THR 101 Introduction to Theater Making (also ) Fall/Spring
LA
Introduction to Theatre Making is a working laboratory, which gives students hands-on experience with theatre's fundamental building blocks - writing, design, acting, directing, and producing. Throughout the semester, students read, watch and discuss five different plays and ensemble theater works. We will analyze how these plays are constructed and investigate their social and political implications. In-class artistic responses provide hands-on exploration as students work in groups to create and rehearse six different performances inspired by our course texts. Instructed by: E. Araoz, A. Landsman
THR 201 Beginning Studies in Acting Fall/Spring
LA
Designed to guide students in developing roles and exploring texts and characters. Work will begin with exercises and proceed to consideration of scenes, short sections of plays, and specific roles.
Instructed by: P. Kim, N. deGannes, V. Font
THR 205 Introductory Playwriting Fall
LA
A workshop on the fundamentals of writing plays. Emphasis will be on solving problems of structure, plot development, and character through various writing exercises and theater improvisations. Ongoing work of students and instructor is read and discussed.
Instructed by: N. Davis
THR 208 Body and Language (See DAN 208)
THR 209 Introduction to Movement and Dance (See DAN 209)
THR 210 Storytelling with Technology for Performance (also ) Fall
LAQR
Telling stories through performance is human nature, but how can we use technology to enhance, frame, or reveal new perspectives on stories told? Students will learn about tools and techniques from design professionals, and will engage directly and collaboratively with technology to design experiences focused around live performance. Areas covered may include projections and multimedia, lighting, interactivity, and programming for creative applications. This class hopes to bring together students with arts and STEM backgrounds, and does not require prior experience. Instructed by: D. Bengali, A. Lauer
THR 210 Power, Structure, and the Human Body (See DAN 210)
THR 211 French Theater Workshop (See FRE 211)
THR 212 Learning Shakespeare by Doing (See COM 212)
THR 213 Introduction to Set and Costume Design (also
/) Spring
LA
This course introduces students to set and costume design for performance, exploring theater as a visual medium. Students will develop their ability to think about the physical environment (including clothing) as key components of story-telling and our understanding of human experience. Students will expand their vocabulary for discussing the visual world and work on their collaborative skills. We'll spend half the semester focusing on costuming and half focusing of the scenic environment, both in a practical, on your feet studio class taught by professional theater practitioners. Absolutely no experience required. Instructed by: S. Fellows, R. Hauck
THR 215 Being and Doing: Dance for Every Body (See DAN 214)
THR 217 Staging Sex in the City of London: From Country Wives to Fleabags (See ENG 319)
THR 218 Acting and Directing Workshop - Acting Fall
LA
This course develops basic acting technique which focuses on the pursuit of objectives, given circumstances, conflict, public solitude and living truthfully under imagined circumstances. Practical skills are established through scenes performed for classroom analysis. This is a working laboratory where we will approach an acting method of identifying conflicts, defining objectives and pursuing actions. Our goal is to leave the semester with confidence in our acting technique, stronger stage presence, firmer groundedness, and a means whereby to continue working and improving.
Instructed by: E. Araoz
THR 221 Performing in the Ancient World (See CLA 221)
THR 222 Stillness (See DAN 221)
THR 223 Reimagining the American Theatrical Canon (also
/) Spring
CDLA
This course offers an intensive survey of ongoing efforts to revisit and revise the American theatrical canon and repertoire. Students will examine the economic, institutional and cultural forces shaping the landscape of new play production in the United States as they also read a broad selection of plays from the contemporary American theater. Working in partnership with McCarter Theatre's "Bard at the Gate" initiative, students will develop dramaturgical and other resources in response to this uniquely curated virtual platform for noteworthy but overlooked plays by BIPOC, female, LGBTQIA+, and disabled artists. Instructed by: B. Herrera
THR 224 The Writers' Room (also ) Spring
LA
The Writers' Room will replicate the fast-paced environment of a Hollywood writers room. Students will be assigned to a writing team and will pen two complete scripts with their fellow writers. They will also be required to submit an original work for their final project that they have written solo. It can be a play, a short film, or a series pilot. Instructed by: M. Zayid
THR 225 Sound Art (See VIS 225)
THR 227 Contemporary French Theater (See FRE 228)
THR 228 Introduction to Irish Studies (See ENG 228)
THR 230 Introduction to Masked Performance Spring
LA
This course is an exploration of physical performance techniques that place the embodied actor at the center of the process of theatrical creation. In a progressive set of exercises, students investigate movement dynamics, and unlock creative pathways within their bodies, minds and imaginations. Preparatory techniques lay the foundation for improvisations which make use of theatrical masks as tools for deepening play. Through playfulness, students embark on a journey toward the core of their own bodies, in relationship to the movements of the life.
