This course is a study of the history of theater art and practice from its origins to the modern period, including its roles in non-western cultures. Special attention is given to the relationship between the literary and performative dimensions of drama, and the relationship between drama and its cultural context.
This course deals with advanced design theories and textual analysis. Emphasis is placed on script analysis in general, as well as the investigation of design principles from a designer's perspective. Students also refine technical skills in rendering and presentation, historical research, and analysis. Class sessions include interaction with student/faculty directors and other staff designers. The goal of this course is for students to approach text with a fresh vision and translate that vision into design for performance.
You can search for Open courses from MIT OpenCourseWare on theater; from Intro to Drama to Script Analysis.
Blanche Payne taught historic costume and apparel design in the School of Home Economics at the University of Washington. She joined the University faculty in 1927. Engaged in intensive research on clothing and historic costume, she supervised work on the Textile Costume Study Collection housed in the Home Economics Department. As part of her studies of non-Western folk dress and embroidery technique, she traveled extensively in Europe, collecting original ethnic costumes, textile and embroidery examples. Her primary interest was Eastern Europe. She considered the Balkan countries a valuable source for studying ethnic dress in its original context and wanted to provide her students with primary source material for the study of modern costume construction and fine craftsmanship. Unfortunately, her Yugoslavian research failed to result in a full length publication because of the prohibitive costs of publishing and destruction of some of the color plates during the war years.
This collection uses primary sources to explore the golden age of musical theatre on Broadway. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States.
Shakespeare in performance is now a core interest for all Shakespeareans: students, scholars, theatre professionals, and general audiences—anyone with a love of Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s Staging collects audio-visual materials related to the performance of Shakespeare’s plays from the time of Shakespeare to the present. Students writing about Shakespeare, teachers teaching Shakespeare, scholars researching Shakespeare, and performers staging new productions of Shakespeare’s work can all use the site to enrich their understanding of the performance aspects of these scripts.
The Great Depression had an enormous impact on theatre across the United States. Productions decreased dramatically, audiences shrank, and talented writers, performers, and directors fled the industry to find work in Hollywood. But despite adversity, the show went on. The public construction projects of the Works Progress Administration built new theaters in cities across America. The Federal Theatre Project was established to fund theatre and performances across the country providing work to unemployed artists. This influx of new artists had transformed the industry, opening theatre to new voices, themes, and audiences. This exhibition explores these Depression-era changes and their impact on American theater.
Contains links to numerous periods in theatre history designated by country and period. Also has an archive of plays.