Alex Draper
Office
Mahaney Arts Center 333
Tel
(802) 443-5806
Email
adraper@middlebury.edu
Office Hours
Spring '24: Mon 10:30-12:00pm, Tue 1:30-3:00pm, Wed 11:00-12:00pm

Alex Draper is a professional stage, film and television actor, whose thirty-five-year career includes performing with the Mabou Mines in Paris, France, filming the Bollywood extravaganza Kalapani in the Andeman Islands, and appearing in the New York premieres of Dare Clubb’s Obie Award-winning Oedipus, starring Billy Crudup and Frances McDormand, Erin Courtny’s Obie Award-winning A Map of Virtue, the Presnyakov Brothers’ Terrorism, Neil Simon’s Rose’s Dilemma and Phillip Ridley’s The Pitchfork Disney. He is the co-Artistic Director of the Dogteam Theatre Project, and former Associate Artistic Director of PTP/NYC, with whom he appeared in 21 productions over 35 seasons.  He was also a founding member of Blue Light Theatre in NYC (1996-2003), appearing in many of their productions including the revivals of Waiting for Lefty and Golden Boy, both directed by Joanne Woodward. Regional work includes productions at Arena Stage, Yale Rep, the McCarter, Williamstown, the Westport Playhouse, the Huntington, and the Berkshire Theatre Festival. Film and television credits include: The Witch in the Window; No Pay, Nudity; Yellowbrickroad (Best Feature, New York Horror Film Festival); Joshua; Hysterical Blindness; Simply Irresistible; The Photographer; Hard Shell; John Adams; Chicago Med; Taken; The Good Wife; Sex and the City; Suddenly Susan; Ed; Dellaventura; and all the Law and Orders. He received his BA from Middlebury, and his MFA from the Yale School of Drama, where he was the recipient of the Oliver Thorndike Acting Award.

Courses Taught

Course Description

Acting and Directing for the Camera
In this advanced workshop we will focus on the relationship between actors and directors in the context of live action media production (film, television, advertising, web series). Students will gain practical knowledge of actor-director engagement and insight into both facets of this process. Students will also analyze produced screenplays, practice actor-director communication, and direct and perform for the camera. All students will take turns fulfilling the roles of director and performer, culminating in recording and editing workshopped scenes. (FMMC 0105 or THEA 0102)

Terms Taught

Spring 2020, Spring 2024

Requirements

ART

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Course Description

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

Terms Taught

Fall 2022, Spring 2024

Requirements

ART

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Course Description

Acting II: Voice for the Actor
Using the Linklater technique for the voice, students will study the physiological foundations of voice and alignment. By means of interrelated physical and vocal exercises, students will discover ways of changing patterns that restrict a full range of physical and vocal expressiveness. Students will study and present passages from Shakespeare to explore ways in which their new physical and vocal skills may be used to express a greater range of intellectual and emotional understanding. (THEA 0102 and ARDV 0116; Approval required) 4 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023

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Course Description

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.

Terms Taught

Fall 2023

Requirements

ART

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Course Description

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.

Terms Taught

Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023

Requirements

ART

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Course Description

Acting III: Scene and Monologue Study
Designed primarily for majors who have had experience on stage or have otherwise demonstrated a serious interest in performance. The skills introduced in Acting I and Acting II are given intensive application to different kinds of dramatic texts, primarily realistic in nature. Attention will be given to expanding the performer's range of emotional and intellectual expressiveness. (Approval required) 4 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Spring 2022

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Course Description

Playwriting II: Advanced
For students with experience writing short scripts or stories, this workshop will provide a support structure in which to write a full-length stage play. We will begin with extended free and guided writing exercises intended to help students write spontaneously and with commitment. Class discussions will explore scene construction, story structure, and the development of character arc. (ENAM 0170 or THEA/CRWR 0218 or FMMC/CRWR 0218; by approval) 2 1/2 hrs. lect./individual labs

Terms Taught

Fall 2021

Requirements

ART, CW

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Course Description

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.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Spring 2023

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Course Description

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.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022

Requirements

ART

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Course Description

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.

Terms Taught

Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Winter 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Winter 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Winter 2025, Spring 2025

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Course Description

Intermediate Independent Project
(Approval Required)

Terms Taught

Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Winter 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Winter 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Winter 2025, Spring 2025

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Course Description

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.

Terms Taught

Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Winter 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Winter 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Winter 2025, Spring 2025

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