MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY COURSE SYLLABUS

SEMESTER/YEAR: Spring 2006

COURSE: FPAR 297.H2 TITLE: ANATOMY OF THE THEATRE

PREREQUISITE: NONE COREQUISITES: NONE CREDITS: 4

MEEING DAYS/TIME: Friday 9:00-11:45a.

MEETING PLACE: Aud 1423

INSTRUCTOR: Leah Schwartz, Ph.D., Professor of English, College of Arts and Sciences
OFFICE PHONE: 314-529-9409 OFFICE LOCATION: ABAC 3206
VOICEMAIL: 314-529-9201 + 9409# EMAIL: lschwartz@maryville.edu
WEBSITE: http://accweb.itr.maryville.edu/schwartz
FAX: 314-529-9965
OFFICE HOURS 06/sp: T 8:30a-1:30p + by appointment

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

The course will use St. Louis theatre productions and practitioners to inform students about the practice of theatre. The students will show their knowledge of a kind of theatre performance, production craft, or theatre organization in a project presented to the class.

COURSE CONTENT/TOPICS:

Reading, seeing, and discussing 3 plays

Hearing presentations of theatre practitioners
Touring a theatre facility

Participating in acting and improv activities in class

Creating and presenting a project on an aspect of theatre for the class

ASSESSMENT:

Substantive participation in class discussion of the play scripts and performances

Experimentation with performance skills in class exercises

Thoughtful written responses to play productions, guest presenters, and backstage tour

Well planned and executed project on an aspect of theatre

TEXTS:

Pirandello’s Henry IV (in a new version by Tom Stoppard). Grove Press, 2005. 0802141943
Midsummer Night’s Dream. William Shakespeare. Bantam Books, Doubleday Dell, 1980, 0-553-21300-8
King Hedley II. August Wilson. Theatre Communications Group, 2005. 155936260X

THIS SYLLABUS MAY BE ALTERED BY THE TEACHER TO MEET STUDENT OR INSTRUCTIONAL NEEDS.

CALENDAR:

20 Jan
Speaker: Sue Greenberg – Executive Director St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts; Company Manager Municipal Opera; playwright; teaches stage management at Washington University and legal issues in the arts for Webster University’s Arts Management graduate program.
Topic: Overview of St. Louis theatre and theatre crafts

Discussion of course project
Acting, improv work

(27 Jan no class; installation of President Neal)

3 Feb
$7 for ticket to Midsummer Night’s Dream is due.
Discuss script: Pirandello’s Henry IV, in a new version by Tom Stoppard
Acting, improv work
Response to speaker Sue Greenberg is due.

Speaker: Scott Miller – Author of 4 books on musical theatre, playwright, composer of music and book for 9 musicals, artistic director of New Line Theatre, director of Bat Boy
Topic: History of New Line Theatre in the context of American theatre today and the St. Louis theatre scene

Bat Boy runs at the ArtLoft Theatre, 1529 Washington, 23 Feb-18 Mar. Student tickets are $10 on Thur, $15 Fri and Sat. Directions to ArtLoft are on the New Line Theatre website: http://www.geocities.com/newlinetheatre/

Required performance #1: Pirandello’s Henry IV, performed by the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis at the Loretto Hilton Center, 130 Edgar Road, Webster University campus, runs 8 Feb-10 Mar. http://www.repstl.org/. Student rush tickets (2 with 1 student ID) are $8 each. Request rush tickets at the box office 30 minutes before curtain time. It’s a good idea to phone (314-968-4925) the box office the day you want to go for their estimate whether they will have rush seats available. The website has listing of performance times and directions to the Loretto Hilton.

10 Feb
Speaker: Docent from the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
Topic: Staging Henry IV

Acting, improv work
Response to speaker Scott Miller is due.

17 Feb
Tour of the Loretto Hilton: backstage areas, costume room, wig room, shop (set construction), green room. Tour runs 1.5 hours. Meet at 9:45 in the lobby.
Response to speaker Rep docent is due.

(24 Feb no class; faculty development day)

3 Mar
Speaker: Laura Hanson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Design Faculty, SIU Edwardsville.
Topic: TBA

Acting, improv work
Response to backstage tour of the Rep is due.

(4-12 Mar spring break)

17 Mar
Acting, improv work.
Discuss script: Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Response to Henry IV (production) due.
Response to speaker Laura Hanson is due.
Project proposal is due.

