![[Theater and Rhetoric]](THEA.hdr.gif)
The material on this page is from the 2000-01 catalog and may be out of date. Please check the current year's catalog for current information.
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Professors: Andrucki, Chair, and Kuritz; Associate Professor: Nero (on leave, winter semester and Short Term); Assistant Professors: Seeling and Kelley-Romano; Ms. Plavin, Mr. Pope.L (on leave, winter semester and Short Term), Mr. Williamson, Ms. Vecsey, and Ms. Heller TheaterThe major in theater combines the study of dramatic literature from the Greeks to the present with work in acting, directing, dance, and design. Students thus acquire skills in production and performance while learning the history of one of the world's major forms of artistic expression. Majors are prepared for graduate work in the humanities or for further professional training in theater. The theater major is also a valuable asset for a wide variety of careers — such as business, law, or teaching — requiring collaborative effort, public poise, imagination, and a broad background in the liberal arts. In addition to its academic work, the department annually produces more than a dozen plays, dance concerts, and other performance events in its three theatres. These require the participation of large numbers of students, both majors and nonmajors. All members of the community are invited to join in the creation of these events. Majors in theater and rhetoric who are interested in secondary-school teaching should consult the Department of Education about requirements for teacher certification. Major Requirements. The theater major is required to complete the following:
Theater majors must also earn five production credits by the end of the senior year. Students considering a major should consult with the department chair early in their careers for information on fulfilling this requirement. In addition, the theater major must enroll in one semester of dance or in a physical education activity course approved by the Department of Theater and Rhetoric. Pass/Fail Grading Option. There are no restrictions on the use of the pass/fail option within the major. Secondary Concentration in Theater. The secondary concentration in theater consists of six courses or units and 2.5 production credits. Students interested in pursing a secondary concentration should consult with the department chair. Secondary Concentration in Dance. The dance program emphasizes original, creative work in dance, integrated into the mainstream of a liberal-arts education. The secondary concentration in dance consists of six courses or units and other production credits. The following courses or an equivalent are required: Theater 250. Twentieth-Century American Dance I. One course from among: Theater 227. Seventies and Eighties Avant-Garde Theater and Performance Art. Students are expected to take modern technique and/or ballet twice a week and perform in two productions a year for a minimum of two years. In addition, 2.5 production credits are required. A summer at the three-week Bates Dance Festival is recommended, but not required. Pass/Fail Grading Option. There are no restrictions on the use of the pass/fail option within the secondary concentrations. General Education. Any one theater Short Term unit may serve as an option for the fifth humanities course. Courses101. An Introduction to Drama. A study of the elements of drama and performance focusing on selected periods in theater history: fifth-century Athens, England in the Renaissance, France in the seventeenth century, Russia and Scandinavia in the nineteenth century, and postmodern America. Readings may include works by Sophocles, Aristotle, Shakespeare, Molière, Ibsen, Chekhov, Brecht, Fornes, and S.-L. Parks. Topics for discussion include styles of acting and performance, the varieties of theater space, the principles of scene design, the function of the director, and the relationships between stage and society. Attendance at films and performances supplements work in class. M. Andrucki. 102. An Introduction to Film. A survey of film style and technique, including an overview of film history from the silent era to the present. Enrollment limited to 70. M. Andrucki. 110. Women in Film. This course investigates the depiction of women in film from the silent era to the present. Using feminist film criticism as a lens, it examines the impact of these film images on our society. The history of women filmmakers is also surveyed, highlighting the major contributors in the field. Enrollment limited to 50. E. Seeling. 130. Introduction to Design. An approach to the principles and elements of design, offering instruction in drawing, simple drafting, sculpture, painting, and costume and mask construction. Accompanying research in world styles of visual expression informs the exploration of line, mass, shape, time, space, light, and color. Research topics may include African festival, Islamic design, Asian dance-drama, European carnival, and Russian fairground theater. The goal of the course is to "tease out" a fresh expression using the simplest of elements. No previous artistic or theatrical training is required. Enrollment limited to 14. E. Seeling. 132. Stagecraft. This course provides an introduction to the technical skills and techniques used to stage theater productions. Students are introduced to theater terminology, stage lighting equipment, scenery and property construction, scene painting, sound engineering, and theater management. Crew work on department productions is required. Enrollment limited to 25. J. Williamson. 