Instructed by: Y. Boim
THR 231 Message in a Bottle Fall
LA
Messaging is an art and most people are bad at it. Maysoon is here to teach you how to effectively amplify your message using social media, written word, and public appearances as well as how to do damage control. Students will participate in panels, mock interviews, and will design their own podcast. They will develop a 7 minute talk on their message that will be performed in front of a live Princeton audience.
Instructed by: M. Zayid
THR 232 Shakespearean Hip Hop (See MTD 232)
THR 233 Brujería is (not) Witchcraft: Religiosity, Power, and Performance in LatAm and Caribbean Imagination (See LAS 228)
THR 237 Comedy (See COM 237)
THR 242 Greek Tragedy from Ancient Athens to Ferguson (See CLA 242)
THR 275 Sex, Politics, and Religion on the Comic Stage (See ENG 284)
THR 300 Acting, Being, Doing, and Making: Introduction to Performance Studies (also
/
/) Not offered this year
LA
The place of performance--for example, Greek tragedy, Noh drama, modern dance, opera, performance art, crossdressing--within the social, political, cultural, and religious structures it has served. Perspectives from theater and dance history, classical and contemporary theory, and ancient and modern practice. Prerequisite: fulfillment of writing requirement. Two 90-minute seminars. Instructed by: J. Dolan, S. Wolf
THR 301 Acting - Scene Study Spring
LA
The preparation, rehearsal and presentation of scenes from classic and contemporary plays, from Chekhov and Ibsen to Tony Kusher and Lynn Nottage. We will use the techniques and principles found in Uta Hagen's book, Respect for Acting. Skills: understanding and activating the event of the scene; mining behavior; authentic engagement with scene partners; transformation of self. Discover the level of action and commitment needed to fulfill the life of the play.
Instructed by: M. Nelson
THR 302 Ghosts, Vampires and Zombies in Irish Theater and Literature (also ) Spring
LA
From the spirits and banshees of oral legends to Bram Stoker's Dracula, from the classic works of Yeats, Synge and Beckett to Garth Ennis's Preacher comics and Anne Rice's Vampire novels, Irish culture has been haunted by the Otherworld. Why has the Irish Gothic had such a long ghostly afterlife on page and stage? Can we learn something about modernist works like those of Yeats and Beckett by seeing them through the perspective of popular fictions of the supernatural? Instructed by: F. O'Toole
THR 304 Classical Mythology on the Modern U.S. Stage (See CLA 305)
THR 305 Playwriting II: Intermediate Playwriting (also ) Spring
LA
A continuation of work begun in Introductory Playwriting, focusing on the writing of a major play. Prerequisite: 205. Instructed by: M. Cruz
THR 308 Metatheater, Then and Now (also
/) Fall
LA
In 1963, Lionel Abel invented the term "metatheater" to discuss self-referential, anti-illusionist devices -- introduced, as he thought, by some Renaissance playwrights -- which had become ubiquitous in the theater of his day. "Very meta!" was soon used to describe almost every play ever written. But some plays are more "meta" than others and the methods and motives of their authors vary considerably. This seminar will spend six weeks focused on Greek, Renaissance, and Modern examples of the genre before turning to contemporary American playwrights who have found new and often jaw-dropping uses for metatheatrics. Instructed by: M. Cadden
THR 310 Shakespeare: Toward Hamlet. (See ENG 320)
THR 311 Intermediate Studies in Acting: Creating Character and Text Not offered this year
LA
Creation of an original theater piece in collaboration with a guest artist, leading to a public performance. Will include improvisations, exercises, study of dramatic texts, and scene study. Special attention will be given to the creation of character, both in dramatic texts and in improvisation. Prerequisite: 201.
