Curriculum

THEA 101 | SCRIPT ANALYSIS

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

This course focuses on the analysis of dramatic literature – learning how to closely read, examine, dissect, interpret, and analyze play scripts – which is the essential foundation for playmaking. Through the process of excavating a script for the ideas that ultimately shape the play in performance, students will develop critical thinking skills. The course includes extensive reading, written analysis, individual and group projects, and class discussion.

THEA 111 | THEATRE AND SOCIETY

Units: 3-4 Repeatability: No

Core Attributes: Artistic Inquiry area

This course studies theatre as an art form and examines the historical role of theatre in the world and its significance as a cultural force. It involves attending plays, designing projects and/or performing. Satisfies the core curriculum fine arts requirement.

THEA 115 | THEATRE PRACTICUM I FOR NON-MAJORS

Units: 1 Repeatability: Yes (Can be repeated for Credit)

A course for non-majors/non-minors only. Students serve on a faculty-supervised running crew for a minimum of 30 crew hours (most productions and projects will require more hours). This course is repeatable for up to three units.

THEA 116 | THEATRE PRACTICUM - ACTING/STAGE MANAGEMENT

Units: 1-2 Repeatability: Yes (Can be repeated for Credit)

This course is for those cast in acting roles or assigned to work as an Assistant/Stage Manager in a Theatre Department show. Attendance required at all rehearsals and performances for the assigned show. Course is open to non-theatre majors/minors and repeatable for up to 3 units. Audition information available in Theatre office and on-line.

THEA 117 | THEATRE PRACTICUM - BACKSTAGE AND PRODUCTION

Units: 1 Repeatability: Yes (Can be repeated for Credit)

This course is for students working backstage in a Theatre Department production. Student may be assigned to work in a number of backstage roles such as a dresser or lighting board operator. Attendance required for class meetings and all required rehearsals and performances for the assigned show. Student must check production calendar for conflicts and may register prior to being assigned to a show. No previous production experience necessary. Course is open to non-theatre majors/minors and repeatable for up to 3 units.

THEA 155 | THEATRE IN EDUCATION

Units: 3

This course is designed specifically for future elementary school teachers enrolled in the liberal studies major as an introduction to the use of theatre and dance in the classroom. It involves theatre and dance through form, style, history, and cultural perspectives. Students learn the structure and vocabulary of theatre and dance, as well as practical methods of application in the classroom.

THEA 201 | THE CREATIVE MIND

Units: 3

This course is designed to build the infrastructure of creative thinking through exploratory engagement with daily life and the world around us. The creative and performing arts provide models for risk taking, confidence in performance and public presentation, and reenvisioning the familiar. Students will experience problem re-framing, collaborative solutions, sensory imagery, and compassionate innovation challenges to develop a vocabulary of creative thinking that can inform artistic practice and build the skills of charismatic leadership.

THEA 205 | TECHNICAL THEATRE WITH LAB

Units: 4 Repeatability: No

This course covers the primary technical process, the behind-the-scenes work, necessary to mount a theatrical production. It involves stagecraft vocabulary, set construction, lighting and sound technology, stage management, production organization, and theatre architecture. In the technical theatre lab portion of this course, students learn how to put theory into practice in the support of the semester’s theatrical productions. It involves the construction and installation of sets, hanging and focusing lights, and the installation and configuration of the sound system. Hours outside scheduled class time will be required, including some weekends.

THEA 220 | FUNDAMENTALS OF THEATRICAL DESIGN

Units: 3

Core Attributes: Artistic Inquiry area

This course focuses on understanding foundational elements of theatrical design and developing the skills to translate text into visual content. It involves script analysis, research, creative exploration, and visual communication. Satisfies the core curriculum fine arts requirement.

THEA 230 | ACTING I

Units: 3

Core Attributes: First year Integration, Artistic Inquiry area

This course examines the tradition of the actor as storyteller and challenges students to increase their ability to express their own experience and the experience of others. It involves improvisation, monologue, and scene work, technical methods in voice, physical action, and text analysis. Satisfies the core curriculum fine arts requirement.

THEA 294 | THEATER ELECTIVE

Units: 3

THEA 302 | ACTING II

Units: 3

Prerequisites: THEA 230

Focusing on contemporary dramatic scripts and actor transformation, this course teaches students to work creatively within a structure and to develop an acting process that balances and integrates text analysis and creative imagination.

THEA 315 | THEATRE PRACTICUM II FOR NON-MAJORS

Units: 1 Repeatability: Yes (Can be repeated for Credit)

A course for non-majors/non-minors only. Students serve on a faculty-supervised running crew for a minimum of 30 crew hours (most productions and projects will require more hours). This course is repeatable for up to 3 units.

THEA 316 | THEATRE PRACTICUM - COSTUME PRODUCTION

Units: 1 Repeatability: Yes (Can be repeated for Credit)

Prerequisites: THEA 205

This course is for students to practice costume production skills initiated in THEA 205 – Technical Theatre. Students will complete 50 hours of work in the costume shop over the course of the semester to fulfill the course requirement. Course is open to non-theatre majors/minors and repeatable for up to 3 units.