200. The Classical Stage. According to the mad Frenchman Artaud, classical drama was the original "theater of cruelty." This course studies the aristocratic violence and punitive laughter of about a dozen tragedies and comedies from Aeschylus to Racine. Correlated readings in the theater history and dramatic theory of classical Greece and Rome, Elizabethan England, and seventeenth-century France establish the social and intellectual context for the most challenging and disturbing body of drama in the Western tradition. Required of all majors. Not open to students who have received credit for Theater 201. Open to first-year students. M. Andrucki. 210. The Revolutionary Stage. From 1700 to 1900, Europe was transformed by the revolutionary currents of radical politics, industrialization, and Romantic individualism. This course studies the impact of these forces on the central dramatic ideas of character and action in plays by (among others) Beaumarchais, Goethe, Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov, and Shaw. Correlated readings in theater history and dramatic theory establish the cultural and intellectual context for these subversive playwrights. Required of all majors. Open to first-year students. P. Kuritz. 220. The Modern Stage. A visionary modern theorist of the stage wrote from his asylum cell, "We are not free and the sky can still fall on our heads. And the theater has been created to teach us that first of all." By examining the mirrors and masks of Pirandello and Genet, the incendiary rallying cries of Kaiser and Brecht, the erotic and violent silence of Pinter and Handke, and the surreal iconoclasms of Apollinaire and Shepard, this course surveys the ways the contemporary theater seeks to elucidate the baffling condition of humanity. Correlated readings in theater history and dramatic theory explore a cultural context that proclaims "ALL WRITING IS GARBAGE." Required of all majors. Open to first-year students. M. Andrucki. 224. Ancient Theater: Myths, Masks and Puppets. Students participate in a research and design project focused on an ancient Greek play. The course begins with readings about various traditions of puppetry and masks and their use in theater and religious ritual. The focus then shifts to myths and masks in ancient Greek theater and ritual. In particular, students explore how the first Greek tragedian, Aeschylus, used and modified ritual performances for the Greek stage. Students then revise and abridge the script of Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, designing and manufacturing puppets and masks in preparation for a production of the play during the Short Term. Students in this course may, but are not required to, register for the Short Term unit. Enrollment is limited to 28. This course is the same as Classical and Medieval Studies 224. L. Maurizio, E. Seeling. 225. The Grain of the Black Image. A study of the African American figure as represented in images from theater, movies, and television. Using the metaphor of "the grain" reduced by Roland Barthes and Regis Durand to "the articulation of the body . . . not that of language," — this course explores issues of progress, freedom, and improvement, as well as content versus discontent. Students read critical literature and the major classical plays by Hansberry, Baraka, Lonnie Elder, and others, and view recent movies and television shows. Open to first-year students. W. Pope.L. 226. Minority Images in Hollywood Film. African American scholar Carolyn F. Gerald has remarked, "Image means self-concept and whoever is in control of our image has the power to shape our reality." This course investigates the ideological, social, and theoretical issues important in the representation of racial and ethnic minorities in American film from the Depression to the civil rights movement. It examines the genres, stereotypes, and gender formations associated with film images of Native Americans, Asian Americans, and African Americans. Open to first-year students. W. Pope.L. 227. Seventies and Eighties Avant-Garde Theater and Performance Art. This course is a hands-on poetic exploration of the binary territories of "language as object" and "subject as language" as they have been articulated in the work of contemporary performance-theater artists from Robert Wilson, Richard Foreman, and Fluxus to Holly Hughes, Karen Finley, and Jim Neu. Some background in performance is recommended. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 12. Written permission of the instructor is required. W. Pope.L. 228. Puppet Theater Workshop Production I. This course provides students an opportunity to participate in the development and production of a new play for puppet theater. Modified Bunraku, rod, and shadow puppets, as well as object animation, may be used in conjunction with live actors as dictated by the script. Participants help develop the script and learn puppet history, design, construction, and manipulation. The course culminates in workshop presentations of the play, with students performing and managing the technical needs of the production. Acting experience is strongly recommended. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 14. E. Seeling. 