Theatre

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Hope College Department of Theatre offers an academic theatre program of recognized excellence which cultivates students as practicing entrepreneurial theatre artists. Our program fosters students to become citizen artists who understand the transformative power of theatre. Students will use theatre as a tool to develop creativity, learn empathy,  and gain an understanding of the diversity and complexity of our human experience. The department is committed to challenging our students, practitioners and audiences to promote a more informed and inclusive world.

Hope College is accredited by NAST.

About The Program

Course offerings in theatre, along with the department’s co-curricular production program, are designed to provide the liberal arts student with knowledge of and experience in an art form which has played an important role in our cultural history as well as in contemporary society. Performance or laboratory experience makes possible an appreciation of the art which can be derived only from direct participation. The practical experience of working together in a disciplined collaborative art facilitates one’s understanding of oneself and of other people.

The primary objectives of the theatre production program are to:

1. Provide significant and challenging artistic experiences for our students
2. Engage the student body as a whole by producing performances of historical, contemporary, literary and/or theatrical merit
3. Augment the community’s cultural life through the presentation of plays of social and theatrical value.

Theatre students currently

• Participate in the mainstage production program as actors, designers, stage managers,dramaturgs, publicists and technicians
• Mount student-directed and -produced work on a regular basis
• Participate in the New York Arts Semester Program; The Philadelphia Center, an urban semester program sponsored by the GLCA; or the Chicago Semester program
• Work with established professionals in theatre through guest artist residencies and through involvement with the Hope Summer Repertory Theatre

Graduates of the Department of Theatre have been involved in pursuing such careers as:

• Acting, directing, designing, stage management, playwriting, and arts administration
• University teaching
• Serving as members of professional repertory companies
• Internships at regional professional theatres such as the Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Steppenwolf Theatre, The New Group, the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Trinity Repertory Theatre and the Wooster Group.
• Graduate study at such schools as the Florida State University Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University, the University of Illinois, Northwestern University, University of Iowa, The New School, and Southern Methodist University

Majors

A major in theatre generally serves one of the following purposes:

1. More intensive study in this particular discipline as the emphasis within the student’s liberal arts education.
2. Preparation for graduate work leading to an M.A., M.F.A., Ph.D., or D.F.A. degree in theatre.
3. Preparation for work in a non-commercial field of theatre such as community theatre.
4. Preparation for advanced training leading to a career in the professional theatre.

Programs

• Theatre, BA

• Theatre Minor

Courses

• THEA 130 - Oral Interpretation of Literature
• THEA 153 - Art of the Cinema
• THEA 195 - Studies in Theatre
• THEA 270 - Stage Production I: Lighting Technology and Stage Management
• THEA 272 - Stage Production II: Costume and Sound Technology
• THEA 274 - Stage Production III: Scenic Technology and Drafting
• THEA 497 - Capstone Production Project

• THEA 101 - Introduction to the Theatre
• THEA 110 - Acting for the Non-Major

• THEA 105 - Introduction to Theatre Practice
• THEA 143 - Play Analysis
• THEA 161 - Acting I
• THEA 162 - Acting II
• THEA 205 - Principles of Design
• THEA 215 - Stage Makeup
• THEA 222 - Scene Design
• THEA 223 - Lighting Design
• THEA 224 - Costume Design
• THEA 256 - Playwriting
• THEA 261 - Acting III
• THEA 262 - Acting IV
• THEA 280 - Theatre Laboratory
• THEA 295 - Studies in Theatre
• THEA 331 - Stage Direction I
• THEA 332 - Stage Direction II
• THEA 361 - Acting V
• THEA 375 - Musical Theatre Workshop A
• THEA 376 - Musical Theatre Workshop B
• THEA 380 - Advanced Theatre Practicum
• THEA 381 - Summer Theatre Laboratory
• THEA 395 - Studies in Theatre
• THEA 490 - Independent Studies in Theatre

• THEA 296 - Special Topics in Theatre
• THEA 301 - Theatre History I
• THEA 302 - Theatre History II
• THEA 306 - American Theatre
• THEA 495 - Seminar in Theatre
• THEA 499 - Readings in Theatre

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