Instructed by: Staff
THR 313 Storytellers - Building Community Through Art (also
/
/) Spring
CDLA
In this Princeton Challenge course, students will participate in building a relationship between a historically significant Black theater company, Crossroads Theater in New Brunswick, and the university community. Co-taught by Sydne Mahone, Director of play development at Crossroads 1985-1997, students will research the theater through its people and its art, while making the role of women in Black art-making more visible. Students will learn oral history techniques, interview significant theater makers, and develop their own creative responses. Our collective work will culminate in creating roadmaps for continuing community relationship. Instructed by: J. Cox
THR 317 Costume Design (also ) Not offered this year
LA
An exploration of the various aspects of costume design. Emphasis will depend to some degree on instructor's area of interest and/or student interest. Studio projects will be designed to coincide with other theater and dance courses and currently scheduled productions. Critical discussion will explore the relationship between dramatic texts and design ideas. Two three-hour seminars or studio sessions. Instructed by: A. Yavich
THR 318 Lighting Design (also
/) Spring
LA
An introduction to the art and craft of lighting design for live performance and an exploration of light as a medium for expression. Students will develop an ability to observe lighting in the world and on the stage; to learn to make lighting choices based on text, space, research, and their own responses; to practice being creative, responsive and communicative under pressure and in company; to prepare well to create under pressure using the designer's visual toolbox; and to play well with others-working creatively and communicating with directors, writers, performers, fellow designers, the crew and others. Instructed by: J. Cox, T. James
THR 321 Special Topics in Contemporary Practice (See DAN 304)
THR 322 Sondheim's Musicals and the Making of America (See AMS 317)
THR 323 The Arts of Urban Transition (See DAN 310)
THR 326 Criticism Workshop Not offered this year
LA
A workshop devoted to the development of the student's critical sensibility. Through extensive in-class analysis of their own reviews of professional theater and dance productions and through the study of past and present models, students will learn what makes a good critic of the performing arts. One three-hour seminar.
Instructed by: Staff
THR 327 Princeton Dance Festival Expanded (See DAN 324)
THR 328 Dance in Education: Dance/Theater Pedagogy (See DAN 316)
THR 330 Special Topics in Performance Practice (also
/) Not offered this year
LA
A special topics course designed to build upon and/or enhance existing program courses, taking into consideration the strengths and interests of program concentrators and the availability of appropriate instructors. Topics, prerequisites, and formats will vary from year to year. Instructed by: Staff
THR 331 Special Topics in Performance History and Theory (also ) Not offered this year
LA
Designed to provide students with an opportunity to study theater and/or dance from a historical or theoretical perspective. Topics, prerequisites, and formats will vary from year to year. Instructed by: Staff
THR 333 Latinx Musicals on Stage and Screen (See MTD 333)
THR 335 Actor-Musicianship (See MTD 335)
THR 341 Acting and Directing in Musical Theater (See MTD 341)
THR 345 Introduction to Musical Theater Writing (See MTD 322)
THR 346 Contemporary Opera and MusicTheater (See MUS 325)
THR 347 Gender Crossings in American Musical Theater (See GSS 337)
THR 348 American Musical Theatre: History and Practice (See MTD 348)
THR 349 How to Think With Performance: Dance and Performance Studies Theory (See DAN 349)
THR 350 Playing Dead: Corpses in Theater and Cinema Spring
LA
What happens when there is a dead body on stage? Why do corpses star in so many movies? Reverence for the dead is one of the markers of humanity, bound up with the development of societies and cultures. But we also play with dead bodies, spinning stories around them that can be austere or grotesque, tragic or farcical, haunting or hilarious. Dramas and films use dead bodies to explore fear, sex, greed, guilt, innocence and grief. In this course, we contemplate corpses from Antigone to Alfred Hitchcock and from Shakespeare's tragedies to Stand By Me and Weekend at Bernie's and bring the dead to life.
