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Course 21M: Music and Theater Arts |
![]() | | | Music | | | Theater Arts | | | ![]() |
Theater ArtsThe subjects listed below are arranged in three sections: Introductory, Intermediate, and Advanced Subjects. Introductory Subjects21M.600 Introduction to Acting
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 4-0-8 URL: https://mailman.mit.edu Lecture: MW11-1 (50-201) or MW3-5 (50-201) or MW1-3 (W97-160) or MW3-5 (W97-160) or TR11-1 (W97-269) or TR1-3 (W97-269) or TR3-5 (W97-269) or TR11-1 (W97-160) ![]() Explores the actor's tools: body, voice, mind, imagination, and the essential self. Through studio exercises, students address issues of honesty and creativity in the theatrical moment, and begin to have a sense of their strengths and limitations as communicating theatrical artists. Provides an opportunity for students to discover their relationship to "the other" in the acting partner, the group, the environment, and the audience. Limited to 20 per section. Fall: J. Rubio Spring: Staff No textbook information available 21M.601 Drawing for Designers
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: M EVE (7-10 PM) (W97-261) or T EVE (7-10 PM) (W97-261) or W2-5 (W97-261) or W EVE (7-10 PM) (W97-261) or R EVE (7-10 PM) (W97-261) ![]() Explores drawing as a fundamental component of the design process. In-class drawing exercises focus on developing the hand-to-eye relationship and pre-visualization skills essential to any designer. Studies the use drawing as a route to understanding space and form and achieving accuracy through expression. By drawing figures, landscapes and/or still life compositions in a variety of media, students investigate the figure/ground relationship while dealing with tone, line, and composition, which are all requisite elements of design. Provides exposure to designers who have used drawing as a central component of their work. Students create a portfolio that includes in-class drawings, studies done outside of class, and one research-based written project. Lab fee required. Limited to 20. Fall: S. Lacey, Staff Spring: S. Lacey, M. McLoed No textbook information available 21M.603 Fundamentals of Theater Design
![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: F2-5 (W97-261) ![]() Introduces the fundamental skills and concepts of scenography through a series of individual design projects structured to explore the relationship of the performer to the environment, the interrelation of lighting and stage design, and the evolution of visual narrative. Develops a basic visual literacy for the theater by honing skills in drawing, model building, 3-D modeling, digital image manipulation, and color theory. Projects complimented by study of artworks and theories by Cindy Sherman, Sol LeWitt, Alan Kaprow, Robert Wilson, Bertolt Brecht, Caspar Neher, and others. Lab fee required. Enrollment may be limited. S. Brown No required or recommended textbooks 21M.604[J] Playwriting Fundamentals
![]() ![]() ![]() (Same subject as 21W.754[J]) Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 ![]() Introduces the craft of writing for the theater, with special attention to the basics of dramatic structure. Through weekly assignments and in-class exercises, students explore character, conflict, language and plasticity in scenes and short plays. In workshop format, students present individual work for feedback and heavily revise their work based on that response. Readings include a variety of plays. K. Urban 21M.605 Voice and Speech for the Actor
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 4-0-5 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: TR11-1 (50-201) or TR1-3 (50-201) or TR3-5 (50-201) ![]() Concentrates upon freeing the natural voice through awareness of physical, vocal and, at times, emotional habits and the willingness and desire to experience change. Teaches progression of contemporary approaches to voice through in-class vocal exercises. Students use sonnets or poems as vehicles to explore the components of language and the need to communicate and reveal oneself through the voice. Designed for students interested in theater or developing their voices for presentations and professional speaking. Limited to 18; preference to Theater majors, minors, and concentrators who have pre-registered. Fall: K. Eastley, O. D'Ambrosio Spring: K. Eastley No textbook information available 21M.606 Introduction to Stagecraft
![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 4-6-2 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: TR3-5 (W97-275) ![]() Provides a foundation in theater technology, examining the creation of a theatrical production from conception to performance. Explores the realization of an artistic and structural vision for a play, taking into account all facets of technical theater: history of productions, types of technical roles, design, drafting, carpentry, costume, lighting, rigging, stage management, sound, and video. Students serve on the production team responsible for building, installing and/or running the department's show that semester. Limited to 18. A. Gitchel No textbook information available 21M.607[J] Playwriting Methods
![]() ![]() ![]() (Same subject as 21W.774[J]) Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 Lecture: R2-5 (4-251) ![]() Builds understanding of the methods playwrights use to transform an idea - drawn from their own lives, news and current events, even the plays of other writers - into a reality. Students use a variety of inspiration to write their own new scenes and short plays. Examines how research can help develop an idea for a new play and discusses ways to adapt a classic text for the contemporary stage. Writers also conduct personal interviews and use the transcript as source material for a new scene. Enrollment limited. K. Urban Textbooks (Spring 2024) 21M.608[J] Screenwriting
