Michole Biancosino

Acting I: Beginning Acting
Rigorous physical and psychophysical exercises attempt to break through the cultural and psychological barriers that inhibit an open responsiveness to impulses, to the environment, and to others. Attempt is made to free personal response within improvised scenes and, eventually, within the narrative structure of a naturalistic scene. Attention is given to various theories of acting technique. Students are expected to audition for departmental shows. (First- and second-year students only) 3 hrs. lect./individual labs

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 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 the previous term. (Approval required) 3 hrs. lect.

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.

Page to Stage: Theatre for a Turbulent World
What gives theatre its perennial power? Can a classic play speak to our dire concerns in 2020? Is a contemporary play a more effective vehicle for our cry for justice? In this introductory course we will investigate eight plays, classic and contemporary, exploring how theatre-makers take the ideas and themes of a play into consideration as they move into the practical realm of production. Readings include Sophocles’ Antigone, Suzan-Lori Parks’ /Topdog/Underdog, David Henry Hwang’s Yellowface, and Jen Silverman’s The Moors. Students will engage in creative problem-solving through different lenses via weekly labs in scenery, props, costumes, hair, makeup, stage management, sound, lighting, projections, and acting. This course will be co-taught by theatre faculty and staff, and it fulfills the crew requirement for Theatre majors.

The Plays of Station Eleven
This course will provide a study of theatrical literature through an interrogation of the specific ways live performance and the human body inform meaning in text-based theatre. We will begin with a reading of the novel Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, the plot of which centers around a traveling troupe of actors performing plays after a plague. After studying the novel and subsequent television series, we will begin a deep reading of the plays depicted within the story, including Shakespeare’s King Lear and Hamlet. Following these tragedies, we will read modern plays that explore different forms, themes, styles, and methods of theatre-making, again led by the evocations of post-pandemic performance. Contemporary plays will include Jonathan Payne’s The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Roll’d, Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Liz Duffy Adams’ Dog Act, Anne Washburn’s Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, Caridad Svich’s Twelve Ophelias, and Sarah Ruhl’s Passion Play.