Introduction to Theatre

Name:

Introduction to Theatre (THTR101)
Department:

Fine Arts
Credits:

0.5 (semester course)
Suggested Prerequisites:

None

Introduction to Theatre

Description:

God gifts everyone with different abilities and it is the goal of this course to help students develop artistic talents through theatrical knowledge and exercises. This course will seek to provide the learner with a general knowledge of theatre history and introduce the learner to basic acting skills. Students will work actively with the instructor on developing skills leading to performance.

FROM THE TEACHER

What’s that thou sayest? An online theatre course? ‘Tis not possible! And yet…! Introduction to Theatre is an intense semester-long examination of western theatre from the Greeks to contemporary Broadway. For literature nerds we will read or watch two plays (Oedipus Rex and Hamlet), and for those born to perform we’ll have plenty of on-camera time (creating animal characters; copying idiosyncracies from your family members; performing all of theatre history in zany 30-second bursts). Our culminating assignment is the writing, editing, rehearsing, and live performance of an original Biblical monologue—something you might share as part of a worship service, or at a school or club meeting—it’s up to you. By the end of the class I hope you’ll have a new love for the rich history of this art form, and a new awareness of the ways that your body can be used to express and to bless. See you on the stage, O dramatic ones!

If there are books and materials for this course, they can be purchased from our Online Bookstore.

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Student Feedback

This course really taught me a LOT about theatre! It was so crammed full of interesting theatre history, facts, methods, videos, etc. And what I loved about it is that it really was a hands-on class where you actually got to get out of your chair and act! There were several big projects that I really enjoyed; you got to put your own hard work into it and see the satisfying end results! This class is absolutely AMAZING and it is definitely one of my favorite courses at NSA so far!

“The variety of this class was amazing. I can almost guarantee that anything you wanted to look at having to do with theatre was covered in this course. It was great! I’ve never had a natural knack for theatre and this was really one of the first things I’d done. I was a bit intimidated going in, but it has truly been fantastic! I’ve loved every second.”

(12th Grader)

“This class is quite wide in its scope. It covers theater terminology, history, and performance all in the same semester. What’s more, it challenges you to be creative. Rather than just saying, “Alright, here’s what you need to perform. Send me the video later.” This class actively challenges you to think of what to perform. The two biggest examples of this are the theater history performance project and the final monologue. For both of these, you must write the script yourself. Also, if you feel like somehow you didn’t learn something about theater you wanted to, the two choice projects provide you with a chance to fill in that knowledge pothole.”

(10th Grader)