Instructed by: F. O'Toole
THR 351 Black Dramatists in the English-Speaking World (See ENG 354)
THR 353 21st Century Latinx Drama (also
/
/) Spring
SA
This course offers a practice-based overview of theater-making in the twenty-first century through an intensive study of contemporary Latinx dramatists, companies, and movements in the United States. Through weekly readings, discussions and independent research/writing exercises, the seminar will investigate the cultural, artistic, social and political interventions of twenty-first century US Latinx drama. Instructed by: B. Herrera
THR 354 Performance as Art (See VIS 354)
THR 355 Illegal Gatherings Act - South African Protest Theatre (also ) Fall
HALA
The South African Anti-Apartheid movement saw mass resistance against the government's racial segregationist policies. Students will learn about the conditions that gave rise to Apartheid and the Anti-Apartheid movement, taking a look at the instrumental role that the performing arts and protest theatre played in dismantling the unjust system. Participants will develop performance work of their own based in South African protest theatre, encouraging a rejection of excess and on seeing obstacles as opportunities. Students will craft original protest theatre works that address sociopolitical concerns of their choosing. Instructed by: S. Ali
THR 356 The Human Comedy of Anton Chekhov Off and On Stage (In English Translation) (See SLA 357)
THR 358 Queer Boyhoods (See GSS 316)
THR 362 Excavate/Illuminate: Creating Theater from the Raw Material of History (See HUM 321)
THR 364 Modern Drama I (See ENG 364)
THR 367 Introduction to Radical Access: Disability Justice in the Arts (See DAN 306)
THR 368 Jewish Identity and Performance in the US (See ENG 410)
THR 372 Contemporary Drama (See ENG 372)
THR 373 Gender, Sexuality, and Contemporary U.S. Theatre and Performance (See GSS 363)
THR 376 Curious Aesthetics: Twentieth-Century American Musical Theatre (See ENG 376)
THR 380 World Drama (See ENG 380)
THR 382 International Theatre: Plays and Politics (See ENG 382)
THR 384 Hope and History: The Poems and Plays of Seamus Heaney (See ENG 314)
THR 385 Theater and Society Now (also
/
/) Fall
SA
As an art form, theater operates in the shared space and time of the present moment while also manifesting imagined worlds untethered by the limits of "real" life. In this course, we undertake a critical, creative and historical survey of the ways contemporary theater-making in the United States - as both industry and creative practice - does (and does not) engage the most urgent concerns of contemporary American society. Instructed by: B. Herrera
THR 389 Producing Theater: French Festivals Today (See FRE 389)
THR 390 Race in French Theater (See FRE 390)
THR 391 Films about the Theater (also
/) Fall
LA
Some of the best movies ever made focus on the how and why of theatermaking. This course will focus on five classics of Global Cinema that deploy filmic means to explore how theaters around the world have wrestled with artistic, existential, moral, cultural, and professional issues equally central to any serious consideration of moviemaking. These films prompt questions about the nature of each medium, their interrelationship, and our apparent need for both. Along the way, they also offer compelling snapshots of theater and film history. Instructed by: M. Cadden
THR 392 In Living Color: Performing the Black '90s (also
/
/) Fall
SA
From Cross Colours to boom boxes, the 1990s was loud and colorful. But alongside the fun, black people in the U.S. dealt with heightened criminalization and poverty codified through the War on Drugs, welfare reform, HIV/AIDS, and police brutality. We will study the various cultural productions of black performers and consumers as they navigated the social and political landscapes of the 1990s. We will examine works growing out of music, televisual media, fashion, and public policy, using theories from performance and cultural studies to understand the specificities of blackness, gender, class, and sexuality. Instructed by: R. Williams
THR 400 Theatrical Design Studio (also
/) Fall
LA
This course is designed to endow students with the conceptual and practical skills to design productions in the theater program, or to direct a production with design elements, and to support students in making technical decisions, as well as in collaborating with the rest of the creative team and the technical staff. The course will combine an exploration of visual storytelling and creative collaboration with a grounding in the practical and communicative skills necessary to create the physical world of a production. This course is also appropriate for directors and writers interested in working with design on a departmental production. Instructed by: J. Cox, S. Fellows, L. Moten
THR 401 Advanced Studies in Acting: Scene Study and Style Not offered this year
LA
Questions of historical style, poetic stage language, and various methods of contemporary nonrealistic acting. Prerequisite: Previous acting class.
