UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
THEA 10100 - Introduction to Theatre
Instructor: Various
You must enroll in one lecture and one discussion session
Lectures:
Option 1: (Class 9371)
MoTh 11:30 am-12:20 pm Instructor: Claudia Orenstein
Option 2: (Class 18340)
MoWe 4:00 pm-5:15 pm
Option 3: (Class 18342)
TuFr 10:00 am-11:15 am
Discussion Sessions
Option 1: (Class 9374) Mo 12:30 pm-1:20 pm
Option 2: (Class 9376) Th 1:30 pm-2:20 pm
Option 3: (Class 9378) Th 10:30 am-11:20 am
Option 4: (Class 9379) Th 12:30 pm-1:20 pm
Option 5: (Class 9370) Mo 10:30 am-11:20 am
Option 6: (Class 18335) Mo 10:30 am-11:20 am
Option 7: (Class 18336) Mo 12:30 pm-1:20 pm
Option 8: (Class 18337) Th 10:30 am-11:20 am
Option 9: (Class 18338) Th 12:30 pm-1:20 pm
Option 10: (Class 18339) Mo 1:30 pm-2:20 pm
Prerequisites: none
Satisfies: Flexible Core - Creative Expression Requirement
Description:
We will explore and study elements of Theatre Arts – dramatic literature, performance traditions, acting, directing, playwriting, production, and design -- from the standpoints of both viewer and participant. This course introduces you to the various elements that comprise the art of the theatre. We will look at the different jobs, forms of collaboration,and creative skills that go into creating theatrical performances. We will also consider how to read and analyze dramatic texts for production, and we will explore the different models and forms of theatre that exist around the world, the many ways they communicate with their audiences, the variety of subject they can address, and the various roles theatre plays in different historical and cultural contexts. Offering a broad overview of the art, from both theartist’s and the audience’s perspective, with opportunities for you to try your own hand at creative work,the course intends to make you a more knowledgeable and appreciative theatre-goer and perhaps inspire you to pursue your own creative path.
THEA 21100 - World Theatre 1
Instructor: TBA
TuFr 11:30 AM-12:45 PM
Prerequisites: ENGL 12000 and THEA 10100
Satisfies:
Flexible Core - Creative Expression
Pluralism and Diversity - Group D
Writing Intensive - Writing Intensive
Description:
This course introduces and examines a selection of theatres that originated and developed from antiquity until the early seventeenth century in Egypt, Europe, Asia, and America. Instead of focusing exclusively on what happened, we will concern ourselves primarily with how: How have theatre and performance scholars set about understanding historical theatre events? How do we relate ancient theatrical events to our present situations? How does one conduct historical research? In short, how do we do theatre history? This last question is perhaps the most important since, in this class, we will not so much learn about theatre history, but perform the role of theatre historians, historiographers, and theoreticians.
THEA 21300 - World Theatre 3
Instructor: TBA
MoTh 10:00-11:15 AM
Prerequisites: ENGL 12000 and THEA 10100
Satisfies:
Flexible Core - Creative Expression
Pluralism and Diversity - Group D
Writing Intensive - Writing Intensive
Description:
This course introduces and examines a selection of plays and performance styles from various parts of the world during the period between 1850 and present day. Through a study of dramatic works, critical texts, and historical contexts, we will explore the intersection between the performing arts and the changing world around them. The course will illustrate how global developments inspired theatremakers to respond to the periods of modernism and beyond.
THEA 25100 - Theatre Production
Instructor: Phillip Brown
TuFr 1:30PM-3:20PM
Prerequisites: THEA 10100
Description:
This course will introduce you to the practical aspects of theatre production through a combination of readings, discussions, guests, and hands-on experience. Class meetings will include lectures and discussions, and visits from Department of Theatre faculty and staff. Another important aspect of this class is that we are responsible for making sure that the departmental productions are of the highest artistic quality, are ready on time, and run smoothly.
