Mission Statement

The Faculty will teach and create theater as a liberal art in the context of a traditional liberal arts institution. This means that students will learn how to think critically and creatively about an important body of material, and how to give those thoughts scholarly and artistic expression. Instruction in theater will be both theoretical and practical; it will combine knowledge and skill. Students will be required to test theory in creative practice and to demonstrate skill in imaginative performance. Courses in theater will provide a comprehensive introductory training in all areas of theater, giving equal emphasis to artistic training and the study of the literature and history of the world stage. Training will be augmented by departmental productions of the most demanding and challenging works of both classical and contemporary artists.

Courses
101. An Introduction to Drama.		M. Andrucki
A study of the elements of drama and performance focusing on a half-dozen periods in theater history: fifth-century Athens, England in the Renaissance, France and Japan in the seventeenth century, Russia and Scandinavia in the nineteenth century, and postmodern America. Readings may include works by Sophocles, Aristotle, Shakespeare, Zeami, Moliere, 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. Open to first-year students.
102. An Introduction to Film.		M. Andrucki
A survey of film style and technique, including an overview of film history from the silent era to the present. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 70.
110. Women in Film.		E. Seeling
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.
130. Introduction to Design		M. Reidy
An approach to the principles and elements of Theatrical design, offering instruction in drawing, simple drafting, sculpture, painting, and costume and model construction. An Introduction to world styles of visual expression will inform an exploration of line, mass, shape, time, space, light, and color as it relates to the stage. Research topics may include African festival, Islamic design, Asian dance-drama, European architecture, and Russian painting. The goal of the course is to discover a personal visual expression and how it is applied to Theatrical Performance. No previous artistic or theatrical training is required. Open to first-year students. Enrollment is limited to 14.
132. Stagecraft.		M. Reidy
This course provides an introduction to the technical skills and techniques used to produce theatrical productions. Students are introduced to theater terminology, stage lighting equipment, scenery and property construction, scenic painting, sound engineering, and theater management. Crew work on Department productions required. Open to first-year students. Enrollment is limited to 25.
185. Public Discourse		R. Brito
This course is designed to develop an awareness of and skill in the techniques necessary to a speaker in varying situations, from the large gathering to the small group. Students study and compose public speeches on various political issues. Open to first-year students Enrollment limited to 24.
200. The Classical Stage.		M. Andrucki
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. Open to first-year students. Not open to students who have received credit for Theater 201.
210. The Revolutionary Stage.		M. Andrucki
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.
220. The Modern Stage.		M. Andrucki
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 which proclaims "ALL WRITING IS GARBAGE." Required of all majors. Open to first-year students.
225. The Grain of the Black Image.		W. Pope.L
A study of the Afro-American figure as represented in images from theater, movies, and television. Using the metaphor of "the grain" rendered by Roland Barthes and Regis Durand -- "the articulation of the body. . .not that of language" this course explores issues of progress, freedom, and improvement, as well as content versus discontent. Correlated readings in critical literature and the major classical plays by Hansberry, Baraka, Lonnie Elder, and others, as well as viewings of recent movies and television shows. Open to first-year students.
226. Minority Images in Hollywood Film.		W. Pope.L
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.
227. Seventies and Eighties Avant-garde Theater and Performance Art.		W. Pope.L
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. Written permission of the instructor is required. Enrollment is limited to 12.
231. Scene Design.		E. Seeling
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. Prerequisites or Corequisites: Theater 101 or 130. Written permission of the instructor is required. Open to first-year students. Enrollment is limited to 14.
232. Lighting Design.		M. Reidy
The Aesthetics of Light. This course provides an introduction to the unique aesthetic and technical considerations a lighting designer must make. Students examine the modern lighting aesthetic by studying popular culture and learn 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): Theater 101, 130 or 132. Written permission of the instructor is required. Open to first-year students. Enrollment is limited to 14.
233. Costume Design.		E. Seeling
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 make-up 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 is limited to 14.
240. Playwriting.		W. Pope.L
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. Written permission of the instructor is required. Enrollment is limited to 15.
241. Spanish Theater of the Golden Age.		B. Fra-Molinero
This course focuses on the study of Spanish classical drama of the 16th and 17th centuries. Reading and critical analysis of selected dramatic works by Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, Calderon de la Barca, Miguel de Cervantes, Ana Caro and Maria de Zayas, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, among others offer an insight of the totality of the dramatic spectacle of Spanish society during its imperial century. This course is the same as Spanish 241. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): Spanish 215 or 216. Enrollment is limited to 20.
