTR 3050 with a minimum grade of C
THTR 3200. Queer Theatre and Performance. (4 Hours)
Explores significant dramatic texts that have shaped and expressed the changing nature of LGBTQ identity. Utilizes readings, viewings, lectures, and discussion to focus on noteworthy queer plays as literature, history, cultural documents, and performance as seen through the lens of contemporary queer theories and knowledge. Analyzes these texts for their relevance to society and our lives and evaluates and explores a range of topics including sexual identity, gender identity, religious and political views on queerness, the evolution of LGBTQ culture and communities, drag performance, homophobia, assimilation, appropriation, and coming out. Students who do not meet course restrictions may seek permission of instructor.
Attribute(s): NUpath Difference/Diversity
THTR 3305. Scene into Song 1. (4 Hours)
Offers students an opportunity for advanced-level work in performing musical theatre material and the expression of a dramatic situation through song interpretation, character, and movement. Students work on scene-into-song studies from a range of musical styles and forms from the 20th century with scene partners. Working with faculty, students select material that helps them enhance their creative skills and unique artistic voice. Includes study of archival video material at the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center, as well as private voice and daily dance labs.
THTR 3310. Scene into Song 2. (4 Hours)
Continues THTR 3305. Offers students an opportunity for advanced-level work in performing musical theatre material and the expression of a dramatic situation through song interpretation, character, and movement. Students work on scene-into-song studies from a range of musical styles and forms from the 21st century with scene partners. Working with faculty, students select material that helps them enhance their creative skills and unique artistic voice. Includes study of archival video material at the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center, as well as private voice and daily dance labs.
Prerequisite(s): THTR 3305 with a minimum grade of C
THTR 3325. Dramaturgical Inquiry. (4 Hours)
Designed to develop the analytical skills needed to prepare a play for production. Seeks to help the actor, director, designer, playwright, or dramaturg to communicate what they learn through both artistic processes and discipline-specific writing conventions to make intellectual contributions to the field of theatre and performance studies. The creative practice research process develops the dramaturgical ability to mine a script with an enhanced understanding of its context. Offers students an opportunity to hone the writing skills that communicate research findings for multiple academic, professional, and public audiences.
Prerequisite(s): (ENGL 1102 with a minimum grade of C or ENGL 1111 with a minimum grade of C or ENGW 1102 with a minimum grade of C or ENGW 1111 with a minimum grade of C or WRIT 201M with a minimum grade of C ); INAM 2000 with a minimum grade of C
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov, NUpath Interpreting Culture
THTR 3331. Advanced Costume Construction. (4 Hours)
Aims to provide students the skills and knowledge of period construction techniques necessary to cut, build, fit, and finish a period costume from an existing pattern. Develops proficiency in cutting, stitching, and finishing a complete period ensemble, using accepted professional techniques common to the costume industry. Covers fitting techniques, vocabulary, sewing machine skills, couture finishes, and standard practices, with the goal of preparing the student for professional work.
THTR 3332. Costume Construction 2: Topics in Period Construction. (4 Hours)
Continues THTR 2660. Offers students an opportunity to learn the skills and knowledge of period construction techniques necessary to cut, build, fit, and finish a period costume from an existing pattern. Aims to develop proficiency in cutting, stitching, and finishing a complete period ensemble using accepted professional techniques common to the costume industry. Covers fitting techniques, vocabulary, sewing machine skills, couture finishes, and standard practices with the goal of preparing the student for professional work.
Prerequisite(s): THTR 2660 with a minimum grade of C
THTR 3350. Fashion Marketing and Merchandising in Europe. (4 Hours)
Examines the fundamentals of fashion marketing and merchandising in the established fashion capital of the world, Paris. Explores how basic marketing principles govern the fashion industry. Analyzes and evaluates the role and function of day-to-day industry professionals working and succeeding in Paris through site visits; lectures with industry professionals; and visits to fashion shows, collections, and museums. Taught abroad.
THTR 3380. Stage Management: Logistics and Collaboration. (4 Hours)
Offers a combination lecture, discussion, and lab course in which students have an opportunity to acquire advanced skills in notation and cueing in a variety of performance genres including dance, musical theatre, performance art, opera, and multimedia productions. Includes technical production and design elements, union rules and contract obligations, budgeting of resources, and staff organization. Requires additional lab hours.
