Theatre Arts

College of Creative Arts
Dean: Keith Morrison

Department of Theatre Arts
CA 103
415-338-1341
Chair: Joel Schechter

Undergraduate Adviser: C. Baron

Graduate Coordinator: M. Kowsar

Faculty

 Professors--Eilenberg, Goto, Hampton, Howard, Hunt, Kowsar, Mahler, Peters, Schechter

Associate Professors--Baron, Conboy

Assistant Professors--Roehrman, Washington

Programs

B.A. in Drama

Minor in Drama

M.A. in Drama

M.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Concentration in Design/ Technical Production

M.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Concentration in Performance

Program Scope

The Department of Theatre Arts offers a comprehensive program of both practical and theoretical courses for undergraduate and graduate students whose interests center in various aspects of educational and professional theatre.

The curricula provide the student with background for advanced study in the dramatic arts, for teaching, or for a career in the professional theatre. As a center for the training of future theatre artists and audiences, the department is committed to introducing a diversity of theatrical traditions and cultures to students. To this end, the department employs its four theatre spaces as learning laboratories, in which students collaborate with faculty and guest professionals; studio workshops and advanced stage productions in those theatres are the culmination of classroom study and rehearsal in and out of class.

The faculty members also often collaborate off-campus with area theatres, in ways that enlarge their experience and open new connections between students and the community. This contact with the community offers students an education grounded in practical professional stage practices as well as university classes and production on campus.

The diverse backgrounds of both faculty and students in the program provide our campus and community with a wealth of theatrical experiences and attractions. Graduates of the program have gone on to professional success in the Bay Area and elsewhere, with positions of leadership in theatre, television, film, and theatre education.

Fundamental to the major program is a core of required courses designed as a foundation upon which to elect, upon advisement, one of the following areas of emphasis: performance, play development and dramaturgy, or technical theatre and design.

The minor program is not a requirement for any credential or degree but it is intended to give the student an opportunity to pursue an interest in theatre arts on an organized basis.

The Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in Theatre Arts is offered with concentrations in Performance and Design/Technical Production. The three-year Master of Fine Arts program is designed to provide rigorous, professional graduate training to prepare students for careers as professional theatre artists or artist teachers. In the performance concentration, students develop specialized skills in either or both emphases of acting and directing while in the design/technical production concentration the focus is on specialized skills in the areas of scene design, costume design, lighting design, and/or technical production management.

The M.F.A. program is organized to combine the elements of professional practice and scholarly work to project a production concept through a specific discipline. The philosophy of the curriculum is based on two necessities of the theatrical art: collaboration and discipline. Students progress through a full-time sequence of courses which trains them to work with other specialized theatre artists in realizing a total work of theatre, as well as to excel in their own chosen arts. The program is designed to develop the candidate's practical skills and personal strengths towards motivating communication, commitment, and support among the production group.

The Master of Arts in Drama provides for students wishing to expand their knowledge and increase their competence in the fields of history and literature of the theatre, acting, directing, theatre design, and production; seeking teaching credentials where the master's degree is required; and preparing for further graduate work elsewhere.

Facilities

The Department of Theatre Arts produces its plays in four theatre spaces: McKenna Theatre, a large auditorium that seats 760 people; the Little Theatre, a proscenium stage that seats 250 people; the Studio Theatre, a space that seats 90 people; and the Brown Bag Theatre, which accommodates 55 people.

Theatre Arts classes and production work are also conducted, with professional supervision, in our Scene Shop, Costume Shop, Properties Shop, and Sound Design Laboratory. Some plays have also been staged outdoors, in front of the Student Center, with lighting provided by the California sun.

Career Outlook

Career opportunities in theatre arts include performance and technical positions in professional, regional, and community theatres, as well as the areas of film and television, for actor, director, stage manager, designer (lighting, costume, scenery), craftsperson (seamstress, carpenter, props artisan). Teaching positions range from child drama programs to elementary and high school theatre classes through community college and university curricula in all aspects of the dramatic arts. Other career possibilities include such diverse fields as sales, advertising, design (interior, fashion, display), child care, and recreation.

BACHELOR OF ARTS IN DRAMA

The core consists of the twenty-seven units listed below while the area of emphasis consists of eighteen units of required and elective courses. No fewer than twelve units, planned with and approved by an assigned adviser, must be taken in residence study.

Courses for this discipline are listed in alphabetical sequence (consult Index for page reference).

