A course on writing for theater and performance. Students will take cues from myriad experimental playwrights and performance artists who have challenged conventional ideas of what a script should look and sound like, how narrative is constructed, how characters are built, and what a setting can be. This class will push beyond the formal structures of the well-made play script and address how writers explore and reinvent form and language as a means for radical change. To learn more about this course, visit the Creative Writing Program at https://creative.writing.upenn.edu.

Theatre Rehearsal and Performance provides students with deep intellectual and artistic immersion in the theatrical process through intensive research, rehearsal, and performance of a full-length stage piece. Students may enroll in this course as actors (by audition only) or as assistant directors, stage managers, dramaturgs, or designers (by permission of the instructor). Each semester, the play will be featured in the Theatre Arts Program production season. This course does not follow a typical meeting pattern. Please see Section Details for production-specific details including meeting times and audition/permit information.

This course operates as a continuation of both Introduction to Acting (THAR 0120) and Introduction to Directing (THAR 0121). Students can take the course as actors, directors, or both. Each semester the course covers a unique topic of exploration for actors and directors. This is a studio class with a focus on scene work within various genres, styles and concentrations of theatrical practices. Some special topics might include: Japanese Theatre, Theatre as Event, Experimental Theatre, and Feminism and Form.

What, exactly, is “method acting”? Jeremy Strong became notorious on television’s Succession for “staying in character” while filming, to the great irritation of his castmates. Jared Leto “transformed” himself by gaining sixty pounds for a role in Chapter 27, then losing another thirty for a role in Dallas Buyer’s Club. Are such approaches really “method” acting? Are they healthy and sustainable? And do they produce truly compelling performances? This course aims to demystify “the method” through a combination of historical inquiry and hands-on acting work. We will explore the cultural phenomenon of “the method” by tracing its historical, theatrical roots, from the core theories and practices of Russian actor-director Konstantin Stanislavsky through the American Group Theatre experiments of the 1930s, the heyday of New York’s Actors Studio in the 1950s, and its culmination in iconic stage and film performances. (One prime example is Marlon Brando’s famed portrayal of Stanley in Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire, as directed by Elia Kazan). Our studies will involve reading historical, theoretical, and dramatic texts, viewing selected films, and practicing acting exercises. Course assessment will comprise participation, facilitation, short responses, and a final project that can take the form of a research paper, presentation, or performance.

"The people need to know the story. See how they fit into it. See what part they play.”
- August Wilson, King Hedley II
If you want to get to know community members from West Philadelphia, collaborate deeply with classmates, gain deeper and more nuanced understandings of African American history and culture, engage in a wide range of learning methods, and explore some of the most treasured plays in the American theatre, then this is the course for you. No previous experience required, just curiosity and willingness to engage. In this intergenerational seminar, Penn students together with older community members read groundbreaking playwright August Wilson's American Century Cycle: ten plays that form an iconic picture of African American traditions, traumas, and triumphs through the decades, nearly all told through the lens of Pittsburgh's Hill District neighborhood. (Two of Wilson’s plays are receiving fresh attention with recent acclaimed film versions: Fences with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis; Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom with Davis and Chadwick Boseman.) Class participants develop relationships with one other while exploring the history and culture that shaped these powerful plays.
As an Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) course, the class plans and hosts events for a multigenerational, West Philadelphia-focused audience with community partners West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance / Paul Robeson House & Museum, and Theatre in the X. Class members come to a deeper understanding of Black life in Philadelphia through stories community members share in oral history interviews. These stories form the basis for an original performance the class creates, presented at an end-of-semester gathering. Wilson's plays provide the bridge between class members from various generations and backgrounds. The group embodies collaborative service through the art and connection-building conversations it offers to the community.

The American musical is an unapologetically popular art form, but many of the works that come from this tradition have advanced and contributed to the canon of theatre as a whole. In this course we will focus on both music and texts to explore ways in which the musical builds on existing theatrical traditions, as well as alters and reshapes them. Finally, it is precisely because the musical is a popular theatrical form that we can discuss changing public tastes, and the financial pressures inherent in mounting a production. Beginning with early roots in operetta, we will survey the works of prominent writers in the American musical theatre, including Kern, Berlin, Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers, Hart, Hammerstein, Bernstein, Sondheim and others. Class lecture/discussions will be illustrated with recorded examples.

This course explores new trends, methods, and perspectives in Shakespearean criticism and adaptations. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.

This class focuses on teaching students the creative and technical skills needed to excel in on-camera acting. Beginning by exploring theatre techniques to investigate character, relationship and conflict, this class will then focus on identifying the parameters of film & TV scripts of the last five years. Students will learn to identify the primary function of their character within that structure, and to imagine, create, and make playful choices that foster the story being told. By exploring acting techniques that bridge stage and screen, students will gain experience with producing professional self-tapes that reflect current industry standards, understanding the complexity of framing, vocal quality and eyelines in Zoom callbacks, and experimenting with the use of digital media in theatre.

The study of the art of bodily expression throughout history in theory and practice, from Classical and Oriental, African and Latin forms of dance and movement theater to the contemporary dance and theater, including mime, modern dance, post modern dance, physical theater, film, and performance art.

Design for theatre (and all of the performing arts) is a dynamic, collaborative process that engages both intellect and emotion in staging the dramatic moment. The personal vision of the designer must navigate the often-uncharted waters of the production process, from the earliest, personal moments of design inspiration to the opening night performance. Design flows from creativity, is structured by research and theory, and is realized in living form by collaboration in the dynamic process of theatre-making. This class will integrate history, theory and practice of stage design in the interactive setting of the Collaborative Classroom in Van Pelt Library in this special interdisciplinary, active-learning course offering open to all Penn students. Group and individual projects, field visits, practical projects and guest speakers will be featured in this newly-revised course.