THTR 3400. Stage Combat. (4 Hours)
Studies basic techniques of unarmed and armed combat and employs these techniques to choreograph exciting fight sequences that are safe for actor combatants to perform and in line with the storytelling of the play. Analyzes the value of specific targeting and strategies to control time and space in a way that maximizes onstage storytelling, as well as how actors can participate in their own safety and the safety of their scene partners. Makes connections to the work done in class with the overarching principles of acting and storytelling. Offers students an opportunity to design, develop, notate, and film their own fight scenes. May culminate in a public sharing.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov
THTR 3461. Production Management. (4 Hours)
Explores the interconnected relationships among the different management areas (stage management, technical direction, design, artistic staff, production crew) in theory and theatrical practice. Studies production management in the United States and explores new directions and technologies. Emphasizes current aspects of the field and includes staffing, scheduling, touring, budgeting, contract negotiations, facility and safety oversight, project estimation, site-specific work, and festival planning. Through in-class discussions and several field trips to New York City theatres and production companies, students are exposed to current production management and its relationship to artistic goals and business concerns. Readings and lectures emphasize case studies, and students make use of New York City cultural institutions and government agencies as sources of research for assignments and projects.
THTR 3501. Advanced Technical Projects. (4 Hours)
Explores the process of creative problem solving required at every level of technical production in the theater. Through a series of individual and group projects, offers students an opportunity to learn how to develop and apply inductive and deductive reasoning skills necessary to achieve self-generated artistic goals that seem to lack a conventional solution. In doing so, students examine and develop their problem-solving skill by using the scientific method to create and test hypotheses based on observation, research, and experimentation. Beginning with the basic materials, students apply their acquired knowledge to categories of technical problems of increasing difficulty. Projects focus on developing, testing, and reporting on the problem-solving process.
THTR 3550. Directing for the Stage. (4 Hours)
Focuses on purposes and techniques of theatrical direction related to script analysis, production style, pictorial composition, rhythmic evolution, and empathic responses.
Prerequisite(s): THTR 1120 with a minimum grade of D- or THTR 1130 with a minimum grade of D- ; THTR 1270 with a minimum grade of D-
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov
THTR 3600. Integrated Media for Performance. (4 Hours)
Introduces the techniques for utilizing digital media in live performance. Offers students an opportunity to learn the basics of incorporating projections, video, and sound in production; utilize industry-standard software for cueing and control of digital media; and explore how media can extend and animate scenery and lighting design. Assigned readings provide a conceptual framework, as well as viewing relevant contemporary productions. Students produce several short projects based on scenes from published plays for which they create and implement their integrated media designs. Requires additional scheduled lab and rehearsal hours for group assignments.
THTR 3650. Performing Theory. (4 Hours)
Investigates performance as a method of analysis by examining foundational critical and performance theories and their relationship to contemporary performance practices. Performance studies as a field defines “performance” broadly, encompassing a wide range of live and digital performances within the contexts of everyday life, interpersonal communication, performance art, music, games, and theatre. Also includes performance installations, interactive events, mixed-media storytelling, digital performance, procedurally authored performance, mainstream and avant-garde theatre, etc. Students use theoretically grounded methods of creating original performance projects as research. Open to students with established generative storytelling skills in any discipline.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov
THTR 3670. Mixed-Media Performance Lab. (4 Hours)
Focuses on multimedia performance design. Involves lectures and projects in different disciplines, with more advanced options for students with significant prior experience. Culminates in an immersive prototype conceived by the class in collaboration with the instructor with emphasis on mixed media, multi-camera shooting, the creation of 3D sets, and green screen technology in a low-fi VFX environment. Students work in groups, focusing on the specific design discipline they are most experienced in, to create sections of the performance.
THTR 3702. Rehearsal and Production. (1 Hour)
Offers students an opportunity to develop the experimental skills associated with dramatic interpretation and theatrical production by working on Department of Theatre productions under the supervision of faculty and staff. Most students enrolled in this course engage in the practices associated with one of the following areas: acting, design, stage management, or production crew head. Fulfills the experiential education requirement for theatre majors. May be repeated three times.
