Acting (B.F.A.)

This is a fundamental course in the systematic analysis of dramatic texts.  It is designed to equip theatre arts majors and minors with the textual expertise and vocabulary needed for academic discussion and artistic collaboration. Students will read and research a series of scripts in order to investigate the process in which a play develops from page to performance. Emphasis will also be given to how directors, designers, performers, and spectators individually and collaboratively engage with and utilize a dramatic text during each phase of the pre-rehearsal, rehearsal, and performance process. The content and meeting times of THTRE-1020FYW and THTRE 1030 are the same and students may not receive credit for both courses.
(Normally offered each fall semester.)

This is a fundamental course in the systematic analysis of dramatic texts. It is designed to equip theatre arts majors and minors with the textual expertise and vocabulary needed for academic discussion and artistic collaboration. Students will read and research a series of scripts in order to investigate the process in which a play develops from page to performance. Emphasis will also be given to how directors, designers, performers, and spectators individually and collaboratively engage with and utilize a dramatic text during each phase of the pre-rehearsal, rehearsal, and performance process. The content and meeting times of THTRE 1020FYW and THTRE-1030 are the same and students may not receive credit for both courses.
(Normally offered each fall semester.)

This introductory acting course focuses on building physical, vocal, intellectual, and intuitive foundations for actors. Through discovery exercises, students increase their awareness of the fundamentals of contemporary acting and apply these concepts to monologue and scene work.
(Normally offered each fall semester.)

A study of the theories and techniques of directing. Students will direct several short scenes.
Prerequisite(s): THTRE 1020FYW Script Analysis or THTRE 1030 Script Analysis.
(Normally offered each fall and spring semester.)

This is an introductory course in the theory and practice of scenography for the theatre. The primary goal of this class is to provide access to terms, concepts, and design principle applications for theatrical scenery, costume, and lighting design.
(Normally offered each fall semester.)

Students will direct under supervision a one-act play or (with instructor's permission) a full-length play. This course may be repeated.
Prerequisite(s): THTRE 2500 Directing I.
(Normally offered each fall and spring semester.)

An integral factor in the study of the history of theatre is the impact that governments, democratic or otherwise, have on the development and sustenance of the arts. World Theatre History I is a Writing-Instructive course that covers early theatre through the Renaissance, so will investigate principles and ideals of Athenian democracy associated with Classical Greece, republican Rome, and the Italian republics of the early Renaissance, as well as more authoritarian forms of rule in early civilizations in India, China, Japan, and Meso-America.  Key questions will include: In what ways are artistic freedoms and practices linked to structures of governance?  How has theatre over time been a force for political change? Why does theatre flourish in some democracies (and in some authoritarian governments) and not in others? 
Prerequisite(s): POLSC 1010 Intro U.S.Govt/Politics: Civic Engagemt/POLSC 1010FYW Intro To U.S. Govt/Politics or HIST 1020 United States Society and Culture Since 1877 or  PHIL 2400 Social-Political Philosophy or THTRE 1010 Theatre Appreciation or THTRE 1020FYW Script Analysis or THTRE 1030 Script Analysis.
(Normally offered on even fall semesters.)

An integral factor in the study of the history of theatre is the impact that governments, democratic or otherwise, have on the development and sustenance of the arts. World Theatre History II is a Writing-Instructive and Diversity-Global Instructive course that covers the span from late 17th C through present day, so will investigate the Age of Reason and the movement toward representative democracy as well as contemporary developments. One focus will be on the theatre histories of selected Latin American and African countries. Key questions will include: In what ways are artistic freedoms and practices linked to structures of governance?  How has theatre over time been a force for political change? Why does theatre flourish in some democracies (and in some authoritarian governments) and not in others? How are principles/ideals of democracy represented in dramatic literatures and theatrical endeavors at specific historical moments?
Prerequisite(s): POLSC 1010 Intro U.S.Govt/Politics: Civic Engagemt/POLSC 1010FYW Intro To U.S. Govt/Politics or HIST 1020 United States Society and Culture Since 1877 or  PHIL 2400 Social-Political Philosophy or THTRE 1010 Theatre Appreciation or THTRE 1020FYW Script Analysis or THTRE 1030 Script Analysis.
(Normally offered on odd fall semesters.)