242. Screenwriting.		W. Pope.L
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 is limited to 14
Dance 250. Twentieth-Century American Dance.		C. Dilley
From the turn of the century innovators, through the mid century technique builders, to the cross-genre free stylers of today, this course explores the basic development of American modern dance within an international cultural context. Dance works will be seen on video as well as live performance. Open to first-year students.
Dance 251. Dance Composition.		Staff
Is offered and from that course comes most of the material for the Annual Spring Concert, at the end of March. Added to those dances are a faculty ballet piece, a faculty hip hop piece, usually a modern piece or two choreographed by a guest artist and/or faculty, and work by students doing independent studies in choreography. Students who have not taken the dance composition course may choreograph for Parents' Weekend, but only students who have taken the course may choreograph work for the Spring Concert. Open to first-year students. Enrollment is limited to 12.
Dance 252. Twentieth-Century American Dance II.		Staff
This course focuses on current dance works and some of the issues that inform dance aesthetics and practices today. Discussions center on the ways in which choreographers, performers and societies confront issues of political cllimate, gender, cultural diversity, entertainment, globalization and the politicized human body in dance. Dance works will be seen on video as well as live performance. Open to first-year students.
Dance 253. Dance Repertory Performance.		Staff
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 two-week residency. Students then perform the piece informally at the end of the residency. The following week, after receiving feedback from the artist, the students continue to rehearse and polish the piece, The process begins again with each of the remaining artists. At the end of the semester, the three pieces are performed in a more formal setting. Recommended background: some previous dance experience. Written permission of the instructor is required. Open to first-year students. Enrollment is limited to 20. This course is offered every other fall.
261. Beginning Acting.		P. Kuritz
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 is limited to 16.
262. Acting for the Classical Repertory.		P. Kuritz
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. Written permission of the instructor is required. Open to first-year students.
263. Voice and Speech.		K. Vecsey
Students examine the nature and working of the human voice. Students explore ways to develop their voices' 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 is limited to 20.
264. Voice and Gender.		K. Vecsey
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, Women's Studies 100. This course is the same as Women's Studies 264. Open to first-year students.
275. African American Public Address.		C. Nero
This course is a study of the history of oratory by African-American women and men. Students examine religious, political, and ceremonial speeches. Historical topics include the abolition of slavery, Reconstruction, suffrage, the black women's club movement, Garveyism, and the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. Contemporary topics include affirmative action, gender politics, poverty, education, and racial identity. Open to first-year students.
278. The Rhetoric of Nuclear Culture, 1939-1964.		Staff
The first quarter-century of the nuclear age witnessed the development, use, testing, and threatened use of atomic weapons. This course examines the diverse political, social, and cultural responses to life in the shadow of the Bomb, including government public-relations campaigns, schoolhouse rehearsals for Armageddon, and organized political protest. Weekly laboratory sessions feature documentary and fiction films on nuclear issues, from Duck and Cover to Dr. Strangelove, from Godzilla to The Atomic Cafe. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40.
291. Introduction to Debate		B. Brito
A theoretical and practical study of academic debate designed for students without extensive previous experience in the activity. Lectures in debate theory are accompanied by student participation in several different debate formats, including a regularly scheduled public-discussion forum. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 20.
300. Theories of the Stage.		M. Andrucki
A survey of some of the major Western ideas about the moral, political, and spiritual purposes of the theater. Readings include selections from The Republic, Aristotle's Poetics, essays by Renaissance and eighteenth-century neoclassicists, and works by various radicals and romantics of the modern era. Prerequisites: one of the following: Theater 200, 210, 220 or 225 or Classics 202 or English 213 or 214.
331. Rhetorical Theory and Practice.		C. Nero
A study of the historical evolution of rhetorical theory through reading and analysis of primary texts, from classical times to the present. Students write, present, and discuss papers analyzing divergent rhetorical perspectives and refining their own. Specific attention is given to feminist and African-American rhetoric. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 15.
360. Independent Study.		Staff
Independent work in such areas as stage management, directing, and speech. Departmental approval is required. Students are limited to one independent study per semester.
363. Playing Comedy		P. Kuritz
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. Written permission of the instructor is required.
364. Advance Voice and Speech		K. Vecsey
A study of vocal and physical techniques for the exploration of theatrical texts. Specialized topics for the vocal professional inculde: characterization as it relates to voice and speech, cold readings, assessing and preparing for the vocal demands of a role; working with the vocal coach. Recommended for studings intending to focus on acting or performance art in the senior thesis. Written permission of the instructor is required. Enrollment is limited to 12. Normally offered every other year. K. Vecsey. New course beginning Winter 2004.
