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Cheryl Faraone, Chair
Professor of Theatre and Women's and Gender Studies
Email: faraone@middlebury.edu
Phone: work802.443.5642
Office Hours: Monday / Wednesday 1:30pm-2:30pm, Thursday 3:00pm-4:00pm, and by appointment
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Cheryl Faraone – Professor of Theatre and Women's and Gender Studies. Co-founder and co-director of the Potomac Theatre Project, the college’s affiliated professional theatre company. Teacher, director and arts administrator. Selected professional directing credits: The Real Thing, Anna Karenina (Olney Theatre Center); Lovesong of the Electric Bear, Perfect Pie, Stanley, Arcadia, Masterpieces, Mad Forest, Cigarettes & Chocolate, The After-Dinner Joke (Potomac Theatre Project). At Middlebury, among many others: An Experiment with an Air Pump, Top Girls, The Rover, Arcadia (New England ACTF), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, On the Verge. Particular interests include interdisciplinary work with the sciences and mathematics and the study of women and creativity. Associations and affiliations: Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Association for Theatre in Higher Education, and numerous others. B.A. and M.F.A. in Theatre from Catholic University; Ph.D from Florida State University School of Theatre.
Courses
Courses offered in the past four years.
▲ indicates offered in the current term
▹ indicates offered in the upcoming term[s]
INTD 0206 - Math/Science Contemp. Theatre ▲
Mathematics and Science as Art in Contemporary Theatre
In Tom Stoppard’s Jumpers, philosopher George Moore employs a list of mathematical arguments to make his case for the existence of a moral God. George’s confused allusions to the paradoxes of Zeno and Bertrand Russell form an interesting backdrop to a host of moral questions that include an astronaut stranded on the moon, the installation of an atheist as Archbishop of Canterbury and the mysterious circumstances surrounding the dead body of George’s debating partner concealed in the next room. This is just one example of how acclaimed playwrights such as Tom Stoppard, Rinne Groff, Michael Frayn, and others have effectively explored mathematical and scientific themes for artistic purposes. Through readings and exercises, and by conducting labs and staging scenes, this class will gain some first-hand insight into the complementary ways in which science and art aim to seek out their respective truths.
Fall 2011, Fall 2013
THEA 0206 / WAGS 0206 - Contemporary Women Playwrights
Contemporary Women Playwrights
WAGS/THEA 0206 Contemporary Women Playwrights (Fall 2012)
In this course we will read and discuss the work of the most influential and interesting American and European playwrights from the 1980s to the present. Authors will include: Maria Irene Fomes, Caryl Churchill, Suzan-Lori Parks, Adrienne Kennedy, Ntozake Shange, Judith Thompson, and Naomi Wallace. Issues of race, class, and gender will be closely examined. Readings will include selections from performance and feminist theory. 3 hrs. lect.
Spring 2010, Fall 2012
THEA 0208 - Theatre History ▲
Theatre History
Using the dramatic text as the primary focus, this course will chart the progression of theatre from its ritualistic origins to the advent of modern drama. This survey will include an overview of theatrical architecture, the evolution of design and acting styles, and the introduction of the director. Since theatre does not exist in a void, a consideration of the social, cultural, political, and scientific milieu of each era studied will be included in the course. 2 1/2 hrs. lect./discussion & 1 screening per week
Fall 2012, Fall 2013
THEA 0210 - Fall Production Studio: Acting ▲
Fall Production Studio: Acting
The cast works as part of a company interpreting, rehearsing, and performing a play. Productions for Fall 2013 include Vinegar Tom by Caryl Churchill and Pentecost by David Edgar. Those receiving credit can expect to rehearse four to six nights a week. Appropriate written work is required. Participation in the course is determined by auditions held the previous term. (Approval required) 3 hrs. lect.
Fall 2012, Fall 2013
THEA 0214 - Directing I: Beginning
Directing I: Beginning
As a group, students will analyze one or two plays to discover the process involved in preparing a script for production. Attention will be given to production and design concepts, textual values, auditions, rehearsals, and the structuring of a performance in time and space. Students will also cast and direct one or more scenes to be worked on and performed in class. The practical work is combined with written analysis. (Approval required; ARDV 0116, THEA 0102) 4 hrs. lect.
Fall 2009, Spring 2011
THEA 0220 - Spring Production Studio: Act
Spring Production Studio: Acting
The cast works as part of a company, interpreting, rehearsing, and performing a play. Those receiving credit can expect to rehearse four to six nights a week. Appropriate written work is required. Participation in the course is determined by auditions held during the term prior to the performance. (Approval required) 3 hrs. lect.
