Claudio Medeiros
Professor of Theatre & Department Chair
- Office
- Mahaney Arts Center 325
- Tel
- (802) 443-2358
- cmedeiro@middlebury.edu
- Office Hours
- Fall '24: Tue 3:45 – 5:00pm & Wed 11:00 – 12:30pm and by appointment
Courses Taught
FYSE 1432
Sexuality and Power on Stage
Course Description
Sexuality and Power on Stage: Female Trouble, Closet Homos, and Shameless Queers
What do Sophie Treadwell's Machinal, Martin Sherman's Bent, and Tony Kushner’s Angels in America teach us about the history of sexual marginalization? In this seminar we will study a selection of US American plays in which gender, desire, and sexuality constitute a problem for society and the state. Students will learn how to analyze dramatic texts from the director’s and the actor’s perspectives with a focus on action, structure, characterization, and space in addition to genre and larger themes. Cinematic renderings of the plays and in-class staging exercises will help us engage the embodied dimension of performance 3 hrs. sem.
Terms Taught
Requirements
THEA 0102
Upcoming
Acting I: Beginning Acting
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
Requirements
THEA 0208
Theatre History
Course Description
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
Terms Taught
Requirements
THEA 0210
Fall Production Studio: Acting
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
Requirements
THEA 0214
Directing I: Beginning
Course Description
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.
Terms Taught
THEA 0220
Upcoming
Spring Production Studio: Act
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
Requirements
THEA 0225
Page to Stage
Course Description
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.
Terms Taught
Requirements
THEA 0242
Current
US Queer Drama
Course Description
Out on Stage: US Queer Drama
In this course we will study US American plays that center queer and trans identities and experiences. Our journey will begin in 1930s and will end in the present day. We will trace the history of queer sexualities and marginalized gender identities from the dramatization of closetedness to the Gay Liberation Movement, the AIDS epidemic, and the affirmation of queer and transgender identities. Students will learn how to analyze the dramatic text from the perspectives of the actor, director, designer, and dramaturg. In addition to reading the plays, we will watch cinematic adaptations of selected texts. Secondary readings and research will illuminate the ways in which the works respond to specific historical contexts. 3 hrs. lect.
Terms Taught
Requirements
THEA 0406
Current
20th/21st Century Perf. Aesth
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
Requirements
THEA 0500
Current
Upcoming
Intermediate Indep Project
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
THEA 0505
Current
Upcoming
Intermediate Ind. Project
Course Description
Intermediate Independent Project
(Approval Required)
Terms Taught
THEA 0700
Current
Upcoming
Senior Project
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
THEA 0708
Current
Joint Senior Work: THEA-ENGL
Course Description
Senior Work: Joint Majors in Theatre and English & American Literatures
Approval required.
Terms Taught