Dramatic Art
Dramatic Art
242 Center for Dramatic Art, CB# 3230
(919) 962-1132
First Session, 2024
Creating and Collaborating for Social Change (working title)
This triumvirate of classes is a collaborative experience exploring Documentary Theatre from three entry points: Directing, Performing, or Research/Writing.
DRAM 191 Technical Methods: Scenery (3)
MAYMESTER. No prerequisite required Introduction to the equipment, procedures, and personnel in the design and execution of plans for scenery, lighting, properties, and sound for theatrical productions. Students will learn the structure, tools, and safety aspects of the scene shop. They will then apply these skills while designing and building half-size scenery for a chosen play.
DRAM 288 Theatre for Social Change (3)
MAYMESTER. This section is for those who want to make an entry point to Documentary Theatre as Researchers and Writers. This class is for theatre artists interested in activism and activists interested in theatre. We will explore how theatre can be used to discuss issues surrounding social justice, historical events and underrepresented communities. We will work with forms such as verbatim theatre, investigative theatre, theatre of fact, theatre of witness, autobiographical theatre, and ethnodrama, students can choose the medium of the final projects– Stage, Film, or Podcast. No experience required.
DRAM 290 Performance in Documentary Theatre (3)
MAYMESTER. This section is for those who want to make an entry point to Documentary Theatre as Performers.
Each class will:
a.) Focus on ensemble building using theatre exercises.
b.) Study techniques for obtaining oral history and conducting interviews.
c.) Study the works of playwrights such as Erwin Piscator, Anna Deavere Smith, Techtonic Theater Project, The Civilians, Jessica Blank and Eric Jensen
d.) Conduct interviews based on a theme/community of our choosing.
e.) Create new work using interviews and archival research.
f.) Have a performance for an invited audience at the end of the course.
DRAM 300 Directing for Documentary Theatre (3)
MAYMESTER. This section is for those who want to make an entry point to Documentary Theatre as Director.
Second Session, 2024
DRAM 120 Play Analysis (3)
ONLINE. Development of the skill to analyze plays for academic and production purposes through the intensive study of representative plays. DRAM 120 is the first course in the major and the minor in dramatic art.
DRAM 292 “Corner of the Sky”: The American Musical (3)
ONLINE. This course considers the anatomy and diversity of the American musical, exploring its history and aesthetics, and employing an interdisciplinary approach to examining its shows, sounds, stars, structures, styles, and sensibilities within the genre’s dominant contexts of Broadway, Hollywood, and Utopia.