THEA 317 | THEATRE PRACTICUM - STAGECRAFT

Units: 1 Repeatability: No

Prerequisites: THEA 205

This course is for students to practice stagecraft skills initiated in THEA 205 – Technical Theatre. Students will complete 50 hours of work in scenery, lighting and sound production. A schedule of open shop hours for students to complete hours is available in the Theatre Office. Additional opportunities to complete hours may also arise during the course of the semester. Course is open to non-theatre majors/minors and repeatable for up to 3 units.

THEA 320 | SCENIC DESIGN

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Prerequisites: THEA 220 or ARCH 101 or ENGR 101

This course is an advanced study of theatrical set design. It involves script analysis, research, sketching, model building, drafting and presentations. Students are required to attend theatrical productions, both on and off campus.

THEA 330 | COSTUME DESIGN

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Prerequisites: THEA 101 and THEA 220

This course is an advanced study of the process of costuming a theatrical production. It involves how the social impact of clothes translates to theatrical costuming, visual and textual research, play analysis, costume history, rendering, design elements, production procedures, and collaboration with other artists.

THEA 340 | VOICE AND SPEECH

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Prerequisites: THEA 101 and THEA 230

This course will integrate various vocal training approaches and methods in order to encourage vocal growth in the areas of breath support, clarity of speech, diction, and range. It is specifically designed for actors, but can benefit anyone interested in public speaking or in communicating with more clarity and confidence. It involves cultivating vocal potential and performing monologues, scenes, and poetry.

THEA 345 | PHYSICAL ACTOR

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Prerequisites: THEA 101 and THEA 230

Through this course, students will learn physically-based performance techniques as a means to discover the body and its movement through space as an inspiration for the actor and the primary generator of meaning in theatre. Selected topics may but will not necessarily include clowning, commedia dell'arte, masks, stage combat and other approaches drawn from movement training.

THEA 350 | MOVEMENT FOR ACTORS

Units: 3

Prerequisites: THEA 111 or THEA 230

This course focuses on physical communication through exploring personal habit, body language, character development, transformation, and style through physical action.

THEA 355 | COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Prerequisites: THEA 230

This course is an introduction to the masked performance form of Commedia dell'Arte, including the history of the form, experience with masked acting, exploration of Commedia's principal characters, the creation of comedic business, and improvising on scenarios. The semester's work will culminate with a public performance of a Commedia scenario.

THEA 360 | THEATRE HISTORY 1

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Prerequisites: THEA 101

This course examines the historical role of theatre in the world, exploring the roots and development of theatrical performances in a range of cultures and time periods. In addition to reading play texts, students will evaluate broad-based performance forms such as rituals and festivals as well as consider a range of performance genres from commedia dell’arte to kabuki in oral and manuscript cultures through early print cultures.

THEA 360W | THEATRE HISTORY

Units: 3

Core Attributes: Advanced writing competency

Prerequisites: THEA 111

Centering on the contributions of theatre in mirroring cultures, this course examines the roots and development of world theatre, from ancient Greece to modern realism. It involves, along with the reading of plays, the historical approaches to studying the creation of theatre.

THEA 362 | THEATRE HISTORY 2

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Prerequisites: THEA 101 and THEA 360

This course builds upon Theatre History 1 and examines the historical role of theatre in the world, exploring the roots and development of theatrical performances in a range of cultures and time periods. In addition to reading play texts, students will evaluate broad-based performance forms such as rituals and festivals as well as consider a range of performance genres from popular spectacles to postmodern experiments beginning in periodical print cultures and extending into electric and electronic communication cultures.

THEA 365 | PLAYWRITING

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Prerequisites: THEA 101 and (THEA 230 or ENGL 121)

This course focuses on writing scenes and creating work in playwriting format, through reading, writing, and acting exercises. The final project is an original one-act play.

THEA 365W | PLAYWRITING

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Core Attributes: Writing-Pre F17 CORE

Prerequisites: THEA 111 and (THEA 230 or ENGL 121)

This course focuses on writing scenes and creating work in playwriting format, through reading, writing, and acting exercises. The final project is an original one-act play.

THEA 367 | LONDON PLAYS IN PRODUCTION

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Core Attributes: Fine Arts-Pre F17 CORE, Literature-Pre F17 CORE

A study abroad course, which immerses students in London theater. Students study and read a range of work that may include classical, modern, multi-cultural, and experimental plays and musicals, and visit venues ranging from the Royal National Theatre to abandoned warehouses. This course is cross-listed between English and Theatre, and can fulfill the Literary or Artistic Inquiry Core requirement, and major or minor upper division requirements in English or Theatre Arts.

THEA 369 | CONTEMPORARY THEATRE

Units: 3

Prerequisites: THEA 111

This course examines diverse contemporary plays, including alternative and avant-garde forms of theatre. It involves textual analysis, production history, and critical theory as is applicable to current dramatic criticism and interpretation.