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() (Same subject as 21W.776[J]) Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 URL: https://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: W2-5 (W97-267) ![]() Explores the fundamentals of screenplay writing. Presents skills to create compelling characters and stories in different dramatic genres (comedy, drama). In addition to their own writing, students read a selection of screenplays and watch short films that form the basis of class discussion early in the term. Class is modeled on a professional development workshop in which participants, over the course of the term, write a short screenplay, including a final draft. Enrollment limited. Fall: K. Urban Spring: K. Urban No required or recommended textbooks 21M.609[J] Introduction to Drama
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() (Same subject as 21L.005[J]) Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 Lecture: TR9.30-11 (66-144) ![]() 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 to the relationship between the literary and performative dimensions of drama, and the relationship between drama and its cultural context. Enrollment limited. Fall: S. Alexandre Spring: Sandy Alexandre No required or recommended textbooks 21M.622 Physical Improvisation: Scores and Structures
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 4-0-8 ![]() Explores physical improvisation in dance/theater from a variety of task-based, conceptual vantage points. Focuses on conceptual frameworks for generating intensely physical dramatic actions and dances that unlock the students' creativity. Investigates topics such as narrative, how stories and scenarios can elicit movement and emotionally resonant physical interaction; visual composition, creating movement and actions on stage from an imagistic starting point; and hypothetical worlds, movement based on the creation of rules for alternate worlds (e.g., strange, indigenous time, strange evolution). Explores solos, duets, trios, and larger ensemble improvisations. Enrollment limited. D. Safer 21M.623 Physical Improvisation: Bodies in Motion
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 4-2-6 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: MW9-11 (W97-162) or MW11-1 (W97-162) or MW1-3 (W97-162) or TR9-11 (W97-162) or TR1-3 (W97-162) ![]() Explores the realities of the body in space and motion - interacting with gravity, momentum, inertia, alignment, negative space, one's imagination, one's body, other bodies, the present room and rooms from memory, geometry, stillness, and more. By releasing tension and abandoning the notion of pre-planning, students experience a natural, spontaneous flow of movement, opening themselves up to, and diving into, whatever might happen. Develops alertness in order to work in an energetic state of physical disorientation, self-correcting what doesn't work and reinforcing what does on the spot, discovering physical/emotional truths and shared moments that leave students aware, centered, incredibly present, and sharply alive. Enrollment limited. Fall: D. Safer Spring: D. Safer No textbook information available 21M.624 Acting with the Camera
![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 4-0-8 ![]() Studio workshop explores the discipline of acting for the camera through in-class exercises that focus on the creative challenges inherent to both filming and being filmed. Investigates the performer in the history of cinema, television, and multimedia stage performance through readings, screenings, and experimentation with the theory and practice of performing for and with the camera. Culminates in student-written, edited, directed, and acted short films. Instruction in written and oral communication provided. Limited to 20. A. Kohler 21M.645 Motion Theater
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: T EVE (7-10 PM) (W97-160) ![]() Examines the theatrical event from the perspective of composition in a performance workshop. Studio exercises address the process of developing a theatrical work through an internalized understanding of compositional principles in theater. Examines physical action in time and space. Includes outside readings, videos, short essays, and in-class discussions. Provides the performer, director, choreographer, designer or writer opportunities to engage with large and small group ensembles in creation of theatrical events. Topics include image, motion, shape, repetition, gesture, and spatial relationship. Preference to majors, minors, concentrators. Admittance may be controlled by lottery. Fall: B. Foster Spring: B. Foster No textbook information available 21M.690 Sport as Performance
![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 ![]() Seminar investigates the aesthetics of sport as theatrical performance and explores the performance of race, gender, class, nation, and sexuality in sport. Readings drawn from theatre/performance studies, anthropology, sociology, ethnic studies, gender studies, history, and kinesiology. Topics include barnstorming, Olympics, Title IX, Native American mascots, and a variety of sports ranging from football to figure skating. Limited to 18. C. Conceison Intermediate Subjects21M.700 China on Stage
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 Credit cannot also be received for 21M.701 ![]() Explores the role theater productions have played in shaping Chinese society, politics, and cultural exchange during the past century. Topics include censorship, audience reception, and current translingual and cross-cultural trends. Examines plays in English translation, videos, photographs, archival materials, and English-language books and articles about Chinese theater. Enrollment limited. C. Conceison 21M.701 China on Stage