THEA 26100- Acting II : American Realism
Instructor: Various
Option 1 (Class 8922)
TuFr 1:30PM-3:20PM
Option 2 (Class 8921)
MoTh 4:00PM-5:50PM
Option 3 (Class 18326)
TuFr 11:30AM-1:20PM
Prerequisites: THEA 16100
Description:
Continuation of scene study focusing on text analysis, personalization, objective and action using the world realistic repertory, such as the plays of Chekhov, Ibsen and Strindberg. It is recommended that this course be taken with THEA 26300.
THEA 26300 - Basic Voice and Movement For Performers
Instructor: Benjamin Moore
TuFr 10:00AM - 11:15AM
Prerequisites: none
Description:
This course helps the performer develop authority, range, and freedom in their artistic work. Using the Linklater approach, students learn how to release physical tensions and integrate their body, voice and creativity through exercises. Through text work students will develop their creative imagination and sharpen their articulation. By the end of this course students will have gained more artistic confidence and connection, and leave with a physical and vocal foundation for their rehearsal and performance work.
32100 - Play Analysis
Instructor: TBA
MoTh 11:30AM-12:45PM
Prerequisites: THEA 21100 or THEA 21200 or THEA 21300
Satisfies:
Writing Intensive
Description:
The course aims to develop a set of conceptual and analytical tools for the close reading and interpretation of plays as “blueprints” or “scores” for theatrical performance. The course provides an analytical vocabulary useful both to students with a general interest in theater and to aspiring theater artists. Drawing on a variety of analytical frameworks, the course focuses not only on what a play represents and means but also, more importantly, how it does so: how a dissection of a play’s structure can illuminate the play’s dramatic dynamics and theatrical potential. The course introduces students to a wide range of dramatic genres and forms, their formal principles, and to the embodiment of those principles in particular texts. While providing essential historical context for interpreting those genres and forms, the course provides an “inside-out” approach to the reading of plays.
THEA 36700 - Masks and Mime
Instructor: Mira Felner
MoTh 1:30PM-3:20PM
Prerequisites: None
Satisfies:
Writing Intensive
Description:
Combined with THC 76052. What happens when you cannot use your face or voice to express your thoughts and feelings? How does the body smile, or cry, or scream? Mime and Mask explores the demands placed on the body when we cannot rely on the face or voice. Through practical exercises-- using neutral, character, and commedia masks and the creation of a personal clown?you will work toward full use of your physical expressive potential. This class will be an adventure as you learn to use your body in new ways. Our class will merge with THEA 39780 at the end of the semester to perform the masks they have created.
THEA 39000 - Costume, Fashion & Cultural Studies
Instructor: Deepsikha Chatterjee
MoTh 11:30AM-12:45PM
Prerequisites: ENG 12000 or non-degree
Description:
BThis course enables students to understand fashion and costume (clothes worn by people) using the lens of cultural studies. The course will take students on a journey of non-Western clothing alongside Euro-Western clothing and under major critical movements and concepts such as cultural studies, Orientalism, post-coloniality, subalternity, pan-Africanism, feminism and gender, material culture, thing theory, visual dramaturgy, to reveal how clothes and costumes are shaped by such forces. Readings in theatre and performance, anthropology, sociology, film and media, history (and microhistories such as fashion history and theatre history) and other areas will help students develop an understanding of the global aesthetics of the body on stage, on screen and on the street.
THEA 39712 - Intercultural Performance
Instructor: Dong Shin Chang
Mo 5:30PM-7:30PM
Prerequisites: Department permission required
Description:
Combined with THC 76079. This course examines a selection of exemplary cases of intercultural performance in order to explore its various conceptions and stage representations. The aim is to inspire both critical and creative interest in envisioning and making intercultural performance. The cases include works by modern and contemporary theatre/performance practitioners around the world, for example: Julie Taymor's The Lion King, global productions of Shakespeare, and migrant theatre. They demonstrate the range and diversity of intercultural performance and will be studied in relation to their historical, artistic, and sociopolitical contexts. Department permission required; please contact Professor Dongshin Chang (dongshin.chang@hunter.cuny.edu).
