The Theatre Arts major provides students with a deep and wide-ranging education in theatre. The major consists of thirteen courses—seven required classes and six electives—and one production practicum. Those intending to major should consult with the director of the Theatre Arts Program to plan the best sequence for fulfilling requirements.
Required Courses*
- Theatre Arts 0101 [THAR101] Theatre, History, Culture I (From Classical to the Middle Classes).
- Theatre Arts 0102 [THAR102] Theatre, History, Culture II (Romantics, Realists and Revolutionaries).
- Theatre Arts 0103 [THAR125] The Play: Structure, Style, Meaning.
- Theatre Arts 0120 [THAR120] Introduction to Acting
OR Theatre Arts 0020 [n/a] Fundamentals of Acting (a first-year seminar) - Theatre Arts 0121 [THAR121] Introduction to Directing.
- Theatre Arts 0130 [THAR130] Introduction to Light, Set, and Costume Design
- Theatre Arts “Advanced Topics.” Many courses will be in the 2700-2799 range. Eligible courses will all have the ATAT attribute and can be searched in Path @ Penn by selecting "THAR Advanced Topics (ATAT)" in the Course Attribute drop-down in Advanced Search.
Penn recently converted all course numbers from 3 to 4 digits. Courses taken in the Spring of 2022 or earlier appear with the 3 digit numbers in brackets, and satisfy the same requirement.
Electives
Students can fulfill the remaining six course requirements with any Theatre Arts elective. These may be any class with a THAR course number or an ATEL attribute. Elective classes may be offered by the Theatre Arts Program or offered by other departments or programs, such as English, Cinema Studies, Classical Studies, GSWS, etc.
In some instances, students might locate classes that are neither cross-listed nor marked with an attribute but that could still be counted towards the major with permission of the director of Theatre Arts.
Theatre Arts 3500: Rehearsal and Performance
Theatre Arts 3500, Rehearsal and Performance, is a special class that consists of participation in a faculty-directed production. This course provides the opportunity to combine intellectural research into a play and its contexts, and then to engage in artistic practice through performance. Students may enroll as actors, directors, designers, or dramaturgs (enrollment is by audition or permission). Theatre Arts 3500 may be taken more than once to fulfill elective credits for the major.
Practicum Requirement
Each major will be required to work on one Theatre Arts production to complete the Theatre Arts major. The spirit of the requirement is two-fold: It ensures that each major has the experience of working backstage, learning aspects of theatre-making beyond acting; it is also a way to contribute to the Theatre Arts community in mounting productions. This is a non-credit-bearing requirement; it is in addition to the thirteen classes, and is also separate from any production work that might be required for other classes, including Theatre Arts 3500. Students may register for the practicum by contacting Cat Johnson, Theatre Arts Technical and Production Coordinator (catj@sas.upenn.edu). See the Practicum Requirement page for more information.
Declaring the Major
Students wishing to declare a major in Theatre Arts should complete the following steps to indicate interest and set up a meeting with the Program Director. Please note that submitting the Study Request Form is not enough to declare the major. The steps below must also be completed before a major request can be made official:
Fill out the “Declare/Update Field of Study Request Form” found on the Registrar’s website.
Contact the director of the Theatre Arts Program, Dr. Rosemary Malague (rmalague@sas.upenn.edu) to schedule an appointment. In addition to becoming officially “declared,” the Program Director helps students plan their course of study, providing information about when courses are offered and in what sequence they should be taken to best fulfill the major requirements.
Make an appointment with Cat Johnson (catj@sas.upenn.edu), Theatre Technical and Production Coordinator to discuss the practicum requirement and to learn about production opportunities.