Scoring and Scripting in Performance
Lecture—3 hours; laboratory—3 hours. Prerequisite: graduate standing. The process of weaving together various performance elements brought into play by the artists in their respective disciplines. The “script” is the thread from which the artists’ “scores” will layer and transform the “script” into performance for specific time, place, spectators.
Time, Space and Place (4) Seminar/Laboratory – 2 x 3 hours: term project. Introduces approaches to time, space and place in contemporary performance, including a strong emphasis on varieties of documentation in live performance.
Composition in the Arts
Lecture—3 hours; laboratory—3 hours. Prerequisite:graduate standing. Examine manner in which specific elements utilized by actors, dancers, directors, choreographers, and designers are combined or related to form a whole in space and time, as well as methods of sequencing used by each discipline to produce artistic products. May be repeated once for credit.
The primary option courses for PhD students are found in the DRA259 sequence taught alternately with the DRA265 sequence in every other year. Students may also participate in core MFA classes with the permission of the instructor, but not in the first quarter of their first year. Other MFA classes are on the advice of the student’s adviser and permission from the instructor.
Topics in Contemporary Theatre and Performance (4) Seminar--3 hours; term paper. Special topics designed to study in depth aspects of contemporary performance including performance analysis, cultural and historical context, modes of production, theoretical and political entailments, and issues of spectatorship (e.g., "Feminist Theory and Performance," "Performance and Society," “Ethnicity and Identity in Performance.") May be repeated five times for credit.
Modern Theatre (4) Seminar--3 hours; term paper. The theatre of Europe and America, 1860-1940, with emphasis on the relationship of the dramas of the period to the physical circumstances under which they were produced. Offered in alternate years.
Approaches to Collaboration (4) Lecture--3 hours; laboratory--3 hours. Prerequisite: graduate standing. Exploration of different approaches to collaboration among artists in different media and their influence on the creative process.--I.
Performing Identities/Personae (4) Lecture--3 hours; laboratory--3 hours. Prerequisite: graduate standing. Historical and contemporary theories of constructing stage identities. Discussion and project collaborations based on theories. Questions of identity related to ethnicity, gender or sexuality.