Attribute(s): NUpath Integration Experience
THTR 3780. Producing Performance. (4 Hours)
Offers theatre and dance artists an opportunity to learn how to produce their own work or form their own company. Topics include defining the artistic and producing goals of the project, locating the right venue, securing rights, establishing a budget, finding sources of funding, dealing with unions, establishing not-for-profit status, engaging artistic and production staff, and establishing and administrating a dance or theatre company. Engages students in analyzing case studies from established companies and utilizing the resources of New York City to research and create their own production plans.
THTR 3973. Topics in Performance Studies. (4 Hours)
Examines at an undergraduate level a specific facet of particular significance in the interdisciplinary field of performance studies, which studies how embodied, digital, and nonhuman performance operates within a wide variety of contexts, such as everyday life, public events, interpersonal communications, performance art, games, and theatrical events. May be repeated thrice.
THTR 3990. Elective. (1-4 Hours)
Offers elective credit for courses taken at other academic institutions. May be repeated without limit.
THTR 4020. Scenic Design 2. (4 Hours)
Presents an in-depth study of the design process. Emphasizes research and the skills needed to communicate a design concept to a director. Projects are varied and offer students an opportunity to learn to do thumbnail sketches, color renderings, set plans, and sections. Studies the history of scenic design, including contemporary design practices.
THTR 4030. Costume Design 2. (4 Hours)
Presents an in-depth study of the design process. Emphasizes the research and the skills needed to communicate a design concept to a director and costume shops. Projects are varied and offer students an opportunity to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to produce finished costume sketches with construction details and fabric swatching. Concurrently studies the history of costume design.
THTR 4060. Acting: Heightened Language and Historical Contexts. (4 Hours)
Focuses on plays from the United States and international plays (in translation) that use heightened language. All plays are set in a variety of time periods. Emphasizes cultural practices and the complex psychological and social behaviors found within the plays studied. Offers students an opportunity to learn effective use of props; integration of costume elements; relevant speech requirements such as operative words, punctuation, subtext, pitch, and phrasing; and to develop use of language and research skills for acting. Requires advanced and rigorous research and writing assignments to contextualize the material covered.
THTR 4110. Scenic Design 3. (4 Hours)
Continues THTR 4020. Studies the design process, with emphasis on research and the skills needed to communicate a design concept to a director, stage manager, and scenic shop. Projects and venues are varied, and students have an opportunity to learn to do thumbnail sketches, color renderings, models, set plans, sections, elevations, and paint elevations. Covers the history of scenic design, including the latest advances in theatre technology.
THTR 4130. Costume Design 3. (4 Hours)
Continues THTR 4030. Expands the study and incorporation of the aesthetics and work practices of costume design. Includes script analysis, character analysis, in-depth research, organization of design paperwork, hands-on costume work, and a variety of inclusive design projects. Explores ways to create an open anti-racist, collaborative production environment. Studies the history of costume design, including the latest advances in theater practices.
Prerequisite(s): THTR 4030 with a minimum grade of C
THTR 4140. Acting: Shakespeare. (4 Hours)
Focuses on the heightened language and style found in the plays of William Shakespeare. Emphasizes scansion, breath control, and the rhetorical strategies found in Elizabethan verse. In addition, students work with historically appropriate costume elements and props. Offers students an opportunity to learn how to find clues in the text with which to create stage movement that illuminates character action. Requires advanced research and writing assignments to contextualize the material covered.
THTR 4240. The Musical Theatre Song Portfolio. (4 Hours)
Focuses on creating a unique audition portfolio with material that expresses students’ individual personalities and interests within the business. Includes choosing appropriate audition music in various styles and genres, creating 16 and 32 bar cuts, performing in an audition setting, organizing audition materials, and examining casting and representation in the professional theatre. Offers students an opportunity to learn the difference between approaching sung material to feature their best attributes as an individual vs. approaching the material as a character from a musical. Includes simulated auditions and private voice and daily dance labs.
