Faculty | Course Descriptions

J106 Theater Arts Center
(831) 459-2974
theater@ucsc.edu
arts.ucsc.edu/theater

Program Description

The Theater Arts Department combines drama, dance, critical studies, and theater design/technology to offer students an intensive, unified undergraduate program. Combining theory and practice, the program seeks to educate the mind, the body, and the imagination of students. Graduates of the UCSC program typically pursue careers in professional theater and dance companies, in film and television, and in teaching at all levels—from university to high school to grade school. Others engage in careers in arts administration, dramatic writing, and related fields.

The program stresses the interrelation of dance, drama, and theatrical design and technology as essential to the successful practice of the theater arts in the contemporary world. The lower-division curriculum requires a range of practical work in the various subdisciplines and a rigorous exposure to the history of drama and dance. At the upper-division level, students are given the opportunity to focus on an area of interest within the discipline in limited-enrollment studios and through direct interaction with faculty. At the same time, they are asked to expand their theoretical perspectives through confrontation with the range of dramatic theories and focused course work in the history and theory of dance, drama, and design. The impact of digital and new media on theater is also explored.

A wealth of production opportunities are offered to students. This includes major productions directed by faculty or distinguished visiting artists, productions directed or choreographed by students, and faculty-directed workshops. Undergraduate students are also given the opportunity to see their own writing, choreography, or intermedia concepts put into production in annual festivals of student work. Although majors are given preference in studio courses, most courses and productions welcome nonmajors as well. Opportunities to study and perform non-Western as well as Euro-American traditions are also a significant part of the program.

The stage and studio spaces available to students of theater arts allow for this breadth of training and performance opportunities. The Theater Arts Center contains a 500-seat thrust stage, a state-of-the-art experimental theater, and a 200-seat proscenium theater; acting, directing, and dance studios; costume, scene, and properties shops; a sound recording room; a computer lab; and a metal shop. Elsewhere on campus are additional dance studios, the open-air Quarry Theater seating 3,000, the Shakespeare Santa Cruz Festival Glen, and the 150-seat Barn Theater. Library holdings in theater literature and history are extensive, including a large slide collection; journals in current theater, dance and design; and recordings, films, videotapes, and CD-ROMs.

A unique resource for UCSC students is Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Acknowledged to be one of the leading Shakespeare festivals in the country, SSC was founded in 1982 to foster links between modern scholarship and contemporary professional theater practice. SSC’s annual summer festival presents the works of Shakespeare in thematic context with other great plays of the world stage, performed, designed, and directed by professionals from all over the country. SSC offers undergraduates various opportunities to work in conjunction with theater professionals through its summer intern program, its winter holiday production (in fall quarter), and Shakespeare-to-Go, a 45-minute Shakespeare outreach production in which students perform and tour (during spring quarter) for audiences throughout Santa Cruz County and beyond.

Majors who wish to intensify their study of one particular theater arts area before seeking admission to graduate school or work with professional companies are encouraged to apply to the department’s Fifth-Year Certificate Program.

Petitioning for the Major

Prior to petitioning for the major, students must have successfully completed 2 credits of course 50, Fundamentals of Theater Production, and courses 60A-B-C, Development of Theater Arts: Theory, Literature, and Practice. Students are encouraged to complete these courses as early in their studies as possible so that the petition to major status can be accomplished no later than the first quarter of the junior year.

Transfer Students

During the first quarter on campus, transfer students who have not satisfied the prerequisites for the theater arts major may declare the major after completing a study plan during an advising session. Transfer students may petition to have equivalent courses taken at other schools count toward the major requirements.

Petition forms and information on courses and major requirements can be obtained at the department office, J106 Theater Arts Center.

Major Requirements

Students majoring in theater arts may organize their studies around a particular area of interest in accordance with the requirements outlined below. The theater arts major requires six lower-division courses and 6 credits of course 50 (a 2-credit course that provides experience in production work), six upper-division courses in residence, two electives (which may be upper- or lower-division courses), and satisfaction of the senior seminar requirement. Students must also take one course within the department that focuses on theater of diverse groups.

The following lower-division courses must be taken by all majors:

50 Fundamentals of Theater Production
(2-credit course; must take a total of 6 credits)

60A-B-C, Development of Theater Arts: Theory, Literature, and Practice

One course in each of the theater arts areas of drama, dance, and theater design and technology:

10, Introduction to Theater Design and Technology

20, Introductory Studies in Acting

30, Introduction to Modern Dance Theory and Technique

Three lower- or upper-division elective theater arts courses:

Six upper-division theater arts courses:

Each major must satisfy the senior seminar requirement (course 185).

Exceptions to the major requirements, through the UC Education Abroad Program or transfer credits, are considered on a case-by-case basis by the department chair.

Theater Arts Major Planners

The following are two recommended academic plans for students to complete during their first two years as preparation for the theater arts major. Plan One is a guideline for students who are committed to the major early in their academic career; Plan Two is for students who are considering the major.

Plan One
Year	Fall	Winter	Spring
1st (frsh)	Thea 60A gen ed college core	Thea 60B low-div studio gen ed	Thea 60C Thea 50 gen ed
2nd (soph)	Thea 30 gen ed gen ed	Thea 10 Thea 50 gen ed	Thea 20 gen ed gen ed (declare major)

Plan Two
Year	Fall	Winter	Spring
1st (frsh)	gen ed gen ed college core	Thea 20 low-div studio gen ed	Thea 30 Thea 60C gen ed
2nd (soph)	Thea 50 Thea 60A gen ed	Thea 10 Thea 60B gen ed	Thea 50 gen ed gen ed

Comprehensive Requirement

Theater arts majors are responsible for successfully completing a senior comprehensive exam in winter quarter of their last year of study in conjunction with course 185. It has two parts—oral and written—which are given in the fifth and 10th weeks of the quarter, respectively. In the fifth week of winter quarter, the oral presentation is delivered. Students select a focused portion of their creative or critical work to present to a committee of faculty members. Presentation options might include presenting a design project or an acting scene, discussing a directorial concept, demonstrating a choreography, or reading a scene from an original play. The written exam consists of essays analyzing selected texts around a selected topic in theater arts. For details, see the Theater Arts Department Handbook.

Minor Requirements

Students earn a minor in theater arts by completing seven courses (six 5-credit courses and one 2-credit course) comprising a background in the theory and practice of the theater arts as well as a focus on either drama, dance, or theater design. The course requirements are listed below. There is no comprehensive requirement for the minor.

Fifth-Year Certificate Program

The Theater Arts Department offers a graduate certificate program that allows a limited number of students to refocus or intensify their skills, concentrating on performance reinforced by scholarship. The program provides the opportunity to experience the benefits of apprenticeship in an academic setting. Students follow an individual program suited to their background, needs, and interests while specializing in drama, dance, design and technology, playwriting, Asian theater, or dramatic literature.

Students in the graduate certificate program are expected to complete one year as a full-time resident student, passing eight 5-credit theater arts courses. Of those eight courses, two are graduate seminars; and one must be in the history, criticism, or theory of theater or dance. The remainder of the program is designed by the student according to individual interests and needs in consultation with the faculty adviser. Many students elect to take faculty-supervised individual studies courses in their area of emphasis.

For additional information, contact the Theater Arts Department.