THEA 39780 - Mask Design in Global South
Instructor: Deepsikha Chatterjee
MoTh 1:30PM-3:20PM
Prerequisites: Department permission required
Description:
Masks: Are they gods, demons, animals, or curiosities? Are they based in religion, ritual, or community practice? How do we understand them beyond our Western/Global North lens? This course will take students on a global journey of history and practice focused on masks. Readings will include case studies from India, Nepal, Indonesia, Japan, Yoruba traditions of Africa, indigenous practices in Mexico and the Americas, commedia from early modern Europe and others. Students will create masks in class in their practical work. The class will collaborate with THEA 36700 and co create a shared understanding of masked performance (that will aspire towards a mini, in-class production). Visual elements is a prerequisite/corequisite or instructor permission required. Counts as a 300 level course and design course and design course.For more information and inquiry, please contact Professor Deepsikha Chatterjee (dchatter@hunter.cuny.edu).
THEA 16100 - Acting I : Basic Acting Techniques
Instructors: Various
Schedule Options:
MoTh 11:30AM -12:45PM MoTh 10:00AM -11:15AM
MoTh 1:00PM - 2:15PM TuFr 11:30AM -12:45PM
MoTh 2:30PM - 3:45PM TuFr 01:00PM -2:15PM
TuTh 5:30 PM- 6:45 PM TuFr 2:30 PM - 3:45PM
Prerequisites: none
Description:
This will be an introductory course that explores the fundamental elements of acting. The mission of this course is to awaken the emotional, imaginative, and transformative powers in each of us. We will explore what it means to really be a storyteller through plays, recommended texts, improvisation, scene work, and monologues. Each student will explore harnessing their own personal experiences (sense memory), to help inform their acting. Finally, this course will enhance the actor's ability to channel "self" (body, mind, and experience), through one’s acting in a TRUTHFUL and believable way; pushing each student’s willingness, readiness, and resilience to transform the "self" beyond its pre-established boundaries.
THEA 21200 - World Theatre 2
Instructor: Jonathan Kalb
MoTh 4:00 PM-5:15 PM
Prerequisites: ENGL 12000 and THEA 10100
Satisfies:
Flexible Core - Creative Expression
Pluralism and Diversity - Group D
Writing Intensive - Writing Intensive
Description:
This course introduces and examines a selection of theatres around the globe that originated and developed between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. We will read writings that will enable us to explore the histories and textual and performing characteristics of the examined theatres and their relations to the immediate cultural, social, political, and economic contexts. The goals are to acquire better understanding of the theatres and establish models of study that may be applied to examining other examples.
THEA 24300 - Theatre for Young Audience: Lab
Instructor: Louisa Pregerson
TuFr 11:30AM-1:20PM
Prerequisites: None
Description:
This course is a laboratory exploration of Theatre for Young Audiences-"TYA". The class will collaboratively embark on the process of performing a TYA work on the Hunter College Campus and in a school environment. By rehearsing and participating in all aspects of creating a mobile theatre project, students will have opportunities to learn immersive engagement and storytelling. Rehearsals and performances will include young audience feedback sessions to gain greater insight into the nature of the young audience. All students should expect to fully participate in class sessions and additional rehearsals (on Wednesdays, 9-11 a.m., later in the semester), as well as participate in the company collaboration formed with THEA 25351 Collaboration in Design. Not all students will be required to perform in the final presentation- but all students will have a significant role in this project. The class will require the reading and exploration of texts relevant to an understanding of TYA, meet professionals in the field, and attend live performances of TYA.
Additional hours: Wednesdays, 9-11 a.m., to be scheduled later in the semester.
For information and inquiry: Professor Louisa Thompson (lthomp@hunter.cuny.edu).