231. Scene Design. A study of the dynamic use of stage space, from Renaissance masters to twentieth-century modernists, offering instruction in scale drawing, drafting, scene painting, model-making, and set construction. Students may use scheduled departmental productions as laboratories in their progress from play analysis and research to the realization of the design. This course focuses on the use of visual imagery to articulate textual idea, and is recommended for students with an interest in any area of drama and performance. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): Theater 101 or 130. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 14. Written permission of the instructor is required. E. Seeling. 232. Lighting Design: The Aesthetics of Light. This course provides an introduction to the unique aesthetic and technical decisions a lighting designer must make. Students examine the modern lighting aesthetic by studying popular culture and learning to translate these images to the stage. Students also are required to serve on a lighting crew for one of the department's productions and design part of the spring dance concert. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): one of the following: Theater 101, 130, or 132. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 14. Written permission of the instructor is required. J. Williamson. 233. Costume Design. An approach to costume design offering instruction in drawing the figure, color rendering, script and character analysis, and the various skills of costume construction from pattern-making to tailoring. Work in fabric printing, mask-making, and makeup is available to students with a special interest in these areas. Research in period styles informs the exploration of the design elements of line, shape, and color. The goals of the course are skill in the craft and the flair of creation. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): Theater 101 or 130. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 14. E. Seeling. 240. Playwriting. After reviewing the fundamentals of dramatic structure and characterization, students write one full-length or two one-act plays. Recommended background: two courses in theater or in dramatic literature. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 15. Written permission of the instructor is required. W. Pope.L. 241. Spanish Theater of the Golden Age. This course focuses on the study of Spanish classical drama of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Reading and critical analysis of selected dramatic works by Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, Calderón de la Barca, Miguel de Cervantes, Ana Caro and María de Zayas, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, among others offer an insight into the totality of the dramatic spectacle of Spanish society during its imperial century. Conducted in Spanish. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): Spanish 215 or 216. This course is the same as Spanish 241. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 20. B. Fra-Molinero. 242. Screenwriting. This course presents the fundamentals of screenwriting: plot, act structure, character development, conflict, dialogue, and format. Lectures, writing exercises, and analyses of contemporary films, such as Happiness, American Beauty, and Sleepless in Seattle, are used to provide the student with the tools to create a short screenplay. Prerequisite(s): Theater 240. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 12. Written permission of the instructor is required. W. Pope.L. 250. Twentieth-Century American Dance I. Dance activity in America presents an overwhelming array of talent and diversity ranging from turn-of-the-century artists such as Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis, through such mid-century innovators as Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey, to Merce Cunningham and the Judson Dance Theater in the sixties. In addition to these artists, the course studies dances from musicals and ballets by choreographers such as George Balanchine and Agnes De Mille. Most works are seen on video, but students also attend live performances. Open to first-year students. M. Plavin. 251. Dance Composition. Through movement experiences, discussions, and readings, this course explores a variety of approaches to the creative process, such as improvisation; short compositional studies; and problem-solving techniques involving imagery, art, and music. Emphasis is on creation and organization of these movement materials into a coherent and communicative whole. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 15. M. Plavin. 252. Twentieth-Century American Dance II. This course focuses on a variety of contemporary questions in dance, including the following: What is the "body image" that grows out of our culture's view of the body? How do cultural diversity and cultural blending influence contemporary dance? How are gender roles and sexuality finding expression through movement? Discussions center on the ways choreographers and dancers confront these issues. Most works are seen on video, but students also attend live performances. Open to first-year students. M. Plavin. 253A. Dance Repertory Performance I. Modern dance consists of a plethora of styles with each choreographer's process and technique expressed through his or her work. In this course, students experience three points of view with three different guest artists as each guest artist sets a piece on them during an intensive short-term residency. Students perform each piece informally at the end of each residency and in a formal setting on the stage with costumes and lights at the end of the semester. Recommended background: previous dance experience. