Theatre

Faculty: Professor L. Chaney (coordinator) and Assistant Professor Page 

Cottey’s theatre program is designed to provide all of the basic foundations for students interested in pursuing a career in professional or educational theatre or any related career field. Students can take classes in beginning and advanced acting, scene design and stagecraft, lighting and sound design, costuming, children’s theatre, and theatre history. Students also are provided the opportunity to participate actively at all levels in the College’s theatrical presentations; to serve on crews for visiting road shows; and to qualify for entry into Delta Psi Omega, the national theatre honorary society.

Degrees and Certificates

Courses

THE 101: Introduction to Theater

Credits 3
History of theatre from ancient Greeks into twentieth century. Includes discussion of basic playwriting, directing, acting, and theatre architecture and design.

THE 103: Acting Fundamentals

Credits 3
Basic realistic acting techniques. Includes physical movement, voice and character development, scene preparation, and improvisation.

THE 104: Acting for Non-Majors

Credits 3
Acting for Non-Majors, serves as an introduction to the fundamental principles and techniques of acting. Designed for beginners, it provides an overview of the basic skills required to develop a strong foundation in acting. The class culminates with a final staged performance.

THE 110: Stagecraft

Credits 3
Basic theories and techniques of set and prop construction, including the use of hand and power tools and rigging, and lighting and sound design theory and equipment use. Students provide technical assistance for Cottey theatre, music and dance performances and visiting professional road shows.

THE 122: Performance of Literature

Credits 3
Performance of poetry, prose, and dramatic forms of literature and life texts. Includes analysis of conversational and literary forms, criticism, class presentations, and class response.

THE 177: Theatre & Event Entertainment Tech

Credits 2
This course introduces students to event technology and management. The course will focus on the set-up, operation and troubleshooting of basic audio visual equipment including video and slide projectors, monitors, computers and projection screens. Students will be introduced to basic lighting and sound equipment used in an event set-up.

THE 181: Theatre Production

Credits 1
Guided participation in major theatrical production as actress, assistant director/stage manager, or technical support (minimum of 45 hours of work time as crew member or crew head). May be repeated a maximum of 4 credit hours.

THE 190: Theatre Professional Portfolio

Credits 1
This course helps students in the development of a theatre portfolio. Emphasis is placed on the creation and documentation of portfolio projects, and the process of seeking employment in all concentrations of theatre.

THE 210: Art Administration and Management

Credits 3 4
Art Administration and Management is an interdisciplinary course which will provide undergraduate with an advanced look at the managerial, structural, and operational functions of visual and performing arts organizations, translating traditional business practices into the language of the arts.

THE 230: Stage Makeup

Credits 3
Laboratory course providing students with fundamentals of the art of two dimensional character makeup.

THE 240: Script Analysis

Credits 3
This course is required for all students majoring in theatre and is designed to teach the technical and theoretical skills of script analysis using a formalist approach. The course offers general guidelines for reading and thinking about plays and understanding the basic potentials of a play’s construction.

THE 294: Stage Management

Credits 3
Discover the art and craft of stage management through class work, observation, and production exploration. Learn practical techniques for managing theatrical productions in preparation for academic and professional production responsibility.

THE 310: Dramatic Literature

Credits 3
This course surveys the world’s dramatic literature by concentrating on text analysis of a representative sample of plays of varying periods (ancient, classical, modern) and types (tragedy, comedy, drama). Emphasis is placed on the plays in performance. Field trips to theatrical productions may be scheduled.

THE 315: Theatre for Social Change

Credits 3
Intended for the BA in Social Change track student, this course explores the techniques, writings, performances, and scripts that are catalysts toward adopting social change in various devised theatre applications and beyond.

THE 325: Theatrical Costume Design

Credits 3
An introduction to basic theatrical costume design. Students will use color, texture, line, and concept to create costume designs for plays. They will employ play analysis, character analysis, and production concept as basis for costume design.

THE 355: Scene Design

Credits 3
Basic theatrical set design theory and practice. Includes the construction of 3D set models, and the production of hand and computer generated set designs and ways of integrating costume and stage lighting designs into the overall design picture. Students serve on crews for Cottey and visiting road show productions.

THE 430: Directing

Credits 3
Prerequisites: THE 103 and THE 131 This course explores the process of directing plays for the stage. Studio exercises develop skills in key areas: interpretation of form and artistic intent; perception and sensibility in rehearsal; effective communication with actors; and balancing the interplay between action and text. 3 credits

THE 490: Senior Capstone in Theatre

Credits 3
The Capstone is designed to be a culminating experience for the theatre major. The course is meant to serve as a testing ground of the depth of students’ knowledge and ability in the area of their choice. The work will culminate in a realized project, paper, portfolio and oral presentation to the faculty.