THTR 4280. Professional Preparation: Musical Theatre. (4 Hours)
Focuses on the application of audition skills and an audition portfolio. Topics include: preparing an audition, callbacks, cold and prepared readings, dance calls, agents and casting directors, casting and representation, headshots and resumes, and professionalism. Guides students through a series of simulated audition scenarios with faculty and guest professionals. Offers students mentoring and monitoring in professional auditions throughout the semester.Includes private voice and daily dance labs.
THTR 4345. Advanced Acting for the Camera. (4 Hours)
Offers students an opportunity to explore how to become an actor-entrepreneur—a reflective, resourceful, and resilient professional who can express a well-defined type that is received by industry professionals as humanized and effective. Requires actors to continually reflect on the course material through individual written assignments and performances. Identifying and marketing an industry type prior to a showcase includes developing a deep understanding of acting for the camera methods, applying industry standards of professional readiness, and constructing a set of core beliefs that inform the actor’s choices and marketing strategies. The final project, a showcase for industry professionals, serves as an opportunity for actors to demonstrate their mastery of course material.
Prerequisite(s): THTR 2345 with a minimum grade of C
THTR 4410. Acting: Intermediate Scene Study. (4 Hours)
Applies research and script analyses, character development, and expressive use of language to the performance of scenes and monologues from contemporary plays with varied and diverse given circumstances. Aims to help students develop the ability to choose material for themselves, contributing to a deeper sense of agency, inclusivity, identity, ownership, and personal connection within their acting. Written assignments are designed to help contextualize the plays studied and offer opportunities for reflection.
Prerequisite(s): THTR 2120 with a minimum grade of C
THTR 4420. Acting: Advanced Scene Study. (4 Hours)
Applies extensive research and script analyses; expressive use of language; and advanced character behavior, psychology, and arc to the performance of scenes and monologues from contemporary plays with varied and diverse given circumstances. Offers students an opportunity to continue to develop the ability to choose material for themselves, contributing to a deeper sense of agency, inclusivity, identity, ownership, and personal connection within their acting. Research and written assignments are designed to help contextualize the plays studied and offer opportunities for reflection.
Prerequisite(s): THTR 4410 with a minimum grade of C
THTR 4650. Advanced Studies in Drama and Theatre. (4 Hours)
Presents an in-depth exploration of a particular topic for the advanced student in this capstone course. Combines the study of dramatic literature with theatre and performance history. Offers students an opportunity to acquire advanced research skills and to utilize a variety of New York City resources, including specialized library and museum collections. Covers different topics each semester. Previous topics include Japanese theatre, staging of The Bacchae by Euripides, Asian American theatre, experimental performance from 1950 to the present, modern European drama, feminist theatre, Russian drama and theatre, Latinx drama and theatre, actors on the musical stage, Irish drama and theatre, and contemporary U.S. drama. May be repeated twice.
THTR 4702. Capstone: Creative Practice Research Project. (4 Hours)
Offers students an opportunity to conduct creative practice research, which is comprised of two components: the research, preparation, and execution of a substantial position of responsibility for a departmental production or a special creative practice project, under the supervision of a faculty member. Students write a capstone thesis paper, developing an original argument on a focused topic adjacent to their creative practice project. Students synthesize academic and experiential education through the paper, which requires research and analysis of focused evidence to make an original contribution to the current scholarly and/or professional conversation on their chosen topic.
Attribute(s): NUpath Capstone Experience, NUpath Writing Intensive
THTR 4882. Special Topics: Theatre Performance. (4 Hours)
Offers opportunity for in-depth examination of a subject of particular significance to the field. May be repeated up to four times.
THTR 4970. Junior/Senior Honors Project 1. (1-4 Hours)
Focuses on in-depth project in which a student conducts research or produces a product related to the student’s major field. Combined with Junior/Senior Project 2 or college-defined equivalent for 8-credit honors project. May be repeated without limit.
THTR 4973. Special Topics in Acting. (4 Hours)
Builds on advanced theoretical concepts and foundational skills acquired in prior study. Offers students an opportunity to choose further study to inform their individual development as actors. Topics are offered on a rotating basis and focus on a specialized aspect of acting technique. Incorporates advanced research and dramatic analysis. May be repeated once, but the topic may not be repeated.
THTR 4990. Elective. (1-4 Hours)
Offers elective credit for courses taken at other academic institutions. May be repeated without limit.