A course for students preparing for careers in theatre. Projects will include resume and portfolio preparation, auditioning, and interviewing techniques, introduction to internships, apprenticeships, and graduate study.
(Normally offered each fall semester.)

The Pulitzer Prizes are regarded as one of the most prestigious awards that a writer or composer can win. The Pulitzer Prize in Drama is awarded "for a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source, and dealing with American life". Given the emphases on American authorship and American life, this speaking-instructive dramatic literature course examines Pulitzer Prize winning plays such as Angels in America, The Kentucky Cycle, Topdog/Underdog, Disgraced and others to investigate questions about the features of a democracy and what it means to be a citizen of a democracy. The plays also serve as the basis for a series of oral presentations. The course also asks: To what extent is the representation of democratic principles and ideas a contributing factor in what plays win the Pulitzer Prize in Drama.

Dating from 1947, the American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards have been presented annually to honor excellence in commercial theatre on Broadway. It is a high honor for a writer or composer to win the award for Best Play or Best Musical, and usually results in financial and career gains. This speaking instructive dramatic literature course examines this U.S. awards tradition, considering how the procedural structures incorporate elements of democratic ideals and principles. Students will read examples of Tony Award winning plays and musicals in order to consider how democratic ideals are represented in those plays and will consider whether such representation is contributing factor in what works with the awards. The plays also serve as the basis for a series of oral presentations.

Is nurturing the subversive comic impulse in expression vital to a democracy? This speaking-instructive dramatic literature course examines the comic tradition in U.S. dramatic writing, focusing primarily on how democratic principles and ideals have been represented. One primary topic to be considered involves the ways that comic plays, whether overtly or subversively, can serve as a contributing factor to stimulate political change in a democracy. A range of plays from early national to contemporary will be read and discussed to draw conclusions about features of a democracy and what it means to be a citizen of a democracy. The plays will also serve as the basis for oral presentations.

This speaking-instructive dramatic literature course examines how definitions and concepts of family have been represented in dramatic literary works. By reading, discussing, reflecting in writing and making oral presentations about a variety of dramatic works drawn from diverse perspectives students will consider how changes in cultural and institutional environments impact definitions of family and how concepts of family are interconnected with other with other social institutions.

This speaking-instructive dramatic literature class examines how varieties of feminisms and cultural diversity have been represented in dramatic literary works. By reading, discussion, reflecting in writing and making oral presentations about a variety of dramatic works drawn from diverse perspectives students will utilize recent scholarship in gender and sexuality studies to analyze how assumptions about gender and/or sexualities have contributed to inequalities, choices, biases, oppression and/or empowerment in the culture and time periods in which the plays were written and produced.
Cross listed with GEND 2050.

Why does censorship occur in democracies that champion freedom of expression as an ideal? What are the tipping points that trigger the impulse to ban and/or censor? Does censorship or the threat of censorship present an obstacle to full participation of writers and readers in a democracy? Students seek the answers to these and other questions in this speaking-instructive dramatic literature course by looking at example of dramatic works that have been banned or censored in democratic nations. The selected texts will also serve as the basis for a series of oral presentations and will be utilized to discuss how the defining features of a democracy and the meaning of what it means to be a citizen in a democracy are represented in dramatic texts, as well as the broader question of how the arts shape how a nation defines itself as a democracy.

This speaking-instructive dramatic literature class examines how literary innovation and stylistic change have accompanied manifestoes for artistic and cultural change as represented in avant-garde dramatic literary works. By reading, discussion, reflecting in writing and making oral presentations about a variety of avant-garde dramatic works drawn from diverse historical, cultural, scientific, creative, and socioeconomic contexts students will analyze questions such as: What stimulates innovation? How is innovation sustained? What counts as innovation and what doesn’t? What are the distinguishing hallmarks of innovation? What are the limits of innovation?