![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 Credit cannot also be received for 21M.700 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule ![]() Explores the role theater productions have played in shaping Chinese society, politics, and cultural exchange during the past century. Topics include censorship, audience reception, and current translingual and cross-cultural trends. Examines plays in English translation, videos, photographs, archival materials, and English-language books and articles about Chinese theater. Enrollment limited. Staff 21M.702 Live Solo Performance: Monodrama and Composition
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 ![]() Studies the theatrical canon of monodramas and solo performances to hone individual acting skills. Goes on to explore each student's original artistic voice by presenting strategies in composing and staging work, thus introducing them to experiments with performing the self in society. Each student creates their own original performance piece by the end of the term. Enrollment limited. D. Safer 21M.704 Music Theater Workshop
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: 21M.600 or permission of instructor Units: 3-0-9 ![]() Introduces applications of music in theater and performance. Encourages experimentation with different genres of singing, acting, and movement by exploring an array of historical and contemporary styles and techniques. Students develop and perform their own original songs and textual materials, gaining a theoretical and practical understanding of the actor's contribution to the dynamic form of musical theater. Previous experience in musical theater not required. Staff 21M.705 Acting Intensive
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: 21M.600 or permission of instructor Units: 4-0-8 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: MW1-3 (50-201) ![]() Gives students who have begun the process of bringing themselves to a dramatic moment the opportunity to apply their skills to scripted material. Studio work in this class further develops the completeness, spontaneity, and honesty of expression of the actor's body, imagination, and voice; and introduces written material and the problems of synthesizing the self, the moment, and the scripted word. Weekly rehearsals with a scene partner. Enrollment may be limited. J. Rubio No textbook information available 21M.706 Asian American Theater
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 3-1-8 ![]() Explores the history and impact of Asian American theater. Readings include plays and materials about cultural and political issues, family, and identity. Course includes short formal and creative writing assignments and scene work resulting in a collaborative final performance. Limited to 18. C. Conceison 21M.707 Theater and Race
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 ![]() Explores Black, Latinx, Asian American, Indigenous, and/or mixed race theater through the lens of identities and experiences. Emphasis on BIPOC voices, plays, artists, theater ensembles, collectives, and cultural organizations. Topics may include cross-ethnic casting, public action and activism, and other emerging contemporary performance platforms. Seminar discussions, readings, research and creative projects, sessions with visiting artists and scholars, and attendance of at least one live performance inform and enrich the experience. May be repeated for credit if content differs. Staff 21M.709[J] Modern Drama
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() (Same subject as 21L.486[J]) Prereq: One subject in Literature Units: 3-0-9 URL: https://lit.mit.edu/21l-486-modern-drama/ ![]() Explores major modern plays with special attention to performance, sociopolitical and aesthetic contexts, and the role of theater in the contemporary multimedial landscape. Includes analysis of class, gender, and race as modes of performance. Typically features Beckett and Brecht, as well as some of the following playwrights: Chekov, Churchill, Deavere Smith, Ibsen, Fornes, Friel, Kushner, O'Neill, Shaw, Stoppard, Soyinka, Williams, Wilson. May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor if content differs. Staff 21M.710 Script Analysis
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: M EVE (7-10 PM) (W97-267) ![]() Focuses on reading a play's script critically and theatrically, with a view to mounting a coherent production. Through careful, intensive analysis of a variety of plays from different periods and aesthetics, a pattern emerges for discerning what options exist for interpreting a script from the distinct perspectives of the playwright, the actor, the designer, and the director. Students discuss the consequences of those options for production. Enrollment limited. Fall: Staff Spring: Staff Textbooks (Spring 2024) 21M.711 Production Seminar
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: R EVE (7-10 PM) (W97-269) ![]() Pursues detailed study of a particular playtext or theme and is related to some planned production activity during the following IAP. Seminar activities may include guest speakers from various disciplines who approach some aspect of the playtext or theme from the perspective of their fields; various theatrical practitioners; and critical and scholarly presentations by seminar members. Participation in the IAP production is not required. S. Brown No required or recommended textbooks 21M.712 Choreography: Making Dances