THEA 25351 - Collaboration in Design
Instructor: Phillip Brown
TuFr 11:30AM-1:20PM
Prerequisites: None
Satisfies:
Pluralism and Diversity - Group B
Description:
Combined with THEA 39764. This course will explore the collaborative and creative process between designers (sets, costumes, lights, sound, etc.), and also between designers and other members of the creative team (directors, choreographers, playwrights, etc.). Students with interest in any areas of theatrical design or any area of the creative team are encouraged to register. Students will have the opportunity to explore the collaborative process of theater making from a variety of different design roles. The course will use theoretical class projects, utilize student and departmental productions as case studies, and culminate with a full and realized design process connected to the performance originating in THEA 24300 Theatre for Young Audience: Laboratory.
For information and inquiry: Professor Burke Brown (phillip.brown@hunter.cuny.edu).
THEA 26200 - Acting III : World Realism
Instructor: TBA
MoTh 4:00PM-5:50PM
Prerequisites: THEA 26100
Description:
Continuation of scene study focusing on text analysis, personalization, objective and action using the world realistic repertory, such as the plays of Chekhov, Ibsen and Strindberg. It is recommended that this course be taken with THEA 26300.
THEA 28100 - Visual Elements of Theatre
Instructor: Louisa Pregerson
TuFr 10:00AM-11:15AM
Prerequisites: none
Description:
Explore the visual storytelling methods, techniques, and tools available to support the playwright’s narrative and the director’s concept for a theatrical production. We will examine the evolution and styles of the stage picture, theatre architecture, music halls and motion picture palaces. We will also address the advent of new visual media, such as digital projection, animation, and its impact on the contemporary audience experience. The class will also attend Broadway Theatre performances.
THEA 32400-Adaptation in Theatre and Film
Instructor: Jonathan Kalb
Th 5:30PM-7:30PM
Prerequisites: THEA 32100
Satisfies:
Writing Intensive
Description:
Combined with THC 72579 This class considers selected examples of plays and other non-film texts that have been adapted into feature films. Examples will include adaptations of Shakespeare, Chekhov, Joyce, and Mamet. We will read the plays and other sources adapted by the filmmakers, and then watch, study and discuss the films and sources. In addition to primary sources, our explorations will also include critical and theoretical material as we consider a wide range of problems related to transmuting art conceived for one medium into another medium.
THEA 37700- Playwriting 2
Instructor: Davis Alianiello
TuFr 4:00PM-5:15PM
Prerequisites: THEA 37600
Description:
Continued study of playwriting techniques, with emphasis on the structure and form of the full length play. Students will learn the fundamental tools that a playwright employs, culminating in a final one-act play. We will be reading & discussing plays and completing writing exercises to help open students to the world of exploration and experimentation that playwriting should be. We will be focusing on elements such as patterns, rhythm, environment, internal structure/ rules, and more – and then playing around with them.
THEA 38850 - Theatre Project: Black Theatre
Instructor: Adrienne Williams
TuFr 3:30PM-5:20PM
Prerequisites: THEA 16100, THEA 26100 or THEA 39784
Description:
Additional hours to be arranged. This class is an acting class that will explore scenes and monologues from BIPOC playwrights such as: Lynn Nottage, Daniel Gurira, Dominique Morriseau, August Wilson, Braden Jacob -Jenkins, Tarel Alvin McCraney, Kia Corthron, Pearl Cleage, Ngozi Anyanwu, Cheryl West, Kristen Greenridge, Katori Hall, Lydia R Diamond, Qui Nuygen, Larissa Fasthorse, Diana Son, Valina Hasu Houston, Young Jean Lee, Quiara Alegria Hudes, Rajiv Josephs, Julia Cho, etc. We will focus on research, preparation, bold action choices, and moment to moment actor techniques. The class will conclude with an audience invited showcase. Prerequisites: 1. THEA 161; 2. THEA 261 or THEA 39784 If you have not taken these classes, please contact Prof Williams (awi0005@hunter.cuny.edu) for permission.
