Theater (THE) Courses

THE-101 Introduction to Theater

This course explores many aspects of the theater: the audience, the actor, the visual elements, the role of the director, theater history, and selected dramatic literature. The goal is to heighten the student's appreciation and understanding of the art of the theater. The plays we will encounter will range from the Greek tragedies of 2,500 years ago to new works by contemporary playwrights: from Sophocles' Antigone to Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton. Students will see and write reviews of theater productions, both on- and off-campus. This course is appropriate for all students, at all levels.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

THE-103 Seminars in Theater

These seminars focus on specific topics in theater and film. They are designed to introduce students to the liberal arts expressed by noteworthy pioneers and practitioners in theater and film. Please refer to the Registrar's page for course description.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

THE-104 Introduction to Film

This course is intended to introduce students to film as an international art form and provide an historical survey of world cinema from its inception to the present. The course will focus on key films, filmmakers, and movements that have played a major role in pioneering and shaping film. Selected motion pictures will be screened, studied, and discussed, with special emphasis placed on learning how to "read" a film in terms of its narrative structure, genre, and visual style. Specific filmic techniques such as mise en scene, montage, and cinematography will also be considered. Genre study, auteurism, and ideology will be explored in relation to specific films and filmmakers, as well as the practice of adaptation (from theater to film, and most recently, film to theater).
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

THE-105 Introduction to Acting

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of acting through physical and vocal exercises, improvisation, preparation of scenes, and text and character analysis. Students will prepare scenes for classroom and public presentation. Students will also collaborate with the directing class in producing an evening of original one-act plays for the community. This course is appropriate for all students, regardless of artistic background.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

THE-106 Stagecraft

This course introduces students to the fundamental concepts and practices of play production. Students develop a deeper awareness of technical production and acquire the vocabulary and skills needed to implement scenic design. These skills involve the proper use of tools and equipment common to the stage, basic theatre drafting, scene painting, and prop building. Students will demonstrate skills in written and visual communication required to produce theater in a collaborative environment. Students will be required to complete 20 hours of production work over the course of the semsester through arranged lab periods.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

THE-111 Theater Production Practicum

In this course, students will learn and practice the responsibilities and processes of staging a Wabash mainstage theatrical production. Students will be graded on the accumulation and retention of knowledge, collaboration and participation, adaptability, dedication, and initiative. The list of possible positions, based on need and availability, includes actor, stage manager, assistant director, assistant stage manager, assistant designer, backstage crew/dresser, and light/soundboard operator. There are no traditional class meetings for this course; the student is expected to be available for all meetings, rehearsals, and performances to which they are assigned.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.25
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

THE-187 Independent Study

Individual research projects. The manner of study will be determined by the student in consultation with the instructor. Students must receive written approval of their project proposal from a department Chair before registering for the course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1

THE-188 Independent Study

THE-201 Magic and Manipulation: Prop and Costume

This course will guide the student through a hands-on exploration of some of the fundamental production processes of theater. At first, students will focus on multiple aspects of prop and costume craftwork including: life-casting, sculpting, molding, and carving. Later in the course, students will use these skills to create masks, puppets, and stage properties. The projects created for this course will challenge the student to learn contemporary methods of prop and costume craftwork, while also pushing them to develop innovative problem-solving skills. The students who take part in this course will gain experience working with a range of materials and techniques, as well as furthering their ability to research, design, analyze, and collaborate.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

THE-202 Introduction to Scenic Design

This course traces the design and use of scenery as environments for theatrical performance from concept through opening night. Areas covered include the scene design process, collaboration and critique, model making, and creating appropriate design paperwork. This course will provide the liberal arts student with an exploration of the scenic design process from the page to the stage. This course is appropriate for all students, regardless of artistic background
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

THE-203 Costume Design

This course is an in-depth look at the process of costume design from start to finish. Through a series of design projects, students will explore the relation of costuming to theater history and performance, and the culture at large. Combining historical research, character and script analysis, collaborative projects, and the intensive study of the elements and principles of design, color theory and rendering, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the costume designer's creative practice.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

THE-204 World Cinema

The course will survey non-Hollywood international movements in the history of cinema. It will explore issues of nation, history, culture, identity and their relation to questions of film production and consumption in contemporary film culture. Emphasis will be placed on major directors, films, and movements that contributed to the development of narrative cinema internationally. The course will investigate a variety of genres and individual films, paying close attention to their aesthetic, historical, technological and ideological significance. For example, African cinema introduces themes of colonialism, resistance and post-colonial culture, while the New Iranian Cinema articulates problems of politics and censorship within a new national film culture.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: , Literature/Fine Arts, Global Citizenship, Justice, and Diversity
Equated Courses: GEN-206