THEA 370 | PERFORMANCE STUDIES

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Core Attributes: Advanced writing competency, Oral communication competency

Prerequisites: THEA 101

This course is part of the written and oral communication competency series. As an Advanced Writing course, Performance Studies focuses on writing as a process, teaching students how to assess and conduct scholarship in the field. As an Oral Communication course, students will develop well-structured presentations that clearly and compellingly communicate a central argument, use engaging examples as well as a strong delivery. Students will explore and engage with a range of disciplinary methods for analyzing, understanding, and discussing performance in order to learn and apply critical and theoretical concepts as a means to develop skills as scholar-practitioners.

THEA 375C | THEATRE AND COMMUNITY

Units: 3-4

Core Attributes: Community Service Learning, Diversity-Pre F17 CORE

Prerequisites: THEA 111 or THEA 230

This course focuses on the use of theatre and performance as a means of exploring social and political issues. Students will examine the skills needed to create theatre for and about specific communities and their concerns. It involves all levels of creation, including researching, interviewing, writing, and performing. When available and appropriate, students will be guided in establishing partnership building with community-based organizations. Cross-listed with community service-learning.

THEA 380 | THEATRE OF DIVERSITY

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Core Attributes: Domestic Diversity level 1

Prerequisites: THEA 101 and THEA 230

This course explores the dynamic cannon of U.S. theatre literature with a focus on diversity, inclusion and social justice. Primarily a lecture based course, theatre exercises are also used as a teaching tool to foster deeper connections with the material. Student creativity is highly valued, encouraged and supported.

THEA 385 | ACTING FOR THE MUSICAL THEATRE

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Prerequisites: THEA 230

This course cultivates the skills of analyzing, interpreting, and performing the two primary texts of the musical theatre song: lyrics and music. By learning the performer’s mind/body connection through researching musical theatre repertoire, students ultimately are prepared for an effective musical theatre singing audition.

THEA 390 | DIRECTING AND STAGE MANAGEMENT

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Prerequisites: THEA 101 and THEA 220 and THEA 230

This course focuses on the duties of the two playmakers responsible for leading, planning, executing, and administering the collaborative processes inherent in the rehearsal and performance of theatrical production: the Director and the Stage Manager. Processes, skills, and principles introduced and developed include basic leadership principles, fundamentals of management, organizational structure, theatricality, production concept, effective communication in a collaborative setting, rehearsal etiquette and protocol, staging practice, technical rehearsals, and theatrical performance.

THEA 405 | BUSINESS OF THEATRE

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

This course examines the business roles and principles of theatre, both commercial and non-profit. By becoming familiar with the financial, legal, marketing , philosophical, and creative aspects of theatre companies, students will learn how to manage, form, and contribute to a career in arts-based enterprises.

THEA 422 | BUSINESS OF THEATRE

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

This course examines the business roles and principles of theatre, both commercial and non-profit. By becoming familiar with the financial, legal, marketing , philosophical, and creative aspects of theatre companies, students will learn how to manage, form, and contribute to a career in arts-based enterprises.

THEA 435 | CLASSICAL ACTING

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Prerequisites: THEA 101 and THEA 230

This course will focus on performing classical texts. Students will address the challenges of heightened language, rhetoric, argumentation, style, scansion, poetry, and period movement.

THEA 445 | PRODUCING AND DIRECTING

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Prerequisites: THEA 205 and THEA 230

This course examines the process of producing and directing for the theatre. It involves choosing a play, securing performance rights, paying royalties, negotiating contracts, casting, scheduling, design collaboration, script analysis, actor coaching, blocking, publicity, marketing, and house management.

THEA 455 | STAGE MANAGEMENT

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Prerequisites: THEA 116 and THEA 205 and THEA 230

This course, by examining the role of the stage manager in the theatrical process, prepares students for practical experience and employment in educational or professional theatre, as well as for developing stage management skills in other arts-related or non-related fields. It involves field experience/observation of productions on and off campus.

THEA 475C | THEATRE AND COMMUNITY

Units: 3 Repeatability: No

Core Attributes: Community Service Learning, Domestic Diversity level 2, International

Prerequisites: THEA 101 and THEA 230

This course focuses on the use of theatre and performance as a means of exploring social and political issues. Students will examine the skills needed to create theatre for and about specific communities and their concerns. It involves all levels of creation, including researching, interviewing, writing, and performing. Students will be guided in establishing partnership building with community-based organizations.

THEA 494 | SPECIAL TOPICS IN THEATRE

Units: 3 Repeatability: Yes (Repeatable if topic differs)

Core Attributes: Artistic Inquiry area

Courses examining specific aspects of theatre not covered in other classes. See program listing each semester.

THEA 496 | SENIOR PROJECT IN THEATRE

Units: 1-3

Individual directed study under the supervision of a faculty member.

THEA 498 | PROFESSIONAL INTERNSHIP

Units: 1-3

THEA 499 | INDEPENDENT STUDY

Units: 1-3