Units

Core Courses

TH A 130	Acting Workshop I		3

TH A 240	Evaluating the Theatrical Script for 

Production			3

Units selected from the following		6

TH A 310	Stage Scenery and Properties

TH A 312	Costuming and Make-Up

TH A 313	Stage Lighting and Sound

TH A 340	Principles of Directing		3

TH A 401	Theatre Backgrounds: 500 BC-1642			3

TH A 402	Theatre Backgrounds: 1642-19001		3

TH A 403	Theatre Backgrounds: 1900-Present1			3

TH A 515	Stage Management or

TH A 519	Theatre Management		3

Area of Emphasis(one Area of Emphasis chosen


from below)		18

Total		45

Areas of Emphasis

Performance

 
TH A 125	Movement I: Skills		3

TH A 223	Voice I: Skills		3

TH A 230	Acting Workshop II		3

Units chosen on advisement from one of the 

following clusters		9

Acting

 
TH A 330	Acting Workshop III

TH A 423	Voice II: Styles

TH A 430	Acting Workshop IV

TH A 530	Acting: The Play

TH A 531	Styles of Acting

Directing

 
TH A 210	Introduction to Design for Stage 

and Screen	

TH A 440	Acting/Directing Workshop

TH A 531	Styles of Acting

TH A 640	Directing: Collaborative Concepts

TH A 660	Advanced Play Development 

Workshop

TH A 690	Brown Bag Theatre Company (5)

TH A 691	Advanced Multicultural Production 

Workshop

Lyric Theatre

 
TH A 330	Acting Workshop III

TH A 333	Lyric Theatre Workshop

TH A 423	Voice II: Styles

TH A 425	Movement II: Styles

TH A 433	Musical Theatre Workshop

TH A 533	Advanced Musical Theatre 

Workshop

Asian Theatre

 
TH A 330	Acting Workshop III

TH A 332	Asian Acting for Western Actors

TH A 408	Asian Plays and Performance Styles

TH A 425	Movement II: Styles

TH A 430	Acting Workshop IV

TH A 525	Movement III: Techniques

TH A 532	Asian Theatre Workshop

Other

 
Units selected from the following on advise-

ment:

TH A 210	Introduction to Design for Stage 

and Screen	

TH A 330	Acting Workshop III

TH A 332	Asian Acting for Western Actors

TH A 333	Lyric Theatre Workshop

TH A 335	Rehearsal and Performance 

Technique

TH A 408	Asian Plays and Performance Styles

TH A 423	Voice II: Styles

TH A 425	Movement II: Styles

TH A 430	Acting Workshop IV

TH A 433	Musical Theatre Workshop

TH A 440	Acting/Directing Workshop

TH A 525	Movement III: Techniques

TH A 530	Acting: The Play

TH A 531	Styles of Acting

TH A 532	Asian Theatre Workshop

TH A 533	Advanced Musical Theatre 

Workshop

TH A 640	Directing: Collaborative Concepts

TH A 660	Advanced Play Development 

Workshop

TH A 690	Brown Bag Theatre Company (5)

TH A 691	Advanced Multicultural Production 

Workshop

Play Development and Dramaturgy

 
Units chosen from the following:		12

TH A 406	The Art of Comedy

TH A 408	Asian Plays and Performance 

Styles

TH A 460	Play Development Workshop

TH A 605	Writing and Performing 

Monologues

TH A 660	Advanced Play Development 

Workshop

Elective units on advisement		6

Technical Theatre and Design

 
TH A 210	Introduction to Design for Stage and 

Screen			3

One course selected from the following which 

was not taken as part of the core:		3

TH A 310	Stage Scenery and Properties

TH A 312	Costuming and Make-Up

TH A 313	Stage Lighting and Sound

TH A 505	Historical Styles for the Theatre		3

Elective units chosen from the following:		9

TH A 410	Scene Design for Stage and Screen

TH A 412	History of Stage Costume

TH A 413	Stage Lighting Design

TH A 415	Sound Design in Theatre

TH A 510	Advanced Stagecraft

TH A 512	Theatre Costume Design and 

Construction

TH A 615	Seminar in Technical Theatre 

Arts

Teaching Credentialsin the Single Subject Approved Program in English (Drama) require completion of courses in English as well as Theatre Arts. For details on this program, please consult credentials advisers in the English Composition and Secondary Education offices.

MINOR IN DRAMA

A minimum of twenty-two units, of which at least eleven must be at the upper division level, should be planned with an assigned adviser.

MASTER OF FINE ARTS IN THEATRE ARTS

Graduate Advisers--Eilenberg, Goto, Hampton, Howard, Hunt, Kowsar, Sinkkonen

Admission to the Program

Applications for classified status in the M.F.A. program are accepted beginning November 1 of the preceding year, for admission the following Fall. Applicants are required to file two applications, one to the university and one to the Theatre Arts Department. Admission to classified status requires acceptance by both the university and the Department of Theatre Arts. Audition notice and the departmental application form may be obtained by writing to: Department of Theatre Arts, Graduate Secretary, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, California 94132.