THEA 39711 - Sound Design
Instructor: TBA
We 9:00AM-11:45AM
Prerequisites: THEA 28100
Description:
This course will examine the practical, theoretical and aesthetic bases of theatrical sound design. It is an introductory course meant for all students of theatre, but will require the participants to gain a basic competence in the technologies of sound design in the pursuit of their creative lab work. The goal of the course is to give the participants the critical, auditory and technical tools necessary to create their own soundscapes and conceptual designs. Although the focus will be on sound for plays, sound for musicals will also be integrated into the discussions and work.
THEA 39764 - Collab in Design
Instructor: Phillip Brown
TuFr 11:30AM-1:20 PM
Prerequisites: none
Description:
Combined with THEA 25351. This course will explore the collaborative and creative process between designers (sets, costumes, lights, sound, etc.), and also between designers and other members of the creative team (directors, choreographers, playwrights, etc.). Students with interest in any areas of theatrical design or any area of the creative team are encouraged to register. Students will have the opportunity to explore the collaborative process of theater making from a variety of different design roles. The course will use theoretical class projects, utilize student and departmental productions as case studies, and culminate with a full and realized design process connected to the performance originating in THEA 24300 Theatre for Young Audience: Laboratory. For information and inquiry: Professor Burke Brown (phillip.brown@hunter.cuny.edu).
THEA 39779 - Musical Theatre Showcase
Instructor: Micah Eljiah Caldwell
MoTh 4:00PM-5:50PM
Prerequisites: Department permission required
Description:
Telling stories through song! To obtain a sense of ease with the voice across a multitude of styles of music. An exemplary application of material across styles/genres. A training to be a professional artist.
GRADUATE COURSES
THC 72579 - Adaption: Theatre and Film
Instructor: Jonathan Kalb
Th 5:30PM-7:30PM
Prerequisites: None
Satisfies:
Writing Intensive
Description:
Combined with THEA 32400. This class considers selected examples of plays and other non-film texts that have been adapted into feature films. Examples will include adaptations of Shakespeare, Chekhov, Joyce, and Mamet. We will read the plays and other sources adapted by the filmmakers, and then watch, study and discuss the films and sources. In addition to primary sources, our explorations will also include critical and theoretical material as we consider a wide range of problems related to transmuting art conceived for one medium into another medium.
THC 76079 - Intercultural Performance
Instructor: Dong Shin Chang
Mo 5:30PM-7:30PM
Prerequisites: Department permission required
Description:
Combined with THEA 39712. This course examines a selection of exemplary cases of intercultural performance in order to explore its various conceptions and stage representations. The aim is to inspire both critical and creative interest in envisioning and making intercultural performance. The cases include works by modern and contemporary theatre/performance practitioners around the world, for example: Julie Taymor's The Lion King, global productions of Shakespeare, and migrant theatre. They demonstrate the range and diversity of intercultural performance and will be studied in relation to their historical, artistic, and sociopolitical contexts. Department permission required; please contact Professor Dongshin Chang (dongshin.chang@hunter.cuny.edu).
THC 73200 - MFA Playwriting II
Instructor: TBA
Tu 5:30PM-8:30PM
Prerequisites: none
Description:
This course is designed for the experienced playwright. Students will complete a new full-length play including one rewrite with attention to the fundamentals of structure as well as giving freedom to their individual voices and the process of rewriting. Forms of Drama will be discussed. Staged readings at completion of the projects.
THC 76052 - Stud:Mime & Masks
Instructor: Mira Felner
MoTh 1:30PM-3:20PM
Prerequisites: None
Description:
Combined with THEA 36700. What happens when you cannot use your face or voice to express your thoughts and feelings? How does the body smile, or cry, or scream? Mime and Mask explores the demands placed on the body when we cannot rely on the face or voice. Through practical exercises-- using neutral, character, and commedia masks and the creation of a personal clown?you will work toward full use of your physical expressive potential. This class will be an adventure as you learn to use your body in new ways. Our class will merge with THEA 39780 at the end of the semester to perform the masks they have created.