24 Mar
Required performance #2: Midsummer Night’s Dream, St. Louis Shakespeare, History Museum, 10:00a., $7.00

31 Mar
Discuss script: King Hedley II.
Response to Midsummer Night’s Dream (production) is due.

Required performance #3: King Hedley II is at Grandel Theatre Rep 19 Apr-14 May, a production by the Black Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. http://www.stlouisblackrep.com/ 314-534-3807. Grandel Theatre is on Grandel Square just west of Grand Blvd. between the Fox and Powell Hall. Student rush tickets are $10, 1 rush ticket per student ID. Request rush tickets at the box office 30 minutes before curtain time.

7 Apr
Speaker: Joneal Joplin, stage and commercial/industrial film actor
Topic: TBA

Acting, improv work

(14 Apr no class; Easter break)

21 Apr
Project presentations
Response to speaker Joneal Joplin is due.

28 Apr
Speaker: Ron Himes, Founder and Producing Director of the St. Louis Black Repertory Company; Stool Pigeon in King Hedley II
Topic: TBA

5 May
Project presentations.
Response to King Hedley II (production) is due.
Response to speaker Ron Himes is due.

COURSE WORK AND PERCENTAGE OF COURSE GRADE:

Discussion of scripts: Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry IV, King Hedley II – 10 percent

Participation in class acting and improv work – 20 percent

Responses to 3 required live play productions, speakers, and backstage tour of the Rep – 35 percent

Project – 35 percent

SUGGESTIONS FOR PROJECTS:

- Create and perform one of the following (about 15 minutes):

- a monologue of an historical figure

- a program using the writings of a real person

- a program of memorized excerpts from plays with bridge material

- Shadow a theatre practitioner and keep a log of what you observe and learn; present to the class.
- Build a model set for a play; present to the class.
- Create a costume plot for a play (sketches, swatches of material); present to the class.

- Research and write the history of a theatre craft or of the role of the play director or of acting; present to the class.
- Research and write the history of a St. Louis theatre group, current or past; or of a theatre group in your home town; present to the class.

- Other project suggested by student and approved by teacher

CRITERIA FOR PROJECTS:

- Clear, inventive, coherent oral presentation of all projects

- Coherent written presentation if writing is part of the project

- Creative use of appropriate materials for models or displays

- Acting technique and effectiveness for performance projects

- List of sources in a standard style format for all projects except shadowing a practitioner

RESPONSES TO THE LIVE PLAY PRODUCTIONS, THE SPEAKERS, THE BACKSTAGE TOUR OF THE REP:

1-page list (typed or hand written) indicating what you noted or learned from what you heard or saw.

Responses to the live play productions are due 17 Mar (Henry IV), 31 Mar (Midsummer), 5 May (Hedley).

Response to the backstage tour of the Rep is due 3 Mar.
Responses to the speakers are due the class meeting after each speaker presents.

Point scoring for each response:

On time – 1
Clear, coherent writing; standard spelling, punctuation, usage – 2
Accurate, insightful, thoughtful, pertinent content – 3

CRITERIA FOR LETTER GRADES:

The evaluation of each class assignment or listed portion of the course work will be specified by a letter grade. The letter grades indicate a judgment of the quality of the completed assignment. The letter grades used and their values are listed in the Maryville catalogue.

The highest grade “A,” for instance, marks work of exceptional quality which shows understanding of the assignment, the topic, the medium, the context, the background; which shows evidence of a thoughtful organization of ideas, drawing of relationships between ideas, presenting of concrete supporting evidence and discussion to illustrate ideas, knowledge of the appropriate broader context of the ideas; which uses effective and appropriate presentation techniques; which uses effective and appropriate standard language; which shows insight, inventiveness, creativity; which shows sensitivity to the current state of knowledge and information about the topic and contributes to the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the topic.

The other grades mark work showing lesser levels of mastery in the areas listed above. “B” work is superior, shows some exceptional quality but not in all areas listed. “C” work is average, may have some exceptional qualities and some deficiencies. “D” work is of insufficient quality in some of the areas listed and has little redeeming quality in those areas. “F” work is insufficient in more areas and has no sufficient redeeming quality.

LATE, INCOMPLETE, MISSING WORK:

Late or incomplete work will be graded lower than work that is complete and on time. Missing work will cause a minus grade for that portion of the course work (not zero percent, but minus whatever percentage is assigned to that item).