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 20. Written permission of the instructor is required. M. Plavin. 253B. Dance Repertory Performance II. Continued study of dance performance with artists in residence. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 20. Written permission of the instructor is required. M. Plavin. 261. Beginning Acting. This course introduces the student to the physiological processes involved in creative acting. The student studies the Stanislavski approach to the analysis of realistic and naturalistic drama. Exercises leading to relaxation, concentration, and imagination are included in an improvisational context. Studies in motivation, sense perception, and emotion-memory recall lead the student to beginning work on scene performance. Not open to senior majors in theater. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 16. P. Kuritz. 262. Acting for the Classical Repertory. Students extend their basic acting technique to explore the classical dramas of the world's stages. The unique language of the dramas — verse — is explored as both an avenue to character study and to vocal and physical representation. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): Theater 261. Open to first-year students. Written permission of the instructor is required. Staff. 263. Voice and Speech. Students examine the nature and working of the human voice. Students explore ways to develop the voice's potential for expressive communication with exercises and the analysis of breathing, vocal relaxation, pitch, resonance, articulation, audibility, dialect, and text performance. Recommended background: one course in acting or performance or public speaking. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 20. K. Vecsey. 264. Voice and Gender. This course focuses on the gender-related differences in voice from the beginning of language acquisition through learning and development of a human voice. A variety of interdisciplinary perspectives are examined according to the different determinants of voice production — physiological, psychological, social interactional, and cultural. Students explore how race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, and age affect vocal expression. Students also analyze "famous" and "attractive" human voices and discuss what makes them so. Recommended background: Theater 263 and/or Women's Studies 100. This course is the same as Women's Studies 264. Open to first-year students. K. Vecsey. 360. Independent Study. Independent work in such areas as stage management, directing, and speech. Departmental approval is required. Students are limited to one independent study per semester. Staff. 363. Playing Comedy. Students extend their basic acting technique to explore the peculiar nature of comic performance on stage. Concepts of normalcy, incongruity, ignorance, power, and situation are applied to comic traits, invention, and diction. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): Theater 261. Open to first-year students. Written permission of the instructor is required. P. Kuritz. 365. Special Topics. Offered occasionally in selected subjects. Staff. 370. Directing. An introduction to the art of directing, with an emphasis on creative and aesthetic problems and their solutions. Included is an examination of the director's relationship to the text, the design staff, and the actor. The approach is both theoretical and practical, involving readings, rehearsal observation, and the directing of scenes and short plays. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): Theater 261. Open to first-year students. Written permission of the instructor is required. P. Kuritz. 457, 458. Senior Thesis. By departmental invitation only. A substantial academic or artistic project. Students register for Theater 457 in the fall semester and for Theater 458 in the winter semester. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both Theater 457 and 458. Staff. Short Term Unitss10. Bates Theater Abroad. Bates students produce a play in a theater outside the United States. Enrollment limited to 15. Written permission of the instructor is required. Staff. s11. Theater in London. A study of contemporary theater production in London. For four weeks students attend a variety of plays and performance events from the classical to the avant-garde. Concurrently, students read a number of important modern critical texts on the nature and purpose of the stage, including works by Brecht, Beckett, Artaud, and Peter Brook. During the last week, students return to Bates and write a critical essay about eight of the plays attended in London, applying the ideas encountered in theoretical readings to the performances seen on stage. Recommended background: one course in theater or dramatic literature. Enrollment limited to 15. Written permission of the instructor is required. M. Andrucki. s20. Theater Production and the Ancient Stage. Experienced theater students work under faculty supervision and in leadership positions with other students in the production of an ancient Greek play. Written permission of the instructor is required. This unit is the same as Classical and Medieval Studies s20. L. Maurizio, E. Seeling. New unit for short term 2001. s21. Oral Interpretation. In this unit, students learn