Major Description

The Theater Department considers the critical and creative study of each theatrical area to be an essential component of a liberal arts education. Offerings include courses in acting; civic engagement and outreach; criticism, ethnography, history, and literature; costume, lighting, scenic, and media-based design; directing; performance studies; theory; performance art; playwriting; puppetry; and solo performance.

Many Theater courses are cross-listed with academic departments in all divisions, as well as Wesleyan’s colleges. Theater faculty and majors are committed to collaboration within and across departments. The Theater Department strongly encourages students to attend performances and lectures sponsored by all performing and visual arts departments.

Each year the department sponsors productions and other events in a variety of theatrical forms; some are directed by faculty members or guest artists, while others are directed by undergraduates. Theater courses and productions reflect the interdisciplinary and multiple interests of the faculty and majors. Theater Department productions take place in the Center for the Arts Theater, the Patricelli ’92 Theater, and other spaces on campus. The Center for the Arts is a state-of-the-art facility with 400 seats. The Patricelli ’92 Theater is a historic brownstone building with a traditional proscenium. Both theaters are highly flexible and can be used as black boxes. Site-specific performances take place across campus: in the Davison Art Center, the Center for African American Studies, and the Russell House, to name a few. All theaters and alternative spaces are available to faculty and senior thesis productions. The Theater Department is part of the Center for the Arts (CFA), a complex of studios, classrooms, galleries, performance spaces, departments, and programs that provide a rich interdisciplinary environment for study and performance.

Major program.

The Theater major is an integrated program of study, one that provides a solid knowledge of the different areas of expertise that are involved in stage production and criticism. Gateway courses provide an introduction to theater techniques, principles, literatures, and discourses. Advanced courses prepare students to articulate their visions of theater both on stage and in writing. Honors theses, essays, and creative endeavors present majors with the opportunity to engage in in-depth scholarly and/or artistic research.

Students with strong interest in both theater and other fields of study may wish to pursue a double major. The option offers attractive possibilities for maximizing the benefits of Wesleyan's broad curriculum. Such an option is not uncommon but requires careful and early planning.

Declaration to become a major is usually made in the second semester of the sophomore year. The department embraces a broad definition of theater and believes in embodied learning: process, performance, and critical perspectives are equally stressed. Our majors focus on two or more aspects of theater, and learn to articulate their artistic vision both on stage and in writing. The department welcomes analysis, criticism, artistic innovation, and theater inquiry of all sorts.

Gateway Courses (must be completed by the spring semester of sophomore year):

• THEA105 Production Lab. One .50 credit in the technical aspects of Scenic, Costume,  or Lighting Design
• THEA203 Special Topics in Theater History
• THEA245 Acting I

Additional requirements:

• One course in Scenic, Costume, or Lighting design
• THEA302 Contemporary Theater: Theories and Aesthetics. Please note that certain courses in departments may fulfill one of two theater history prerequisites (the gateway THEA203 or THEA302) only if approved by the Theater faculty. Please consult the section "Courses cross-listed with other Wesleyan departments, colleges, and programs" in the Theater handbook.
• Two courses in dramatic literature, visual literacy, theory, criticism, and/or service learning. One of them may be an FYI course. Specialty courses in other departments may fulfill one of the two requirements only if approved by the Theater faculty. Please consult the section "Courses cross-listed with other Wesleyan departments, colleges, and programs" in the Theater handbook.
• One credit of THEA329/331 Technical Practice (earned in .25- and .50-credit increments)
• One credit of THEA427/431/433/435/437, Performance Practice

Honors in theater. Preliminary honors proposals with a bibliography are due one week after the end of spring break in the junior year. Students can submit proposals for either critical or creative honors theses.

Preliminary proposals will be judged based on clearly expressed objectives and evidence of research and preparation. Judgments will be based equally on preliminary research, clarity of the objectives of the process, and rationale for staging a given production. Please consult the section "Application Guidelines for Honors in Theater" in the handbook.

The Honors Committee will award honors on the basis of the readers’ evaluations.  All departmental readers must recommend honors for a candidate to be successful.  Students are entitled to copies of the readers’ comments. The Honors Tutor is responsible for assigning a grade for the courses THEA409 and THEA410; this grade need not reflect the decision of the Honors Committee to award or deny Departmental Honors.

High Honors in Theater is by invitation only and requires an oral exam conducted by the Honors Committee. The Honors Committee will invite qualified students according to the following criteria: consideration of the readers’ evaluations; originality of research and thesis topic; the student’s performance in courses as reflected in his or her transcript; compliance with the General Education Expectations; and the extent to which the student’s educational experience reflects the philosophy, goals, and diversity of the department.