Written English Proficiency Requirement
Level One:evaluation of graduate student's statement of purpose, which is a written requirement for admission to classified standing in the Theatre Arts Department. On the basis of this material the graduate coordinator may properly advise a student on the need to obtain additional skills in writing. If remedial work is required it is so indicated as a condition to classification. Level Two: judged by a graduate student's written work while enrolled in THA 701 or 709. It is expected that papers written for this course will demonstrate scholarly style.

Completion of the Degree

To complete the M.F.A., students must satisfy all university and Department of Theatre Arts requirements. The university requirements are described in the front of the Graduate Education section of this Bulletin. Department requirements are provided in detail by the M.F.A. graduate coordinator and M.F.A. concentration advisers. In addition to satisfactory completion of the course requirements, the department requires satisfactory performance on yearly departmental reviews, participation in the department's production program, and the successful completion of a final creative project or thesis. The Department of Theatre Arts accepts a limited number of transfer units on a course-by-course basis, only on advisement.

Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Arts: Concentration in Performance

Contact the Department of Theatre Arts for further information on the revised program.

Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Arts: Concentration in Design/Technical Production

Units

Core Requirements

TH A 705	Seminar: Performance and 

Production Theory			3

TH A 711	Collaborative Processes in Theatre		3

TH A 740	Play Production Concepts		3

TH A 757	Internship in Theatre		3


TH A 894	Creative Work Project		3

Total for core		15

Concentration

 
One of the following:		3

TH A 701	Seminar: Theatre History and 

Historiography

TH A 702	Seminar: Shakespearean 

Production Style

TH A 710	Seminar in Stage Arts

TH A 750	Design Studio		9

TH A 810	Advanced Practicum in Theatre		9


Electives on advisement		24


Total for concentration		45

Total for degree		60

MASTER OF ARTS IN DRAMA

 Graduate Advisers--Eilenberg, Kowsar

Admission to Program

Applicants should submit the following directly to the graduate coordinator: (1) statement of purpose (include proposed area and/or areas of emphasis); (2) copy of transcript; (3) three letters of reference from people who know the applicant's theatre work; and (4) information considered important but which does not appear on the transcript.

Students must meet university departmental requirements, and must normally have completed an undergraduate major in Theatre Arts. Consideration is given to students with a strong undergraduate minor or other relevant work. Admission to the program is based on the Theatre Arts Graduate Committee's evaluation of a student's previous work and supportive materials.

Written English Proficiency Requirements
Level One:evaluation of graduate student's statement of purpose, which is a written requirement for admission to classified standing in the Theatre Arts Department. On the basis of this material the graduate coordinator may properly advise a student on the need to obtain additional skills in writing. If remedial work is required it is so indicated as a condition to classification. Level Two: judged by a graduate student's written work while enrolled in THA 701. It is expected that papers written for this course will demonstrate scholarly style.

Besides meeting all general requirements, a diagnostic examination on the entire field of drama may be given at the time of registration to aid the graduate adviser in developing each student's program. Weaknesses in any

area may necessitate enrollment in specified courses selected in order to build strength in the area. Such courses are usually taken in addition to the minimum number of units required for completion of the graduate major.

Program

All upper division courses in Theatre Arts in acting, directing, management, and design are acceptable upon advisement except: THA 300, 310, 312, 313, 315, 335, 401, 402, and 403.

Courses for this discipline are listed in alphabetical sequence (consult Index for page reference).

Units

Core Requirements

TH A 700	Theatre Research Methods		3

TH A 701	Seminar: Theatrical History and 

Historiography			3

TH A 707	Seminar: Theatrical Writing		1

TH A 709	Seminar: Dramatic Literature and 

Criticism			3

Other Requirements

 
Selection of one from the following:		3

TH A 702	Seminar: Shakespearean 

Production Style

TH A 703	Seminar: The American Stage

TH A 704	Seminar: Contemporary Plays 

and Performance

TH A 705	Seminar: Performance and 

Production Theory

TH A 894	Creative Work Project or

TH A 898	Master's Thesis		3

Upper division or graduate course in drama		3

Supporting upper division or graduate courses 

in related subjects approved by graduate 
major adviser		12

Minimum total		31
andMaster's Comprehensive Written Examination (If failed may be repeated once only and must be repeated within a year of the failure.)

Master's Thesis or Creative Work Project.Depending upon the educational and professional aims of the student, the departmental graduate committee recommends whether a master's thesis or creative work project is to be undertaken by the individual student.