Syllabus

Drama

Bridges Academy

Taught by Terry Haley, Assisted by Pat Scortino

2006 – 2007

terry@bridges.edu

Essential Understandings for this course

Drama is a collaborative art. Playwrights write, actors act, and directors direct, but none of them can do it alone. Every element of the performing arts involves collaboration with other people, not the least of whom include your audience. Even the more technical elements of theater – such as lighting, costumes, sound and set design – require constant interaction with other people in order to realize a central vision.

Conversely, drama is also a highly personal discipline. Who you are and how you develop as an individual matter a great deal as you enter the world of drama and theater. Your ability to record your experiences, analyze and connect with dramatic texts, and reflect on your own learning will be essential in this class.

Keeping in mind the balance of intrapersonal skills (knowing yourself) and interpersonal skills (working with others) we will develop, here are some of the essential understandings to work on:

• Theater is always collaborative.
• Drama is a wider concept than performance; it can also apply to literature, psychology, interpersonal communication and a variety of other areas.
• To some degree, we “perform” our own lives every day.
• Improvisation leads to creative expression and creative writing.
• Every theatrical discipline – acting, lighting, set design, directing, etc. – requires script analysis.

Reading

There will be various readings for this course distributed throughout the year, including plays and articles such as theater reviews or features. However, as you embark on individual projects or scenes, you will do reading specific to your work (for example, if you are doing a scene from a play, you should read the whole play to understand it thoroughly).

Grading Scale 89.5-100% A 79.5-89 B 69.5-79 C 59.5-69 D 59.4 or below F

Assignment Categories Percent of Grade Journal 15 Performance (participation) 15 Collaboration (participation) 15 Scene and Monologue Projects 35 Theater reviews 20

Social Skills

In addition to the spirit of collaboration described above, other key values in this course are communication, trust, and risk-taking and a sense of humor. Our commitment to these values will create a safe, exciting and creative learning environment.

Journal Entries

After each class meeting, you will make a short entry in your journal. Though we will sometimes use the journal in class, most of this work is done at home. The journal entries are very free form; you can write about whatever is on your dramatic mind. If you are working on a scene, you might want to write about what difficulties you are going through, or talk about what discoveries you have made about the character you are playing. Hate handwriting? You can do it on the computer and then past it into the journal entry for that day. Hate writing? Well, you can even draw a picture as long as it relates clearly to your experience in class. You can also write dialogue or poetry. You get what I mean by VERY FREE FORM, right?

Theater-going

In addition to any field trips we may take together as a class, you are expected to see at least three plays each semester (for a total of six) and review them. Reviews should be typed and 1-2 pages in length. There will be some class trips to see plays, but you will have to see about half of them on your own.

Homework

Homework assignments will vary somewhat in this class. Sometimes you will be asked to memorize something, other times to simply read a play.

Scene work and Monologues

Your major projects in the class will be performances. Most your scenes and monologues will be performed more than once. You will be graded each time you perform, but it is your final performance that will be weighted the most. Your grade is based on your willingness to adapt, to take risks, to try things, to collaborate, to work well with others.

Class participation

The surest way to get credit for class participation is to be an active contributor in all class exercises. However, if you are not ready to jump in, you can participate in other ways, such as helping or seeking out help from one other student, doing research on our topic that can benefit the whole class, or perhaps you will think up something I haven’t!