THTR 4992. Directed Study. (1-4 Hours)
Offers independent work under the direction of members of the department on a chosen topic. Course content depends on instructor. May be repeated without limit.
THTR 4994. Internship. (4 Hours)
Offers students an opportunity for internship work. May be repeated without limit.
Attribute(s): NUpath Integration Experience
THTR 5300. Devised Theatre Project. (4 Hours)
Investigates innovative and experimental methods of making an original theatre performance in which the actors are also the creators. Functions as a collaborative ensemble of actors that train, rehearse, and perform together. Explores performance theories and rehearsal techniques using language, movement, music, images, and autobiography to create a performative event inspired by a central theme drawn from literature, art, politics, or history. May culminate in a public performance. Requires prior completion of theatre training.
Prerequisite(s): THTR 1120 with a minimum grade of D- or THTR 1130 with a minimum grade of D- or THTR 2342 with a minimum grade of D- or graduate program admission
THTR 5450. Acting 3. (4 Hours)
Offers advanced acting training by exploring a variety of approaches useful in bringing the heightened dramatic texts alive on stage. Demands a free and efficient actor instrument: body, intellect, voice, and imagination simultaneously engaged and able to be compellingly present, and impeccable listening skills. Expects a significant amount of preparation, practice, and rehearsal outside the studio. Requires prior completion of basic acting training.
Prerequisite(s): THTR 2342 with a minimum grade of C or graduate program admission
THTR 5700. Design for Immersive Performance. (4 Hours)
Covers designing space and media for live co-present collaborative storytelling, emphasizing nontraditional and immersive formats. Offers students an opportunity to develop the basic skill sets in standard programming languages and 3D visualization software of the theatrical design disciplines of lighting, projections, sound, and scenography to effectively communicate design in live and virtual space. Experience with 3D rendering/visualization software or any of the above disciplines is advantageous, though not required. Culminates in an immersive performance conceived, designed, and created by the class. Student groups create sections of the performance, focusing on a specific design discipline.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov
THTR 5750. Contemporary Dance Studio. (4 Hours)
Introduces practice-based research in contemporary dance, exploring movement as both a creative act and a mode of inquiry. Embodied investigations examine how movement can function as a method for generating knowledge. Through movement exploration, discussion, and reflection, key topics include how dance articulates meaning and how different aesthetic values shape choreographic process. Draws from a range of contemporary movement practices, including choreographic and improvisational techniques, to offer students an opportunity to design individual movement research projects to cultivate skills in critical analysis, creative experimentation, and performance making. Curiosity and a willingness to move are essential. Some experience with contemporary dance preferred and department permission required.
Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov
THTR 5973. Topics in Fashion Design Studies. (4 Hours)
Offers students an opportunity for upper-undergraduate and graduate-level in-depth examination of a subject of particular significance in the fashion industry. May be repeated up to four times.
THTR 6100. Advanced Creative Storytelling for Social Engagement. (4 Hours)
Examines the ways people use creative storytelling to forge human connection in digital environments. Includes theoretical readings and critical analysis of digital performances in social and historical context, alongside experiential projects in which students create digital performance projects and curate collections of digital performances for particular audiences and purposes. This creative practice research course is open to advanced students with established storytelling skills in any discipline.
THTR 6670. Advanced Mixed Media Performance Lab. (4 Hours)
Focuses on multi-media performance design. Involves lectures and creative practice research projects in different disciplines, with options for specific student interests. Includes research and analysis of focused evidence to make an original contribution to the current scholarly and/or professional conversation on their chosen topic. Culminates in an immersive prototype conceived by the class in collaboration with the instructor with emphasis on mixed media, multi-camera shooting, the creation of 3D sets, and green screen technology in a low-fi visual effects (VFX) environment. Students work in groups to create sections of the performance, focusing on the specific design discipline in which they are interested or for which they have experience.
THTR 6973. Advanced Topics in Performance Studies. (4 Hours)
Examines at a graduate level a specific facet of particular significance in the interdisciplinary field of performance studies. The field examines how embodied, digital, and nonhuman performance operates within a wide variety of contexts such as everyday life, public events, interpersonal communications, performance art, games, and theatrical events. May culminate in the creation of original performance projects. May be repeated up to two times.