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 4-2-6 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: TR3-5 (W97-162) ![]() Laboratory-style class explores and invents techniques used to create dances. Students practice techniques focused on how and where to begin making a dance - sampling some of the endless ways to start a process, such as from the body, an idea, text, or a song - and then how to build up from there. Students make dances that are more than just a collection of moves, but events that do something, say something, or ask something. Builds a clear understanding of how a dance has an arc, a clear beginning, middle, and end, so that by doing it or watching it, both participants and audience end up somewhere new. Develops an understating of, and facility with, a wide variety of topics used to explore, start and generate movement, dance and performative events involving bodies moving through space. Enrollment limited. Fall: J. Clark Spring: D. Safer No textbook information available 21M.713 History of American and European Scenography
![]() ![]() ![]() Not offered regularly; consult department Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 ![]() Explores the history of visual theater design from the Ancient Greek theater to contemporary practice. Investigates the forces that shape different scenographic approaches, such as historical events, arts patronage, concurrent movements in art and culture, and technological innovations. Introduces students to the strategies, philosophies, and practice utilized by important design practitioners such as Caspar Neher, Lyubov Popova, Ming Cho Lee, Anna Viebrock, Josef Svoboda and others. Discusses how the fictional architecture of the stage intersects with the material culture. Students choose a designer and develop a project around their work that includes a research paper, a presentation, and the student's recreation of their designs using contemporary visualization technologies. Enrollment limited. Staff 21M.714 Contemporary American Theater
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 URL: https://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: R EVE (7-10 PM) (W97-267) ![]() Examines the exciting terrain of contemporary American writing for the theater, focusing on what is known in New York as "Off Broadway," "downtown," or "indie theater." Students read work by influential playwrights from earlier generations alongside plays by new voices currently in production in Boston, New York, and across the country. Students also examine the changing institution of American theater, reading a selection of plays in order to determine what constellation of issues and concerns they engage. Discussions unpack how these plays reflect, challenge and re-construct the idea of America in the 21st century. Enrollment limited. M. De Simone No required or recommended textbooks 21M.715 Topics in Theater Arts
![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: Permission of instructor Units: 3-0-9 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: M2-5 (W97-275) ![]() Multidisciplinary seminar provides opportunity for study in performance theory and practice. Topics vary from term to term; may be taught by visiting faculty. May be repeated for credit if content differs. L. Haac No textbook information available 21M.716 Play Translation and Cultural Transmission
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 ![]() Through reading texts about translation and by doing an independent project, students develop significant skills in translation theory and practice, culminating in a public staged reading of their translations. Each student chooses a dramatic text from a non-English language and translates a scene during the semester. Readings include topics such as globalization, adaptation, gender in translation, and postcolonial approaches to translation. C. Conceison 21M.719[J] Studies in Drama
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() (Same subject as 21L.703[J]) Prereq: Two subjects in Literature Units: 3-0-9 URL: https://lit.mit.edu/21l-703-studies-in-drama/ ![]() Intensive study of an important topic or period in drama. Close analysis of major plays, enriched by critical readings and attention to historical and theatrical contexts. Instruction and practice in oral and written communication through student presentations and research essays. Previously taught topics include: Renaissance Drama; Shakespeare with his Contemporaries; Oscar Wilde; and Stoppard and Company. May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor if content differs. Limited to 12. Staff 21M.729[J] How We Got to Hamilton
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() (Same subject as 21L.500[J]) Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 ![]() Traces the evolution of the American musical from minstrelsy to Hamilton. Equips students with terms, tools, and techniques to enrich their analysis of how individual songs, scenes, and dances — as well as whole shows — are structured. Recovers the groundbreaking yet often forgotten or appropriated achievements of artists of color to Broadway and Hollywood musicals. Features a mix of creative and critical assignments, some of which may be linked to field trips to local theaters, dance studios, and archives. Limited to 20. Staff 21M.731 Sound Design for Theater and Dance
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 4-0-8 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: T EVE (7-10 PM) (W97-269) ![]() Introduces the elements of a sound designer's work, such as music and sound effects which inform and make stage action plausible, to sound system design and placement and the use of microphones. Discusses how effective sound design enhances live performance by clarifying storytelling, heightening emotional experience, and making words and music legible to an audience. Provides students with the tools to continue practicing and appreciating the art regardless of their professional ambitions. Enrollment limited. C. Frederickson No textbook information available 21M.732 Costume Design