Spring 2010, Spring 2012
THEA 0235 / FYSE 1334 - Theatre and Social Change
Theatre and Social Change
In this course we will explore ways in which theatre engages perceptions, behaviors, and social conditions in audiences and practitioners. While historically controversial, the practice of art as an agent of change is increasingly important, ignited by the work of Augusto Boal. We will also explore works presented in a 'conventional' theatrical setting, drama therapy, and creative role-playing in institutional settings (prisons, schools, mental health facilities). Community-based work will focus on issues facing a specific community and the voices of that group. We will read theory and history, engage issues, and build work. No previous theatre experience is required. (Not open to students who have taken FYSE 1334) 3 hrs. lect.
Spring 2011, Spring 2013
THEA 0324 - Directing II: Advanced
Directing II: Advanced
This is a course for the upper level theatre student with previous experience in directing. Students will be exposed to various contemporary performance modes and styles and will devote half the semester to the exploration, rehearsal and performance of a substantive text. Attention will be given to the director/designer collaboration, working with actors, and the pragmatic aspects of mounting a production. This course is required for students hoping to propose independent work in directing, but is open to any student with the appropriate prerequisites. (Approval required; THEA 0214, additional directing experience or by waiver) 4 hrs. lect.
Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Spring 2013
THEA 0402 - Acting IV: Styles of Acting
Acting IV: Styles of Acting
The course will expose students to the rigorous physical, vocal, mental, and emotional demands of "non-naturalistic" acting, beginning with the Greeks, continuing through Shakespeare, Restoration, the eighteenth century, and ending with contemporary absurdist playwrights. Emphasis is first upon an intellectual understanding of the texts, then upon their fullest physical, vocal, and emotional expression. The course is designed for students who have had some prior stage experience. (ARDV 0116, THEA 0102 and an additional performance course) 4 hrs. lect./1hr. screen.
Spring 2010, Spring 2012
THEA 0406 - 20th/21st Century Perf. Aesth
Twentieth/Twenty-first Century Performance Aesthetics
This course is an intensive exploration of the evolution of the theory and practice of theatrical experimentation in the 20th and 21st centuries. The Modernist movement irrevocably altered the artist’s relationship to the social, and political order. The ramifications of this change will be addressed throughout the course, with particular emphasis on Brecht, Artaud, and Grotowski. Students will write papers and give presentations on the work of such contemporary artists as Peter Brook, DV8, Robert Wilson, Ariane Mnouchkine, Complicite and Jerzy Grotowski. (Approval required; ARDV 0116 and THEA 0208) 3 hrs. lect./1 hr. disc.
Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011
THEA 0500 - Intermediate Indep Project ▲ ▹
Intermediate Independent Project
In consultation with their advisors, theatre majors in design may propose a THEA 0500 Intermediate Independent Project. Preliminary proposal forms approved by the student's advisor will be submitted to the program by March 1st of the preceding academic year for those wanting credit in the fall or winter terms and by October 1st for those wanting credit in the spring term. Projects will conform to the guidelines that are available in the theatre office. Students are required to attend a weekly THEA 0500/0700 seminar.
Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Winter 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Winter 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
THEA 0505 - Intermediate Ind. Project ▲ ▹
Intermediate Independent Project
(Approval Required)
Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Winter 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Winter 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
THEA 0700 - Senior Project ▲ ▹
Senior Independent Project
Senior work is required. In consultation with their advisors, theatre majors may propose a THEA 0700 Independent Project. Preliminary proposal forms approved by the student's advisor will be submitted to the program by March 1st of the preceding academic year for those wanting credit in the fall or winter terms and by October 1st for those wanting credit in the spring term. Projects will conform to the guidelines that are available in the theatre office. Students are required to attend a weekly THEA 0500/0700 seminar.
Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Winter 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Winter 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
THEA 1013 - Production Studio: Lovesong
Lovesong of the Electric Bear/ - Production*
Lovesong of the Electric Bear, by Snoo Wilson, will be rehearsed and presented by a company of 13 actors, with the addition of assistants to the director, stage manager and dramaturg. Students enrolled in the course will rehearse up to six hours a day, five or six days a week during the first three weeks of the term. In addition, the company will research issues relating to the British Intelligence Service in World War II, the birth of Artificial Intelligence, and the life of Alan Turing. The written work for the course will include a process journal with accompanying research. (Approval required)
Winter 2010
WAGS 0200 - Foundations in W & G Studies
Foundations in Women's and Gender Studies
This course provides an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of women's and gender studies. Examining gender always in conjunction with the categories of race and class, the course foregrounds how inequalities are perpetuated in different fields of human activity and the creative ways in which groups have resisted these processes. The course is organized in sections to illuminate the effects of particular social institutions and structures on our gendered lives. Each section will introduce a broad overview of feminist interventions in different fields of inquiry. Cumulatively, the course reveals the importance of gender as an analytical category to understand social reality and to comprehend important areas of culture. 3 hrs. lect.
Spring 2011
