NOTES: a) Instructor's course descriptions are subject to change. b) If a schedule, description or prerequisite below varies from the The Registrar's Timetable the Registrar's Timetable shall prevail. c) R is for Thursday.
Course Title: Repertory Theatre in Practice: The Shaw Festival
Course Code: DRE380H
Instructor(s): Lawrence Switzky
This course is a study of the role of repertory theatre in the historical and current development of dramatic literature and performance practices.The course this summer will run completely online, unlike in previous years. However, there won’t be any facilities fees or accommodation costs; the course cost is identical to a regular summer class this year. Students in the course will have exceptional opportunities, including:
- Creating, assembling, and performing a “born-digital” production of a play, with the assistance of Shaw Festival actors, directors, and designers, using the professional streaming and production software StreamYard
- Interviewing performers at different stages of their careers about how they began and flourished in their lives as theatre artists
- Learning playwriting from several renowned actors and dramatists, including how to adapt fiction, film, and poetry for theatre and performance writing for social change
- Taking an audition practices workshop with the people who make decisions about hiring for the Shaw Festival at Theatre Ontario
- Participating in workshops about period acting practices (cups and saucers not included), crafting a social media identity as an artist, and acting with technology
- Discussing how performances are filmed for streaming and created using online technologies as well as how critics, audiences, and artists interpret them
- Conducting a roundtable discussion on being creative during the quarantine with seasoned theatre makers
And that’s just for starters.
The readings will include plays by Shaw and his contemporaries as well as short essays on how to interpret (and create) theatre for livestreaming and digital venues. The written assignments will include preparing questions for and conducting a discussion with an actor, director, or designer; a rehearsal diary; a short dramaturgical write-up for the production we’ll prepare and perform; and an analytical paper on digital theatre and performance that will be due several weeks after the course ends.
The course will meet 3-4 hours per day during two weeks from July 14-23 and we will make every attempt to accommodate your availability.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with Professor Lawrence Switzky at lawrence.switzky@utoronto.ca.
Prerequisite: 6.0 credits, including DRE121H5, DRE122H5, DRE200H5, and DRE222H5 or approved equivalent courses. Recommended Preparation: Any DRE course on the 300- or 400-level; ENG340H5; ENG341H5
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