THE-205 Acting for the Camera

Through exercises, study of screen-acting techniques and scene study, this course will build the performer's range of emotional, intellectual, physical, and vocal expressiveness for the camera. Students will participate in on-camera and off-camera exercises, scripted scenes, and technique activities. This class meets at the same time as the Narrative Filmmaking class and students from both will work together to create short narrative films.
Prerequisites: THE-105
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

THE-206 Studies in Acting

The process of acting, its history, theory, and practice, are examined through classroom exercises, text analysis, and scoring. Students will explore acting styles and perform scenes from the extant works of Greek tragedy, Renaissance drama, commedia dell'arte, Neoclassical comedy, and modern and contemporary drama.
Prerequisites: THE-105
Credit: 1

THE-207 Directing

The art and practice of stage directing is best learned by hands-on experience. This course enables students who have completed the introductory acting course (THE 105) to work on the other side of the stage with student actors. Scene analysis and the development of a fully-formed production concept are also core experiences in the course. The semester culminates in the Studio One-Acts, which the directors will conceive and stage with students enrolled in THE 105, offered concurrently.
Prerequisites: THE-105
Credit: 1

THE-208 Games and Interactive Media

Digital artists are building immersive interactive worlds that provoke us to reflect on enduring questions facing the human race. Games like This War of Mine, The Last of Us, Kentucky Route Zero, Celeste, and Undertale are challenging the very definition of "game" and pushing designers to explore the power of a new art form to illuminate our minds and spark our imaginations. To produce these rich narrative environments, programming and systems architecture must work hand-in-hand with sturdy dramaturgy, aesthetics, and thoughtful design. This requires creative, problem-solving collaboration among people with wildly disparate talents: coders and poets; AI designers and psychologists; engineers and actors. In this complex creative environment, our liberal arts credo has never been more relevant: it takes a broadly educated mind-or, better, many such minds working together-to grapple with complexity. In this course, we will leverage the power of games and interactive media to convey meaning through channels of communication unavailable to traditional media.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution:

THE-209 Scene Study and Dramaturgy

In Scene Study and Dramaturgy, students examine the journey "from page to stage." Students learn how to perform textual analysis and historical research, and also discover how these practices help directors, actors, and designers bring a script and characters to life. Students learn hands-on with in-class performance and analysis of plays, as well as by having dramaturgical and research assistant responsibilities on a Wabash mainstage production.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

THE-210 Playwriting & Screenwriting

An introduction to the basic techniques of writing for the stage and screen, this course begins with a discussion of Aristotle's elements of drama. Students will read short plays, analyze dramatic structure, study film adaptation, and explore the art of creating character and writing dialogue. Course responsibilities included writing short plays and/or film treatments, participating in classroom staged readings, and discussing scripts written by other students in the class. Selected plays from this course will be presented each fall semester as part of the Theater Department's Studio One-Acts production.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

THE-212 The Revolutionary Stage: 19c. Eur Drama

This class will explore the history of the European theater and its various dramatic literatures between the years 1800-1900. We will discuss the "new woman," the rise of industrialism and cosmopolitanism, and societies shifting swiftly under the influence of new modes of thought. We will examine the work of major European playwrights including Henrik Ibsen (A Doll House), Anton Chekhov (The Cherry Orchard), August Strindberg (Miss Julie), and Alfred Jarry (Ubu Roi). We will discuss one play a week, and consider how the plays reflect the moral, social, and political issues of their time. This course is suitable for all students. Students taking this course for credit toward the English major or minor must have taken at least one previous course in English or American literature. No more than one course taken outside the English Department will be counted toward the major or minor in English.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts, Literature

THE-215 The Classic Stage: Greeks-Shakespeare

This course will focus on the theater history and dramatic literature between the golden age of classical Greek drama and the revolutionary theater of Romantic period: 2,000 years of theater in one semester. We will study representative plays of various periods and genres-the satiric old comedies" of the Greeks, the Christian morality plays of medieval Europe, the tragedies of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. We will discuss one play a week, and consider how the plays reflect the moral, social, and political issues of their time. This course is suitable for all students. Students taking this course for credit toward the English major or minor must have taken at least one previous course in English or American literature. No more than one course taken outside the English Department will be counted toward the major or minor in English.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

THE-216 The Modern Stage: 20-21c. Euro Theater

The class will study the history of theater and the diverse forms of European drama since 1900. We will discuss theatrical responses to the events that have shaped the modern era: the World Wars, the Holocaust, the atomic bomb, terrorism, workers' movements, feminism, and the rise of a postmodern, media-saturated culture. We will examine the work of major European playwrights including Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot), Martin McDonagh (The Beauty Queen of Leenane), Bertholt Brecht (Galileo), and Tom Stoppard (Rosencranz and Guildenstern are Dead), among others. We will discuss one play a week, and the plays will be examined as reflections of moral, social, and political issues throughout modern European history. This course is suitable for all students. Students taking this course for credit toward the English major or minor must have taken at least one previous course in English or American literature. No more than one course taken outside the English Department will be counted toward the major or minor in English.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