![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: Permission of instructor Units: 3-0-9 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: M EVE (7-10 PM) (W97-275) ![]() Studio workshop designed for students who possess a basic understanding of the principles of design and seek a more intensive study of costume. Students develop designs through a collaborative creative process that incorporates production dramaturgy and script analysis, and map those findings to a scenographically charged directorial concept. Fosters period research, conceptual design, and rendering skills through practical studio exercises. Instruction in life drawing, visual presentation, and basic costume construction provides the tools for applying conceptual design skills in performance. Lab fee required. Haac No textbook information available 21M.733 Set Design
![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 ![]() Investigates the creation of set design for live performance. Students develop designs related to current production projects at MIT. Focuses on developing the designer's communication tools, particularly in the areas of visual research, 3-D digital model making, and design presentation. Examines the relationship of set design to theater architecture, emerging media technologies and dramaturgies of the 20th and 21st centuries. In addition to creating their own designs, students research, write about, and present the work and practice of a set designer. Lab fee required. S. Brown 21M.734 Lighting Design
![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: Permission of instructor Units: 4-0-8 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: M EVE (7-10 PM) (W97-160) ![]() Explores the history, concepts and techniques of sculpting space with light within a contemporary context. Students experiment with a wide range of approaches, tools, and skills to develop their own creative vision. Focuses on discrete forms that include live performance, installation, architecture, and developments in applied technologies. Studio projects alternate between conceptual studies and realized designs reflective of students' own unique interests and talents. Enrollment may be limited. J. Higgason No textbook information available 21M.735 Technical Design for Performance
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: 21M.606 or permission of instructor Units: 4-0-8 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule ![]() Studio examines the role of the technical designer as an integral member of an ensemble. Focusing on the artistic process, students develop their own unique approaches to stage design, lighting, sound, video design and other new media applications for the performing arts. They also explore an array of pre-production research and rehearsal techniques and analyze dramatic texts. Introduces theoretical and practical aspects of technical design, from the budgeting of time and selection of materials, to use of new technologies. Culminates in a public showing of final design projects for an invited audience. J. Higgason 21M.737 Interactive Design and Projection for Live Performance
![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 3-4-5 ![]() Studies design, history, artistic purposes, and programming techniques involved in the development of interactive performance design systems for controlling video projection, media, and lighting for live performances. Includes readings, viewings of historical and contemporary works, and in class-practice and performance. Students use motion-sensing input devices, such as the Kinect, infrared-light tracking, accelerometers, live video, and generative graphics, to create interactive design systems. Enrollment limited. J. Higgason 21M.747 Talking and Dancing
![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 ![]() Interdisciplinary dance theater studio invites students to investigate the spaces between dance and theater. Students engage in an array of acting and dance techniques to generate text from movement and movement from text. In-studio exercises examine the process of melding the expressive languages of words with languages of the body. Students use existing texts and compose original texts in the development of solo, duet, and ensemble projects. Explores the process of seeing and providing peer feedback to further expand the process of revision. Readings, short writings, video viewings, and guest lectures provide multiple avenues of understanding and illumine differing ways of making. Culminates with an opportunity for students to refine, develop, and share their projects in performance. D. Irizarry 21M.781 Writing the Full-Length Play
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() (Subject meets with 21M.780[J], 21W.780[J]) Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 ![]() Students write and extensively revise a full-length play, from an initial idea to a revised draft. For our purposes, any script longer than thirty minutes and under a hundred minutes is considered a full-length play. Students respond to each other's work using a method inspired by dancer Liz Lerman, giving non-prescriptive advice and feedback to their fellow writers. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 10. K. Urban 21M.784 Producing Podcasts