This discourse-instructive course will study the diverse and varying collection of the musicals that encompass the Broadway stage. Musicals to be studied will vary each semester and students will engage in multiple discussions on topics such as performance trasitions, styles, time periods, subject matter, historical contribution, composers, and even audience appeal. Students will experience such musical either visually or aurally and complete a variety of assignments to identify the unique characteristics and contributions of each.

See ENG 3000 Shakespeare.

A systematic study of the outstanding literary artist of the English language: comedies, tragedies, and historical plays.
Prerequisite(s): First Year Writing, ENG 2000 Introduction to Textual Studies or THTRE-1020 and Junior standing.
(Normally offered spring of odd-numbered years.)

See ENG 3260 Greek Drama.

In this course, students will read a selection of plays by ancient Greek playrights: the comedies of Aristophanes and the tragedies of Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles. For a semester project, students will work as a collaborative team to write and perform a dramatic work (along with related documents) to demonstrate their understanding of the genre, period, and culture.
Cross listed with THTRE 3260.
Prerequisite(s): First Year Writing and Junior Standing.
(Normally offered alternate spring semesters.)

U.S. Theatre and Cultural Pluralism is a Discourse-Instructive and Diversity-U.S.-Instructive course that considers drama and theatre by ethnic and racial minority writers, gender and sexual minority writers, and writers with disabilities, within the context of historical and contemporary cultural circumstances including economic class. The primary focus of this class is the examination of cultural pluralism as one of the ideals/principles of a democracy as embodied in dramatic works and theatre production practices. It seeks to investigate how theatre in the U.S. has served as a venue for voices that have been historically silenced and/or marginalized, while acknowledging that theatre has sometimes been used as an instrument of oppression. The dramatic works read will allow discussion of topics including: features of a democracy, structures of power, principles of cultural pluralism, what it means to be a citizen in a democracy, and obstacles to full participation in a democracy.
Prerequisite(s): POLSC 1010 Intro U.S.Govt/Politics: Civic Engagemt/POLSC 1010FYW Intro To U.S. Govt/Politics or HIST 1020 United States Society and Culture Since 1877 or  PHIL 2400 Social-Political Philosophy or THTRE 1020FYW Script Analysis or THTRE 1030 Script Analysis or instructor permission.

See HIST 4220 The Ancient World.

This intermediate acting course reinforces the fundamental skills acquired in Script Analysis and Acting I, and builds upon them in order to emphasize technique and truth in acting. Using elements from contemporary acting theorists (Meisner, LeCoq, Alder, etc.) students investigate contemporary dramatic texts. The process focuses on freeing the performer's instrument while concentrating on the actor's intent.
Prerequisite(s): THTRE-1020 and THTRE 1300 Acting I or instructor permission.
(Normally offered each spring semester.)

This is an advanced course in acting that incorporates the technique and truth in acting skills from Acting II and aims to provide an intensive study of character analysis and presentation skills. Performance texts for class activities and exercises will be drawn primarily from turn-of-the-century playwrights such as Ibsen, Shaw, and Chekhov. Attention is also to be given to the process of preparing professional auditions. This course may be repeated once for credit.
Prerequisite(s): THTRE 1300 Acting I and THTRE 1310 Acting II.
(Normally offered on even fall semesters.)

A course designed to assist the student in improving control and use of the voice for speaking. Students participate in individualized and group exercises. The course also serves as an introduction to the variations in speech sounds, rhythms, and intonational patterns that characterize selected dialects of spoken English. Students utilize the International Phonetic Alphabet to transcribe cuttings from selected plays into the sounds of appropriate dialects and then reproduce the sounds vocally. Recordings of dialects are utilized for ear training.

This is a general introductory course in Stage Combat. Students will learn the basics in Combat Safety, Unarmed Combat, Small Sword, Rapier, Rapier and Dagger, Broadsword and Sword and Shield.
(Normally offered each spring semester.)

Voice and Movement I explores the different ways in which an actor may use the voice and body to create character, with an emphasis on full body integration. Students will learn techniques to free the natural voice, strengthen the body, and do so in a fully integrated and creative way so as to maximize expression for the stage. Students will study the works of Master Teachers, such as Alexander, Lessac, Bogart, and/or Linklater, in order to learn the foundational principles of voice and movement work. The class is intended to be a required class for performance majors.