365. Special Topics.		Staff
Offered occasionally in selected subjects
Dance 365A. The Art of Dance
This course is designed to challenge and reinforce the understanding and perception of musicality, drama, and dance. Open to first-year students. Written permission of the instructor is required.
370. Directing		P. Kuritz
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. Permission of the instructor is required.
386. Language and Communication of Black Americans.		C. Nero
Charles Dickens wrote in 1842 that "all the women who have been bred in slave states speak more or less like Negroes, from having been constantly in their childhood with black nurses." This course examines the linguistic practices of African Americans, alluded to by Dickens. Readings focus on the historical development of "Black English" as a necessary consequence of contact between Europeans and Africans in the New World; on patterns and styles of African American communications, such as call-and-response, signifying, and preaching; and on sociopolitical issues, such as naming traditions, racial/ethnic identity, gender and language acquisition, and education and employment policy. Recommended background: Philosophy 266. Enrollment limited to 15.
390. Contemporary Rhetoric.		S. Kelley-Romano
A seminar devoted to the close textual analysis of recent and provocative political discourse. The texts for analysis are drawn from various media, including controversial political speeches, documentaries, music, and advertising. This course is designed to offer students extensive personal experience in criticism and to introduce key concepts in theory and practice. Enrollment limited to 15. Written permission of the instructor is required.
391. Topics in Rhetorical Criticism.		S. Kelley-Romano
The topic varies from semester to semester. The seminar relies largely upon individual student research, reports, and discussion. Enrollment limited to 15.
457. Senior Thesis.		Staff
A substantial academic or artistic project. Students register for Theater or Rhetoric 457 in the fall semester and for Theater or Rhetoric 458 in the winter semester. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both Theater or Rhetoric 457 and 458. By departmental invitation only for theater majors.
458. Senior Thesis.		Staff
A substantial academic or artistic project. Students register for Theater 458 in the winter semester. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both Theater or Rhetoric 457 and 458. By departmental invitation only for theater majors.

Short-Term Units
s10. Bates Theater Abroad.	M. Andrucki, K. Vecsey
Bates students produce a play in a theater outside the United States. Enrollment limited to 15. Written permission of the instructor is required.
s11. Theater in London.	M. Andrucki
A study of contemporary theater focusing on the experience of live performance in London.
s19. Spike Lee.	C. Nero
Spike Lee is the most prominent film maker of African descent working in the United States. This unit examines his films and the responses to them from critics writing in African American Studies in the areas of black film studies, black feminism, black lesbian and gay studies, afrocentrism, and black cultural studies. Possible topics include: history and biography in film; the audience for black films; black aesthetics and black nationalism; and images in film of black love, racism, homosexuality, gender, male bonding, interracial relations, and the family. This unit is the same as African American Studies s19. Open to first-year students.
s22. Contemporary Performance Poetry.	W. Pope.L
An investigation of poetry as a performance medium. Included is a historical overview comparing the European traditions of Dadaism, Futurism, and their proponents in America to the Afro-American tradition exemplified by Shange, Baraka, and present-day Hip-hop Rappers. The approach is theoretical and practical, utilizing readings, discussion, film, recordings, and texts created and performed by students. Written permission of the instructor is required. Enrollment is limited to 15.
s24. Advanced Performance-Theater.	E. Seeling, W. Pope.L
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. Recommended background: Theater 227. Open to first-year students. Written permission of the instructor is required. Enrollment limited to 24.
Dance s25. Ballroom Dance: Past to Present.	Staff
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.
s26. Theater Production Workshop.	Staff
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.
s27. Film and Theater.	Staff
Films have always looked to the theater for stories and characters. This unit studies the transformation of plays into movies, paying particular attention to such fundamental differences between stage and screen as the use of space and time, the manipulation of point of view, and acting versus stardom. Students read extensively in dramatic literature and film theory, and view a variety of films based on plays. Included are works by such playwrights as Shakespeare, Shaw, Williams, Albee, Pinter, and Shepard, and such directors as Oliver, Kurosawa, Hitchcock, Kazan, Nichols, and Altman. Open to first-year students. Enrollment is limited to 30.
s28. The Living Stage: Theater in New York	M. Andrucki
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. Written permission of the instructor is required. Enrollment is limited to 15.
Dance s29 Dance as a Collaborative Art.	Staff
The integration of dance and the 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. Subject matter varies every year. 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. Enrollment is limited to 25.
s30. Theater Production Workshop II.	Staff
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. Prerequisites: Theater s26. Written permission of the instructor is required.
s32. Theater Production Workshop III.	Staff
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. Prerequisites: Theater s26 and s30. Written permission of the instructor is required.
s36. Work-Study Internship in Theater.	Staff
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.
s50. Individual Research.	Staff
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.

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