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: M EVE (7-10 PM) (W97-269) ![]() Students write and produce a pilot episode of a narrative podcast (about fifteen minutes in length); sources come from interviews or research that students conduct. At the start of the term, students pitch possible stories. Discussions of selected episodes of narrative podcasts such as Serial, Homecoming, and This American Life. Introduces the basics of podcast recording with a primer on using Logic Pro X and hardware like the Apogee Duet. Students record and edit a rough draft of their podcast using provided portable recording studio kits. Podcasts shared with the larger MIT community at the Podcast Listening Room at the end of term. Enrollment limited. Fall: C. Frederickson Spring: C. Frederickson No required or recommended textbooks 21M.785 Playwrights Lab
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() (Subject meets with 21M.789) Prereq: 21M.780 or permission of instructor Units: 4-0-8 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: W EVE (7-10 PM) (W97-267) ![]() Students workshop their full-length play completed in 21M.780/21M.781 as part of the MTA Playwrights Lab, a collaboration between MIT students and professional actors and directors. Each writer engages in note sessions with a director and prepares a rehearsal draft. Writers attend rehearsals for a staged reading of their work and collaborate with their director and cast. Writers are expected to participate in other readings in the Lab, as a stage direction reader and as an audience member. Following the public presentation of the play, students process the experience and complete a final revision of the script. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 10. K. Urban No required or recommended textbooks 21M.789 Playwrights Lab
![]() ![]() ![]() (Subject meets with 21M.785) Prereq: 21M.781 or permission of instructor Units: 4-0-8 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule TBA. ![]() Students workshop their full-length play completed in 21M.780/21M.781 as part of the MTA Playwrights Lab, a collaboration between MIT students and professional actors and directors. Each writer engages in note sessions with a director and prepares a rehearsal draft. Writers attend rehearsals for a staged reading of their work and collaborate with their director and cast. Writers are expected to participate in other readings in the Lab, as a stage direction reader and as an audience member. Following the public presentation of the play, students process the experience and complete a final revision of the script. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Enrollment is limited to 10. K. Urban No required or recommended textbooks 21M.790 Fundamentals of Directing
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() (Subject meets with 21M.791) Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule Lecture: M EVE (7-10 PM) (W97-165) ![]() Studio workshop introduces students to the collaborative artistic practice of directing for the theater, opera, and other live performance disciplines. Weekly sessions provide students the opportunity to develop innovative theatrical events through rigorous analysis of dramatic texts, social practices, musical scores and libretti, and other source materials. With a focus on collaboration, students conduct dramaturgical research, experiment with behavior and motion, create compositional studies, design interventions, and complete other scenographic exercises culminating in an end-of-semester presentation for an invited audience. Generative studio prompts are complimented by selected readings, field trips, interactions with guest artists, and video viewings. Students are encouraged to bring their own unique points of view and to celebrate difference. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. J. Scheib No textbook information available 21M.791 Fundamentals of Directing
![]() ![]() ![]() (Subject meets with 21M.790) Prereq: None Units: 3-0-6 TBA. ![]() Studio workshop introduces students to the collaborative artistic practice of directing for the theater, opera, and other live performance disciplines. Weekly sessions provide students the opportunity to develop innovative theatrical events through rigorous analysis of dramatic texts, social practices, musical scores and libretti, and other source materials. With a focus on collaboration, students conduct dramaturgical research, experiment with behavior and motion, create compositional studies, design interventions, and other scenographic exercises culminating in an end-of-semester presentation for an invited audience. Generative studio prompts are complimented by selected readings, fieldtrips, interactions with guest artists, and video viewings. Students are encouraged to bring their own unique points of view and to celebrate difference. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. J. Scheib No textbook information available Advanced Subjects21M.800 All the World's a Stage: Socio-Political Perspectives in Global Performance
![]() ![]() ![]() Not offered regularly; consult department (Subject meets with 21M.801) Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 ![]() Investigates repertoire from international creators of theater, opera, performance art, and dance. Explores diverse storytelling and directorial points of view, examining the contexts which inform approaches to performance making. Discusses specific cultural and political shifts that have inspired the work of international artists, such as Marina Abramovic (Serbia), Pina Bausch (Germany), Nora Chipaumire (Zimbabwe), Ping Chong (US/Canada), Peter Sellars (US), and The Yes Men (US). Weekly readings, screenings and guest artists provide the foundation for an understanding of the role of director as an artist who finds inspiration in the contradictions of the world. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. C. Brathwaite 21M.801 All the Worlds a Stage: Socio-Political Perspectives in Global Performance