the artistic process of studying literature through performance and sharing that study with an audience. Students analyze the language of prose fiction, drama, poetry, and minor literary forms; develop rehearsal strategies for performance; and perform the words for an audience. The unit culminates in a work of chamber or readers theater. Enrollment is limited to 20. P. Kuritz. s24. Advanced Performance-Theater. Within a festival/workshop format and working under the supervision of faculty and visiting artists, students explore and extend their knowledge of making performance-theater. The unit includes physical work and studio games; reading/discussion of cutting edge performance-theater practice and theory; creating, performing, and producing performance-theater works; and master classes and performances by visiting artists. There is a materials fee of $25.00 per student. Recommended background: Theater 227. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 24. Written permission of the instructor is required. E. Seeling, W. Pope.L. s25. Ballroom Dance: Past to Present. From 1875 through the turn of the century, social dancers in America rebelled against proper dance and the court dances of Northern Europe and Great Britain. This gave a new look to dance, introducing exotic, playful music and a new attitude of what social dance in America could be. In this unit, students learn the movements and study the cultures and histories of dances that were inspired by this new music. This unit begins with dances from the early 1900s and continues through ragtime, the swing era, the Latin invasion, jitterbug, and disco, to the present day of dancesport. The unit culminates with three performances based on the swing, the tango, and Latin American rhythms. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 30. M. Plavin. s26. Theater Production Workshop I. Working under faculty supervision and with visiting professional artists, student actors, directors, designers, and technicians undertake the tasks necessary to produce a play. Readings and discussions explore various ways of understanding and producing a text. Written permission of the instructor is required. P. Kuritz. s28. The Living Stage: Theater in New York. A study of contemporary theater focusing on the experience of live performance in New York City. An initial on-campus period of reading and discussion of relevant modern texts precedes about two weeks of intensive theatergoing in New York. The unit surveys works from the Broadway mainstream to the farthest reaches of "off-off-Broadway," and includes performances by artists and ensembles representing the enormous variety of cultural perspectives available in America's largest city. Enrollment limited to 15. Written permission of the instructor is required. M. Andrucki. s29A. Dance as a Collaborative Art I. The integration of dance and other arts for the purpose of producing a forty-minute piece that is performed mostly for elementary-school children. The productions, usually choreographed by guest artists during the first two weeks of Short Term, encompass a wide variety of topics from dances of different cultures to stories that are movement-based. Students participate in all aspects of the dance production necessary to tour for a three-week period of teaching and performing in schools throughout Maine. Open to dancers and nondancers. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 25. M. Plavin. s29B. Dance as a Collaborative Art II. Continued study of the integration of dance and other arts for performance. Prerequisite(s): Theater s29A. Enrollment limited to 25. M. Plavin. s29C. Dance as a Collaborative Art III. Further study of the integration of dance and other arts for performance. Prerequisite(s): Theater s29B. Enrollment limited to 25. M. Plavin. s30. Theater Production Workshop II. Experienced students, working under faculty supervision and occasionally with visiting professional artists, produce a play under strict time, financial, and material constraints. Readings and discussions explore various ways of understanding and producing a play. Prerequisite(s): Theater s26. Written permission of the instructor is required. P. Kuritz. s32. Theater Production Workshop III. The most experienced theater students work under faculty supervision and in leadership positions with other students in the production of a play. Readings and discussions challenge students' notions about acting, directing, and design for the theater. Prerequisite(s): Theater s26 and s30. Written permission of the instructor is required. P. Kuritz. s36. Work-Study Internship in Theater. Qualified students participate in the artistic and educational programs of professional theater companies. Each intern is supervised by a staff member. By specific arrangement and departmental approval only. Recommended background: two courses in acting, directing, design, or playwriting; participation in departmental productions. Open to first-year students. Written permission of the instructor is required. Staff. s50. Individual Research. Registration in this unit is granted by the department only after the student has submitted a written proposal for a full-time research project to be completed during the Short Term and has secured the sponsorship of a member of the department to direct the study and evaluate results. Students are limited to one individual research unit. Staff. Rhetoric |
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