THE-217 The American Stage: US Theat 1776-pres

In this course, we will focus on the rich dramatic heritage of the United States from the American Revolution to the present. We will discuss theatrical responses to the events that have shaped the United States: slavery, industrialization, the World Wars, the Civil Rights movement, and the rise of a postmodern, media-saturated culture. We will examine the work of major American playwrights including August Wilson (Fences), Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog), Eugene O'Neill (The Hairy Ape), and Tony Kushner (Angels in America), among others. We will discuss one play a week, and the plays will be examined as reflections of moral, social, and political issues throughout the history of the United States. This course is suitable for all students. Students taking this course for credit toward the English major or minor must have taken at least one previous course in English or American literature. No more than one course taken outside the English Department will be counted toward the major or minor in English.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

THE-218 The Multicultural Stage

This course will examine multicultural and intercultural theater and performance both in the United States and around the world. From the shadow puppet theaters (piyingxi) of China to the Black Arts Repertory Theatre of Harlem, live performance has always expressed of the values, cultures, and histories of the diverse racial and ethnic groups in America and throughout the world. The course will be roughly divided into two sections: the first part of the course will focus on how theater has served as a way for members of historically-marginalized racial and ethnic groups to express identity in America. The second part of the course will offer an overview of the state of contemporary global performance.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts,

THE-219 Special Topics in Theater

Topics vary with each scheduled offering. Refer to Student Planning's section information for descriptions of individual offerings, and applicability to distribution requirements.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

THE-221 The Culture of Cosplay

Cosplay is a performance form in which participants build and wear costumes to represent both real and fictional characters. With its origins ranging from Renaissance-era masquerade balls and early science fiction conventions, today cosplay has become a truly global phenomenon. In this course, we will explore the history of cosplay and its cultural variations. Students will also research and design cosplay characters, and then adapt and make their garments by learning the basics of hand sewing, machine sewing, and crafting. The knowledge and skills in this class have a range of potential applications: from studio art and technical theater to fashion design and cultural history.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts

THE-287 Independent Study

THE-288 Independent Study

THE-303 Seminar in Theater

These seminars focus on specific topics in theater and film. They are designed to introduce students to the liberal arts expressed by noteworthy pioneers and practitioners in theater and film. Please refer to the Registrar's page for course description.
Prerequisites: One previous course credit at Wabash in Theater
Credits: 0.5-1

THE-317 Dramatic Theory & Crit

This course will survey the significant ideas that have shaped the way we create and think about theater. The objective of the course is to examine the evolution of dramatic theory and criticism, and trace the influence of this evolution on the development of the theater. Ultimately, the student will form his own critical and aesthetic awareness of theater as a unique and socially significant art form. Among the important works to be read are Aristotle's Poetics, Peter Brook's The Open Door, Eric Bentley's Thinking About the Playwright, Tony Kushner's Thinking About the Longstanding Problems of Virtue and Happiness, Robert Brustein's Reimagining the American Theater, and Dario Fo's The Tricks of the Trade, as well as selected essays from numerous writers including Horace, Ben Jonson, William Butler Yeats, Constantin Stanislavski, Vsevolod Meyerhold, George Bernard Shaw, Bertolt Brecht, Walter Benjamin, Gertrude Stein, Antonin Artaud, Eugene Ionesco, Peter Schumann, Robert Wilson, Athol Fugard, Ariane Mnouchkine, Edward Bond, Augusto Boal, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, and Eugenio Barba. This course is typically offered in the fall semester.
Prerequisites: THE-215, THE-216, THE-217, or THE-218
Credit: 1

THE-318 Performance and Design

Individual students will work with a faculty member to advance and present a performance or design project (scene, lighting, costume, stage properties), and complete assignments related to a Wabash stage production. The course is designed for majors and minors active in performance areas of design, acting, directing, dramaturgy, and playwriting. This course is typically offered in the first and/or second half of each semester.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1

THE-319 Production & Stage Management

Individual students will work with a faculty member and the production staff in the development and stage management of a Wabash stage production. Students will study the entire production process, develop a prompt book and production documentation, and complete all assignments related to the management of rehearsal and performance. This course is typically offered in the first and/or second half of each semester.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1

THE-387 Independent Study

THE-388 Independent Study

THE-487 Independent Study

THE-488 Independent Study

THE-498 Special Topics

"This course is designed as a capstone course for senior theater majors. Students will design and develop a major project in consultation with theater faculty. These projects will receive significant peer review and culminate in public presentations.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1