DRMA& 101 - Intro to Theatre

Credits: 5
Variable Credit Course: No

Lecture Hours: 55
Lab Hours: 0
Worksite/Clinical Hours: 0
Other Hours (LIA/Internships): 0

Course Description: An introduction to the art, craft, and history of the theater. The process of play production will be studied from the points of view of the playwright, actor, director, and designer.

Prerequisite: Grade of 2.0 or higher in ENGL 097, or AESL 098, or appropriate test score.
Distribution Requirements:

Humanities Distribution Requirement

General Education Requirements:

Fulfills Engage General Education Requirement

Meets FQE Requirement: No
Integrative Experience Requirement: No

Student Learning Outcomes

Understand the origins and development of theater in both the entertainment tradition (Europe, USA) and the ritualistic tradition (Asia, African, indigenous populations).
Understand the role of the artist as a reflection of society including the exclusion/inclusion of women and artists of color and the relationships of minority artists with majority culture.
Understand the political nature of the arts and how the theatre has been used to both promote the understanding of and demonize groups based on gender, race, class, and sexual orientation.
Analyze a play as a director, actor, playwright, and designer.
Understand the collaborative nature of theater, both in theory and practice.
Understand the relationship between the theatre and the other arts.
HUMANITIES: Apply skills, terms, concepts, research and/or analysis methods to express ideas within the humanities
HUMANITIES: Analyze and/or interpret creative and communicative expressions of the humanities.

Course Contents

Play construction and genre.
Playwrighting in different eras.
The history of directing, design, and acting theory and styles.
Basic acting techniques.
The origins of theater in ancient ritual.
The development of the theater arts from the Golden Age of Greece to the present.
Theater as a social/political statement.

Instructional Units: 5