THDA 401 (01) - Freshman Seminar
Freshman Seminar
Term: Fall 2021 - Full Term (08/30/2021 - 12/13/2021)
Grade Mode: Credit/Fail Grading
CRN: 13773
Start Date | End Date | Days | Time | Location |
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8/30/2021 | 12/13/2021 | W | 4:10pm - 5:00pm | PCAC M119 |
Start Date | End Date | Days | Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
8/30/2021 | 12/13/2021 | W | 4:10pm - 5:00pm | PCAC M119 |
Start Date | End Date | Days | Time | Location |
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8/30/2021 | 12/13/2021 | TR | 9:40am - 11:00am | PCAC A218 |
Questions? Nina.Morrison@unh.edu
From Hamlet to Hamilton, THDA 435 Intro To Theatre covers highlights from theatre history, theatre now, & the theatre of tomorrow, and fulfills the FPA DIscovery Requirement. You will see live UNH Theatre & Dance productions and filmed theatre, take part in creative assignments, and find out the answer to: What is theatre? Where did it come from? Who makes it and how? What makes theatre special? How do I get free and cheap tickets? What will be the theatre of the future?
Students say: I loved this project. We all really bonded with each other and I think I made a new group of friends! I’m glad I took this class with friends. I’ve never taken a theatre class and never did something like this but I had a lot of fun.
Books and Course Materials: This course section is participating in UNH’s Built-in-Books and Course Materials program which offers materials at below market rates. Information about this program can be found at this link: https://td.unh.edu/TDClient/KB/ArticleDet?ID=2158
Start Date | End Date | Days | Time | Location |
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8/30/2021 | 12/13/2021 | MWF | 2:10pm - 3:00pm | PCAC M223 |
Start Date | End Date | Days | Time | Location |
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8/30/2021 | 12/13/2021 | MWF | 2:10pm - 3:00pm | PCAC M223 |
8/30/2021 | 12/13/2021 | F | 1:10pm - 2:00pm | PCAC M316 |
Start Date | End Date | Days | Time | Location |
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8/30/2021 | 10/15/2021 | Hours Arranged | ONLINE |
DESCRIPTION:
No prior experience reading or acting Shakespeare is necessary for this course; all majors are welcome.
This course offers you the opportunity to familiarize yourself with a selection of William Shakespeare’s plays through the art and mechanisms of performance. These plays were designed to be acted and watched; they were not designed to be analyzed as static works of literature on the page. Though much can be learned from literary analysis of Shakespeare’s plays, much can also be learned through watching and reading about the processes directors and actors go through to bring the plays to life on the stage.
The course takes you through many of the different components of performing these works. These include, but are not limited to, learning about and understanding the language Shakespeare uses; paraphrasing the original texts; using the body to express language (breath, shape, movement); using language to create meaning, character, and motivation; non-verbal communication; the use of stage space and blocking; the director’s vision; the creative process of rehearsal; and the role of the audience.
You will be viewing different stage or cinematic performances of the following eight Shakespeare plays: Much Ado about Nothing; Romeo and Juliet; Julius Caesar; Twelfth Night; Hamlet; Othello; Macbeth; and The Tempest. You will have access to the original Shakespearean text, as well as a modern English translation of it, allowing you to follow the performance and more fully understand both the language and the story. The plays have been selected because they provide a variety of genres to examine: history, comedy, tragedy, and the romance. Because of this diversity, we will better understand how the director’s vision and actors’ performance can shape genre and vice versa.
You will also be reading related texts about performance, directing, acting, speaking Shakespearean language, movement and gesture, and other related materials. These will enhance your understanding of the audio/visual materials and help you get a fuller, more detailed picture of the complex processes involved in performing Shakespeare.
By the time you have completed the course, your experience of watching a Shakespeare performance (or any stage/cinematic performance) will be significantly enhanced and you will have a new appreciation for the arts of acting and directing.
NO PURCHASE OF REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS IS NECESSARY. All readings will be provided in Canvas.
Start Date | End Date | Days | Time | Location |
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8/30/2021 | 12/13/2021 | TR | 2:10pm - 3:30pm | PCAC M119 |
This course will examine the methods, intentions, and impact of dramatic adaptation. Contemporary playwrights frequently adapt classic plays from Ancient Greek theatre, Medieval morality plays, Shakespeare, and even classics of early 20th century realism, absurdism, and magical realism: deconstructing, refreshing, and reworking structure, characters, and themes to fit the writers’ new sociopolitical context. This seminar will examine both the original and updated works.
Theatre has the potential to make visceral connections with the audience through universal themes. But what is different about the audience’s experience of productions of original texts versus contemporary adaptations of these plays? Why and how do writers use classic stories as a template for something new? How can a production of an adapted play benefit from dramaturgical analysis and contextualization? Are there “classics” that have been excluded from the canon whose time has come for reexamination and adaptation?
Students will investigate the role dramaturgs, directors, and designers play in preparing an audience to see a classic or contemporary adaptation of a classic play. Students will also develop their own analytical questions such as: what makes the original worthy of adaptation, what types of techniques a writer may employ in adaptation and why, how theatrical themes evolve, and what is relevant to consider about the context in which each play was written.
This course fulfills the Discovery requirement in the category of Fine and Performing Arts. It also fulfills Writing Intensive, and Inquiry requirements.
As a Fine and Performing Arts Discovery, students will develop an understanding and appreciation of theatre as an artform by reading and watching plays from a range of historical periods, develop skills in creative writing including dramaturgy, which is a kind of research writing that combines academic research with applied creative writing, and produce art in the theatre in ongoing in-class staged readings, and as part of the final project. As a Writing Intensive course, it requires both high- and low-stakes writing, and offers practice in the planning and revision of creative and academic prose. As an Inquiry course, it emphasizes the formation and investigation of complex, open-ended questions.
There are no prerequisites and students do not need to have any prior theatre experience.
Examples of texts under consideration for the fall: Antigone by Sophocles adapted by Don Taylor,Twelfth Night by Shakespeare and Thrive by LM Feldman, Richard III and Teenage Dick by Mike Lew, A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansbury and Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris, God of Vengeance by Sholem Asch and Indecent by Paula Vogel. Please see the Durham Book Exchange or UNH Bookstore to purchase the required and recommended books.
Start Date | End Date | Days | Time | Location |
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8/30/2021 | 12/13/2021 | TR | 9:40am - 11:00am | PCAC M118 |
Start Date | End Date | Days | Time | Location |
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8/30/2021 | 12/13/2021 | MW | 11:10am - 12:30pm | PCAC CSHP |
Start Date | End Date | Days | Time | Location |
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8/30/2021 | 12/13/2021 | F | 11:10am - 12:30pm | PCAC CSHP |
Start Date | End Date | Days | Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
8/30/2021 | 12/13/2021 | F | 9:40am - 11:00am | PCAC CSHP |