Studies in Theater Arts (THEA)
Directors: Professor Ruth Weiner
Professor: Ruth Weiner
Associate Professor: David McCandless
Lecturer: Walter F. Wojciechowski
Visiting Teacher/Artist: Steve Hendrickson
Studies in Theater Arts offers courses in each of the major areas of interest: design-technical, acting, and directing, as well as courses in literature, history, and criticism that are cross-listed with other departments.
Although there is no major in Theater at Carleton College, students can work out programs of study with theater arts as the essential component of a special major that might include courses from a variety of departments, such as English, Classics, Romance Languages and Literatures, German and Russian (See below).
Theater Courses
ENGL 175. Drama/Theatre/Text Cross-listed with THEA 175. We will study a selection of 10-15 plays as literary texts and as the foundations of performance. These plays are selected both for their literary stature and for their association with specific art and/or critical movements. 6 credits cr., AL, Winter—R. Weiner
ENGL 240. Directing Cross-listed with THEA 240. An introduction to the process of directing plays. 6 credits cr., ND, Fall—R. Weiner
ENGL 242. Twentieth-Century American Drama Cross-listed with AMST 242,THEA 242. A study of a selection of important American plays from Eugene O'Neill's Hairy Ape (1920) to Tony Kushner's Angels in America (1992) in the context of larger American themes and cultural preoccupations. The premise of this course is that these plays define the American theatre for most of this century. By studying them we will gain understanding of our own culture and the links that connect this culture to the transformative events of the century. Group IV. 6 credits cr., AL, Fall—R. Weiner
ENGL 243. Classic Theater: Aeschylus to Shakespeare Cross-listed with THEA 243. The study of dramatic literature in historical context, focusing not only on the plays but on the spaces, conditions, and conventions of theatrical performance from the ancient Greeks to Shakespeare. The class will also examine contemporary attempts to restage these works. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2000-2001.
ENGL 244. Classic Theater: Shakespeare to Modernism Cross-listed with THEA 244. The study of dramatic literature in historical context, focusing not only on the plays but on the spaces, conditions, and conventions of theatrical performance from Shakespeare through the beginnings of modernism. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2000-2001.
ENGL 246. Playwriting Cross-listed with THEA 246. A writing workshop focusing on the structure, craft, and elements of language vital to the making of new theatre. Students will work on scenes, monologues, writing exercises, and problem solving as they move toward the completion of an entire scene or short play. Permission of the instructor is required. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2000-2001.
ENGL 311. Shakespeare: Problem Plays, Tragedies and Romances Cross-listed with THEA 311. A study of plays chosen from the second half of Shakespeare's career as a playwright. Group I. 6 credits cr., AL, Winter—Jm. McDonnell
ENGL 339. Contemporary American Playwrights of Color Cross-listed with AMST 340,THEA 339. This course will examine a diverse selection of plays from the 1970s to the present with an attempt to understand how different theatrical venues frame our understanding of ethnic identity. Playwrights and performers to be studied include Ntozake, Shange, George C. Wolfe, Luis Valdez, David Henry Hwang, August Wilson, Philip Gotanda, Wakako Yamauchi, Maria Irene Fornes, Suzan-Lori Parks, and Ann Deavere Smith. There will be occasional video screenings and we will attend live theatrical performances when possible. Group IV. 6 credits cr., AL,RAD, Not offered in 2000-2001.
ENGL 342. Early Modern Drama Cross-listed with THEA 342. We will begin with a study of realism, as diversely practiced by such pioneering dramatists as Ibsen, Stringberg, Checkhov and Shaw, and trace its anti-realist dimension in Symbolism and Expressionism, then reactions against Realism represented by Pirendello and Brecht. We will examine plays not simply as objects of literary scrutiny but also as historical artifacts and scripts for contemporary performance. There will be occasional video screenings and possible "field trips" to professional productions. Group IV or literature in translation. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2000-2001.
ENGL 343. Contemporary European and American Drama Cross-listed with THEA 343. We will begin with a study of the key developments in post-WWII drama: Theater of the Absurd, and the development of hard-hitting political drama in Britain. We will also see how elements of the absurd and political intermingle in the more distinctly American social commentary of Shepard and Mamet. Finally, we will focus on recent works that interrogate, parody, or de-familiarize differences of race, gender, or sexual orientation. Our analysis of these works will be historical and performative as well as literary, and may be aided by occasional video screenings and "field trips" to professional productions. Group IV. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2000-2001.
ENGL 351. Women Playwrights/Women's Roles Cross-listed with THEA 351,WMST 351. A study of images of women in plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Strindberg, Tennessee Williams, and a number of women playwrights from Hellman and Clare Booth Luce to Caryl Churchill to Ntozahe Shange. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2000-2001.
Courses in other departments applicable to Studies in Theater Arts. For course descriptions, see departmental listings.
ENGL 291: Independent Study
ENGL 310: Shakespeare: The Histories and Comedies
ENGL 380-381: London Program (Not offered in 2000-2001.)
FREN 358: Theater of Derision (Not offered in 2000-2001.)
GERM 355: Topics in German Drama: Twentieth Century Theatrical Experiments
GRK 204: Greek Tragedy
GRK 355: Sophocles (Not offered in 2000-2001.)
LATN: 345: Roman Comedy (Not offered in 2000-2001.)
SPAN 248: Drama and Performance in Latin America