CLASS ATTENDANCE POLICY:

Students are expected to attend, completely, all class meetings.
Students with more than 1 unauthorized absence will receive a lower course grade than their work would otherwise merit.

An authorized absence is defined as a serious personal illness; a family emergency such as a serious illness or death involving a member of the immediate family; jury or military duty; and representing the University in athletics, academic, professional and leadership development pursuits. Authorized absences must be officially documented.
**STUDENTS WHO MISS MORE THAN 3 CLASSES WILL RECEIVE A COURSE GRADE OF F.**

WRITTEN WORK:

Written work should be clear, coherent, and unified, using standard spelling, usage, and grammar. Written work for the course project must be typed. If sources are used or quoted, provide an appropriate and consistent system of crediting the sources through internal notes, footnotes, or endnotes and provide a list of sources.

PLAGIARISM POLICY (ZERO TOLERANCE):
***Any instance of plagiarism will result in a course grade of F.***

All instances of plagiarism will be reported to the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, who forwards that information to appropriate University administrators.

Links to St. Louis theatre sites:

These links are more easily accessed by going to the on-line version of the syllabus at http://accweb.itr.maryville.edu/schwartz/course%20performance%20workshop%202005%20spring.htm

URLs with links to most St. Louis theatre sites:

http://www.kdhx.org/calendar_events/arts_calendar.htm#Theater
KDHX listing of current productions w/ length of their run
Great source of current information; links to sites of companies with current shows; reviews

http://www.geocities.com/newlinetheatre/stlouissites.html
Has links to various St. Louis Theatre sites – professional, amateur (including educational), dance

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Individual theatre sites for professional companies:

http://www.stlouisblackrep.com/
Saint Louis Black Repertory Company; does mostly plays by African-American authors but also mounts other shows

http://www.cocastl.org/
COCA site; lists stage offerings

http://edisontheatre.wustl.edu/
Edison Theatre – lists the Ovations schedule but not the Wash U. Performing Arts productions

http://www.fabulousfox.com/
Fox Theatre

http://www.repstl.org/
Repertory Theatre of St. Louis

Smaller professional companies:

http://www.geocities.com/artlofttheatre/
ArtLoft – has links to New Line Theatre, HotCity Theatre, Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre, Washington Avenue Players Project

http://www.historyonics.org/
Historyonics Theatre Company; stages productions using only the words of historical documents, usually with music; in the History Museum in Forest Park

http://www.hotcitytheatre.org/
Hotcity Theatre – formerly City Theatre and HotHouse Theatre; in the ArtLoft Theatre 1529 Washington

http://www.hydewaretheatre.com/links.html
Hydeware Theatre; performs at Soulard Theatre, 1921 Ninth Street

http://www.mhtheatre.com/
(Mostly) Harmless Theatre Company

http://www.geocities.com/newlinetheatre/
New Line Theatre; does mostly plays about gender issues but also mounts other shows; performs at ArtLoft 1529 Washington

http://www.spotlighttheatrestlonline.org/
Spotlight Theatre; now performs in Soulard Theatre, 1921 S. Ninth Street

http://www.geocities.com/soulardtheatre/
Soulard Theatre Collective: Hydeware Theatre, Spotlight Theatre, Ecco Theatre Company; 1921 9^th Street in Soulard

http://www.uppityco.com/
That Uppity Theatre Company; espouses causes; cooperates w/ COCA on women’s series at COCA

Educational theatre sites:

http://www.webster.edu/depts/finearts/theatre/
Webster University Conservatory of Theatre

http://www.slu.edu/departments/utheatre/
St. Louis University Theatre

http://artsci.wustl.edu/~pad/
Washington University Performing Arts Department

Some St. Louis theatre phone numbers

Edison Theatre, Washington University 314-935-6543
Fox Theatre 314-534-1678
HotCity 314-482-9141
Hydeware 314-368-7306
Kirkwood Theatre Guild 314-821-9956
New Line Theatre 314-773-6526
Repertory Theatre of St. Louis 314-968-4925
Saint Louis University 314-977-2998
St. Louis Black Repertory Company 314-534-3807
Theatre Guild of Webster Groves 314-962-0876
That Uppity Theatre Company 314-995-4600
Webster University Conservatory Hotline 314-968-7128