THEATRE


Overview and Objectives.
The Theatre discipline of the performing and fine arts program offers students intensive instruction in both the foundations and techniques of live stage performances. The craft of acting is explored in-depth through physical, vocal, and mental training. Creating believable and interesting characters, learning to communicate with an audience, and use of imaginative expression are central concepts. Students hone their presentation and public speaking skills. Classes incorporate monologues, pantomime, improvisation, and scene study. Advanced classes specialize in comedic training, period styles, and techniques such as dialects / stage fighting / dramatic tension. Students accepted into theatre classes are trained to approach the art form from a professional perspective and are expected to perform for their instructor, colleagues, and the public on a regular basis. Another key aspect of the theatre discipline is the production or “behind-the-scenes” side of live theatre. This includes training in areas such as lighting, stage management, set design and construction, costumes, make-up, sound design, and properties. Students will participate in a discovery learning process by actually running lights, sound, etc. for productions. Finally, the theatre discipline offers a course of study for future directors and producers.

The Theatre Department also encourages students to explore the mechanics and the art of film-making and video production. Using film techniques and editing software, students develop their technical and artistic skills in a variety of media.

Course Offerings - Lower School

Acting I - Techniques and Expression
This course explores the principles and basic techniques of acting, including the fundamentals of self-expression, stage movement, speech, and audition techniques. Relaxation, focus, memory exercises are an integral part of developing the skill of the actor.

Acting II – Character and Craft
Builds on the foundations of technique and expression to explore structured dramatic activities. Students will hone improvisational and character development skills and will create original theatrical pieces through scene creation, image theatre, and process drama. Students will be introduced to contemporary as well as classical stage pieces.

Acting III -Body, Voice, and Stage Presence
An advanced course of acting that focuses on developing the actor’s instrument: his or her body, voice, and stage presence. Students in this course will work with specific pieces (monologues, one-acts, contemporary scenes, structured improv, selections from published plays) to develop a repertoire and an intimate knowledge of the world of theatre.

Technical Theatre Production
A look at mounting a stage production from the viewpoint of an overall design concept that takes into account the themes, style, time period, and the physical space that encompasses the stage. Students will look at lighting techniques, set considerations, sound effects, and the art of creating illusion to represent space, time, and atmosphere.

Puppetry
An introduction to the fascinating and intensely creative world of puppetry in performance. Classic historical characters and creations such as Punch and Judy, marionettes, muppets, and more are studied, along with their techniques. Street shows, country fairs, marketplace entertainments reveal the evolution of a complex and dynamic art form. Students will design, build, and perform with puppets of their own creation.

Creative Writing
This course offers an introduction to creative forms of writing, including short fiction, poetry, and playwriting. Descriptive language, character development, dialogue, plot structure, and storylines are explored through hands-on activities and seminar-style discussion. A key emphasis centers around material that can be presented or “performed” live.

Course Offerings - Upper School

Acting I - Intensive Acting Study and Performance
This course offers a concentrated study of the actor’s tools (body, mind, and voice) as an instrument to be honed for the craft of acting. Students work to develop their vocal range and power, body language, clarity of expression, and dialogue. There is an additional emphasis on learning to communicate with an audience. Students explore acting styles through their practical application in monologue and scenework, as students expand their own creative potential. This includes analyzing dramatic works. Students will create acting resumes and portfolios, as well as audition monologues. The course includes a discussion of career options and opportunities for secondary education.

Acting II - Acting Workshop
This course offers extensive workshop training in necessary acting skills: movement, voice and body work, pantomime, improvisation, relaxation and focus. Additional topics include rehearsal techniques, play structure, scene study, and character analysis. Students analyze scene structure and dramatic peaks and valleys. A key focus of the course is on self-reflection and critical analysis of the work of others from an articulate, constructive, and informed point of view.

Acting III – Advanced Acting
Allows each student to expand his or her repertoire, to develop pieces that are fascinatingly complex and show a broad range of ability. Students will work on audition prep as well as building a portfolio of work. Students will also work on preparing for a future beyond secondary school.

Directing
This is an invitation-only course for the serious student of theatre who has an eye for, as well as an interest in, the business of directing for the stage. The principles of staging, developing an overall look that will guide the various designs (lighting, set, costumes, make-up), and working with individual as well as ensemble actors will be explore in-depth. Students will have the opportunity to direct a one-act play that will be showcased during a spring festival.

Shakespeare Study
Shakespeare Study offers a theatrical as well as literary perspective of one of the greatest and most prolific playwrights in history. Students will follow the mechanics of studying a script to analyze the text for motivations, relationships, and themes that are used to build a richly nuanced performance. Portions of plays (dramatic, comedic, and history plays) will be performed as students study the lyrical and stylistic elements of the language and Elizabethan culture.

Theatre Design and Production
An in-depth look at the various elements and departments that constitute a professional theatrical production, including stage management, producing, directing, and technical production. Students analyze roles and responsibilities involved in a full scale production of live theatre. Students explore publicity and marketing, box office, managing a performing space, and the “business” of theatre. This course is a hands-on learning experience in how to build flats, hang and focus lights, build set pieces, create painted textures and illusions, make props, create special effects with make-up, find and create costumes. It includes an in-depth concentration on the mechanics of set building, lighting design, sound engineering, and advanced design techniques (Japanese theatre, abstract theatre, German Romanticism, Italian Renaissance theatre, etc.). Students will design an entire show. Students also explore in-depth the mechanics of film-making and video production.

Creative Writing
Offers an in-depth, intensive exploration of the art of writing. Language is an incredibly powerful tool that can be used to accurately and imaginatively communicate a scene, an emotion, a character’s motivation, or an atmospheric mood. Students write extensively and engage in discussion with other students about building and layering a plot, character development, descriptive language, and structure. The course includes analysis of specialized genres such as song lyrics, historical fiction, beat poetry, and more.

E-mail: theatre@palcs.org