Students can pursue a B.A. degree in dramatic art, an M.F.A. covering a full spectrum of performance practices including acting, directing, choreography and design, and a Ph.D. in performance studies. Each year the Department of Theatre and Dance presents a vibrant mix of performance styles in our season and ITDP productions, in which students participate.
Students can pursue a B.A. degree in dramatic art, an M.F.A.
covering a full spectrum of performance practices including
acting, directing, choreography and design, and a Ph.D. in
performance studies. Each year the Department of Theatre and
Dance presents a vibrant mix of performance styles in
our season and ITDP productions, in which
students participate.
Teaching Philosophy: Our teaching and learning
engages big questions through practical and immediate experience
in stage productions.Students work creatively through a range of
knowledge in classrooms and studios: interpretation and
communication using voice, body and gesture, spatial and material
visualization and implementation, sociocultural media, and
academic exploration and argumentation.
Productions: For complete information about the
current season’s productions see our Season page.
The Department of Theatre and Dance advances the knowledge of the practice, history and the contemporary range of the diverse repertoire of drama and choreography in its Dramatic Art major.
Students will gain understanding of both creative power and different kinds of knowledge, interpretation and communication using voice, body and gesture, spatial and material visualization and implementation, sociocultural media, and academic exploration and argumentation.
The Department of Theatre and Dance advances the knowledge of the
practice, history and the contemporary range of the diverse
repertoire of drama and choreography in its Dramatic Art major.
Students will gain understanding of both creative power and
different kinds of knowledge, interpretation and communication
using voice, body and gesture, spatial and material visualization
and implementation, sociocultural media, and academic exploration
and argumentation.
Assessment is by productions, projects and essays applicable to
the different skills areas in accordance with departmental
rubric.
Knowledge
Dramatic Art teaches students practice-based knowledge, as well
as historical, theoretical and critical strategies for
integrating practice-based knowledge into the social, cultural
and political discussions of the contemporary world. This
includes the experience of creative insight that generates new
knowledge, new ways of talking about the ways we know, and what
we know that is beyond conventional boundaries and can address
issues of diversity and globalization.
Interpretation
Dramatic Art teaches students to interpret a wide variety of
texts, from the scripts and scores of drama and choreography to
the fundamentals of set, lighting and costume design and
construction, the printed and digitized media of contemporary
life, and the academic writings of history, theory and criticism.
This wide range of interpretive skills develops exceptionally
detailed comprehension.
Communication
Dramatic Art trains students in communication through informed
practices built up over centuries. These practices have a history
of strategies and methods for understanding and developing ways
for different media (visual, oral, embodied, graphic, and
increasingly digital literacies) to impact on society, politics
and community. Students are expected to be able to gain the
technical skills, the production strategies, and the evaluative
methods for diverse communicative media.
Skills
The skills outcomes in Dramatic Art are inherently
interdisciplinary and collective, training students in
communication, collaboration, problem-solving, negotiation, time-
and material-management, and project completion.
Students will acquire culturally diverse academic and critical
skills in the history and theory of Dramatic Art, including some
performance practice, as they contribute to the Arts and
Humanities. (DRA001, 014, 020, 142, 150, 154, 155, 156an, 156bn,
156cn, 156d, 158, 159, 160a)
Students will acquire skills in creative technical craft,
interpretation and research, analysis, application, synthesis and
evaluation of a range of elements (including budgets and
stage/production management: DRA026, 126, 180c, 180d) related to
the production and reception of Dramatic Art (including courses)
in:
Acting: recognition of the significance of
psychophysical integration (i.e. breath control, physical
relaxation, imaginative connection and somatic awareness) in
developing the actor’s instrument; to interpret a diversity of
world views through the embodied enactment of a range of pieces
from the ancient and classical canon to 21st-century
performance texts; to evolve transferable skills (e.g.
presentation skills, communication skills, collaboration,
empathy, appreciation of cultural and social diversity, etc.);
to analyse and research an understanding of acting and
aesthetics across cultures and eras; to devise and perform
original dramatic works; to evaluate and assess individual work
and that of one’s peers through reflective journals, peer-group
discussion and instructor-led feedback. (DRA021a, 120, 121
a/b/c, 122 a/b/c/, 135, 141, 143, 144, 174, 180a)
Design: ability to create visual ideas and
carry out research into and interpretation of the media related
to scenic, lighting and costume design; see work from the page
into reality; work with technical shops; communicate with
actors/ dancers/ directors/ choreographers; and realize
concepts in production. (DRA024, 025, 124a, 124b, 124c, 124d,
124e, 130, 180b, 180e, 180f, 180g)
Dance: ability to create and embody texts
(scored, improvised, devised); undertake research into and
interpret and analyze background materials; communicate
creatively with choreographers and other dancers; and work
constructively with designers and other production staff.
(DRA140a, 145, 146a, 146b)
Directing: ability to creatively realize the
staging of a text (scripted, scored, devised); undertake
research into and analysis of preparatory materials; synthesize
the various elements of design, performer, production, into a
coherent whole; work to final production at a certain time;
engender and facilitate dialogues needed to make production
happen; understand audience desires, needs and challenges; and
communicate to the larger public. (DRA127a, 127b, 180c)
Scriptwriting/Dramaturgy: awareness of
dramatic structure and presentation in various historical,
cultural, and aesthetic contexts. Ability to recognize formal
elements and the relationship between language and form in
crafting and evaluating writing for performance. Ability to
critically analyze various elements of performance, both
written documents and staged, including awareness of the use of
space, language, and structure to generate meaning.
The Peter J. Shields Library, with more than 2.6 million volumes,
is ranked among the top research libraries in the country. The
special collections in the performing arts—especially in
experimental theatre—are impressive, comprising more than 650
linear feet of materials. Holdings range from the Ballantine
papers, chronicling the development of the Provincetown Players,
to the archives of the Living Theatre, which from the
mid-twentieth century advocated anarchy and radical social
change.