Instructed by: Staff
THR 402 Theater Making Studio (also ) Spring
LA
This junior seminar explores theories and practices in contemporary theater making in preparation for senior independent work. The seminar aims to create a collaborative cohort of committed theater students. The class will examine questions such as: what are the differences between process and product, what is collaboration, where does the audience fit in to the creative journey. The course will incorporate practical exercises, seminar discussions and visits to rehearsals and performances at Classic Stage Company in New York City. Instructed by: S. Ali, J. Cox
THR 405 Creative Intellect (also ) Spring
LA
Creative Intellect is a collaborative workshop course designed to bridge the critical and creative dimensions of performance research. Students will lead the development of performance research projects, compose a written report documenting the development of these projects, and devise and produce a public event that engages observers in the principles and methods guiding the work. This course cultivates a rigorous ethic of practice wherein the theater-maker participates fully and creatively in documenting their own performance work and in commenting critically on that work. Instructed by: B. Herrera, E. Araoz, V. di Mura
THR 408 Seminar in Italian Literature and Culture (See ITA 401)
THR 410 Topics in Drama (See ENG 409)
THR 411 Directing Workshop Not offered this year
LA
Special directing assignments will be made for each student, whose work will be analyzed by the instructor and other members of the workshop. Students will be aided in their preparations by the instructor; they will also study the spectrum of responsibilities and forms of research involved in directing plays of different styles. Prerequisite: Introductory acting, writing or design class.
Instructed by: E. Araoz
THR 416 Decentering/Recentering the Western Canon in the Contemporary American Theater (also
/
/) Spring
CDLA
Why do some BIPOC dramatists (from the US and Canada) choose to adapt/revise/re-envision/deconstruct/rewrite/appropriate canonical texts from the Western theatrical tradition. While their choices might be accused of recentering and reinforcing "white" narratives that often marginalize and/or exoticize racial and ethnic others, we might also see this risky venture as a useful strategy to write oneself into a tradition that is itself constantly being revised and revaluated and to claim that tradition as one's own. What are the artistic, cultural, and economic "rewards" for deploying this method of playmaking? What are risks? Instructed by: M. Cadden
THR 417 Musical Theater Writing II (See MTD 417)
THR 418 Acting and Directing Workshop - Directing Fall
LA
Directing assignments will be created for each student, who will work with the actors in the class and whose work will be analyzed by the instructor and other members of the workshop. Students will be aided in their preparations by the instructor; they will also study script analysis and formulation of a director's point of view, staging and visual storytelling, the musicality of language, collaboration and rehearsal techniques, productive methods of critique, and the spectrum of responsibilities and forms of research involved in directing plays of different styles.
Instructed by: E. Araoz
THR 419 Directing for Theater and Music Theater (also ) Spring
LA
This course is designed to encourage the development of directors for theater and musical theater, covering techniques and practices from both areas. The course will look at the practices of a small list of key figures in world theatre and how their work has influenced how directors approach the rehearsal room today. The course will incorporate a strong practical element, giving student directors the opportunity to explore and hone their own practices, developing useful and appropriate style and language as they move forward in their work as young directors. Instructed by: J. Doyle
THR 420 Designing Narratives (also
/) Spring
LA
Co-taught by design collective dots, the course aims to explore the world of visual storytelling, with an emphasis on collaboration as an essential part of the process of designing 3-dimensional space for narratives. The course will present narrative design processes as adaptable to many media including theater, film, installation and architecture and hopes to empower students with the ability to recognize their role as the designer of their own stories. Through individual research and a group project, we aim to encourage students to develop unique points of view within the context of a design that is worth more than the sum of its parts. Instructed by: Staff
THR 448 Early Modern Amsterdam: Tolerant Eminence and the Arts (See ENG 448)
THR 451 Theater Rehearsal and Performance (also ) Fall/Spring
LA
This course provides students with a rigorous and challenging experience of creating theater under near-professional circumstances, working with a professional director. It involves an extensive rehearsal period and a concentrated tech week, often requiring more time and focus than a typical student-produced production might. For the first time, students cast in the show, or those who take on major production roles (such as Stage Manager, Designer, Script Supervisor or Assistant Director), will receive course credit. Instructed by: Staff
THR 494 Princeton Atelier (See ATL 494)
THR 495 Princeton Atelier (See ATL 495)
THR 499 Princeton Atelier (See ATL 499)