![]() ![]() Not offered regularly; consult department (Subject meets with 21M.800) Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 ![]() Investigates repertoire from international creators of theater, opera, performance art, and dance. Explores diverse storytelling and directorial points of view, examining the contexts which inform approaches to performance making. Discusses specific cultural and political shifts that have inspired the work of international artists, such as Marina Abramovic (Serbia), Pina Bausch (Germany), Nora Chipaumire (Zimbabwe), Ping Chong (US/Canada), Peter Sellars (US), and The Yes Men (US). Weekly readings, screenings and guest artists provide the foundation for an understanding of the role of director as an artist who finds inspiration in the contradictions of the world. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. C. Brathwaite 21M.803 Performance and Design Workshop
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: Permission of instructor Units: 0-3-0 URL: IAP URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule ![]() Provides directed practice in the disciplines of performance practice, including design, acting, directing, technical theater, management, dramaturgy and other creative fields. Students test and refine their skills by participating in the creation of produced plays, intensive workshops, installations and other design or performance projects in dance, film, music theater, opera, and other performing arts events. Students work closely with faculty, peers and guest artists. Students seeking to design individual performance and design workshops must be supervised by a theater arts faculty member, and obtain his or her written approval. Fall: Staff IAP: Staff Summer: Staff No required or recommended textbooks 21M.806 Applied Performance and Design Production
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: Permission of instructor Units: 0-6-0 URL: IAP URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule TBA. Lecture: TBA (TBA) ![]() Provides opportunities for applied practice in the disciplines of performance, including acting, directing, playwriting, design, technical theater, dramaturgy, and management. Students test and refine their skills in the prototyping of design projects, installations, plays, dance, film, music theater, opera, and other performing arts events. They also apply theory and practice while tracing the research and rehearsal process through production and public presentation in the theater or in the studio. Students seeking to design an applied project must be supervised by a theater arts faculty member, and obtain his or her written approval. Fall: Staff IAP: Staff Spring: J. Higgason Summer: Staff No required or recommended textbooks (IAP 2024); No textbook information available (Spring 2024) 21M.809 Performance and Design Intensive
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prereq: Permission of instructor Units: 0-9-0 URL: IAP URL: http://mta.mit.edu/theater/class-schedule ![]() Multidisciplinary, term-long, independent study geared toward the development of significant artistic and technical projects in performance and design. Students pursue projects in an array of fields and are invited to propose artistic and research projects as actors, directors, designers, dramaturges, and/or technical designers. Often in conjunction with Theater Arts-produced productions, proposals for intensives must be vetted and supervised by a member of the Theater Arts faculty with whom the student will work over the course of term. Fall: Staff IAP: Staff Summer: Staff No required or recommended textbooks 21M.810 Creating the World We Want: Protest, Activism, and Performance
![]() ![]() ![]() Not offered regularly; consult department (Subject meets with 21M.811) Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 ![]() Investigates how people acting as a collective change the status quo, and how art/performance supports and inspires powerful political, social, economic, and cultural shifts. Discusses the connection between art and activism and performance and world-making, from the Haitian Revolution in 1791 to more contemporary examples — the 1960s Civil Rights era, 1980s Act Up die-ins, and chanting the names of those killed by police violence in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter in 2020. Studies how art and artistic tools made change possible in the historical and social fights for justice. Examines the challenges facing the oppressed today with the intention of creating work that will serve to inspire change within communities. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Staff 21M.811 Creating the World We Want: Protest, Activism, and Performance
![]() ![]() Not offered regularly; consult department (Subject meets with 21M.810) Prereq: None Units: 3-0-9 ![]() Investigates how people acting as a collective change the status quo, and how art/performance supports and inspires powerful political, social, economic, and cultural shifts. Discusses the connection between art and activism and performance and world-making, from the Haitian Revolution in 1791 to more contemporary examples — the 1960s Civil Rights era, 1980s Act Up die-ins, and chanting the names of those killed by police violence in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter in 2020. Studies how art and artistic tools made change possible in the historical and social fights for justice. Examines the challenges facing the oppressed today with the intention of creating work that will serve to inspire change within communities. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Staff 21M.812 Theater Arts Production
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