This is an advanced scene study course that builds upon the skills gained in Acting II and III, and trains students to handle specific acting challenges. Special attention is given to listening and connecting, and playing to win using action-based objectives. Scenes are taken from American post-war classics, the 1960s-70s avant-garde, and contemporary dramatic literature. This course may be repeated once for credit.
Prerequisite(s): THTRE 1020FYW Script Analysis or THTRE 1030 Script Analysis, THTRE 1300 Acting I, THTRE 1310 Acting II, and THTRE 2300 Acting III or permission of instructor.
(Normally offered each spring semester.)

Dialects is a course that focuses on the mastery of vocal techniques required for utilizing stage dialects in performance. The course will offer a practical approach to learning dialects that will be believable and accurate. We will explore a process for creating a dialect role, from pre-production script analysis and dialect acquisition, through the rehearsal period and run of the texts. Each student will prepare and present a series of oral and written dialect projects culminating in an oral examination.

Playing Shakespeare is an intermediate level acting class focusing on the technique necessary to perform classical texts. We will focus on expanding the abilities of the actor's instrument. Truthfulness will be the ultimate goal balanced by the requirements of the text. Students will be introduced to the guidelines and techniques for acting dramatic verse. Students learn period movement and style appropriate for the Elizabethan and Jacobean era. Students also explore the use of voice, speech, tone, rhythm and pitch as part of character revelation. Playing Shakespeare may be repeated once for credit.

Voice and Movement II is a course that focuses on the mastery and reinforcement of vocal and physical techniques learned in THTRE 2420 Voice And Movement I. Students will explore more advanced texts and movement styles, which may include material from classical texts, Greek drama, Commedica Del Arts or masque work. In addition, students will learn advanced vocal and physical technique and strategies for sustained vocal health, freedom of breath, and freedom of movement in the body. Each student will prepare and present a series of oral and written voice and movement technique projects culminating in an oral and written examination.

Prerequisite: THTRE 2420 Voice And Movement I or instructor permission.

This is an advanced acting course that builds upon the skills gained in previous acting and directing classes. It trains students to handle specific acting challenges presented to them from the instructor from a director's perspective. Recommended for students completing the B.F.A. degree in theatre with an emphasis in acting.
Prerequisite(s): THTRE 1020FYW Script Analysis or THTRE 1030 Script Analysis, THTRE 1300 Acting I, THTRE 1310 Acting II, and THTRE 2300 Acting III or instructor permission.
(Normally offered each spring semester.)

This advanced acting course reinforces the fundamental skills acquired in previous Acting class and builds upon them in order to develop techniques for performance auditions. Specifically, the choice and preparation of material will be discovered.
Prerequisite(s): THTRE 1300 Acting I, THTRE 1310 Acting II, and THTRE 2300 Acting III or permission of instructor.
(Normally offered each fall semester.)

A course introducing students to all technical aspects of theatre production including scenery, properties, lighting, sound, makeup, and costuming. Particular emphasis is placed on practical knowledge of scenery, property construction techniques, and the materials used. Students must participate in a laboratory theatre experience.
(Normally offered each fall and spring semester.)

The introductory course in costuming for the theatre. It presents the uses of fabrics, textures, colors, plastics, and other materials as well as developing the sewing techniques needed for the theatre.
(Normally offered each fall and spring semester.)

On-the-job training for theatre arts majors and minors in theatre-related organizations. Students will arrange for their positions according to departmental guidelines, and each internship will be designed to the satisfaction of the sponsor, faculty coordinator, and student. Students may repeat the course and earn a maximum of 6 hours credit.
P/F only.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the department chair.

Senior Capstone is a culmination of a graduating theatre student's academic and artistic experience of theatre at the undergraduate level. Research, analytical and reflective writing, and professional presentation skills compromise the primary components of this course, which focuses on the integration, synthesis and application of cumulative knowledge and prepares students for the transition from their undergraduate education into their future profession. Senior Capstone should be taken during the student's last year in residence at Nebraska Wesleyan University.
Prerequisite(s): Theatre major with senior standing or permission of the instructor.