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Performance, Play & Design

Theater Arts and Dance Undergraduate Experience

Theater Arts & Dance

Undergraduate Student Experience & Opportunities

Studio courses in acting, directing, and playwriting focus on specific techniques to allow students to improve their skills and to provide an intellectual understanding of these areas of drama.

The Department of Performance, Play & Design offers three degrees focused on theater arts and/or dance, in addition to welcoming the entire UCSC undergraduate student population to explore and experience the performing arts as part of their broad UCSC liberal arts experience. Students may take classes and take advantage of opportunities in the following areas:

This fun animated video gives a basic overview of Theater Arts at UCSC!

Acting

Students interested in pursuing acting have a range of performance opportunities and courses available. Please check the annual THEA Course Offerings list to plan ahead.

COURSES

Lower division acting classes

  • THEA 20 Introductory Studies in Acting – THEA 20 is a non-audition course designed for students with little or no previous experience in acting. 
  • THEA 21 Acting Studio I: Psychological Realism * – THEA 21 is a smaller, more intensive class than THEA 20, intended for students with some acting experience. Students audition on the first day of class and learn that day if they will receive an enrollment permission number.
    • NOTE:
      • Either THEA 20 or THEA 21 may be used toward Theater Arts major declaration qualification (non-transfer students) and/or a major requirement (transfer and non-transfer students). 
      • THEA 20 is usually offered twice during the regular academic year and during the summer. THEA 21 is usually offered once a year, in fall quarter.
  • THEA 23 Voice for the Actor

Upper division acting classes

* Please see the By-Audition or Instructor Permission Studio Courses section of the Theater Arts Undergraduate Handbook. Non-production course audition classes also show quarter-specific details in the Class Notes section of the course in the Schedule of Classes for the quarter in question.

** The topics of THEA 124 and 126 vary significantly depending on who teaches them in a given quarter. For a specific quarter’s topic, please refer to the Class Notes section of the course in the Schedule of Classes for the quarter in question.

PRODUCTION OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTORS 

The department stages 2-3 publicly presented shows each quarter (excluding summer). Productions are cast almost exclusively from student actors, most of whom are undergraduates, with an occasional casting of graduate students, professional, or faculty actors, giving students the chance to work alongside professionals from the field.

Acting students are encouraged to audition and act in as many productions as they feel they are able to during their time at UCSC. A requirement for the Theater Arts Major is participation in a 5-unit Theater Arts production class. Theater Arts minors may use an upper division production to satisfy a requirement. More about production classes and the major’s Production Requirement.

At least one production per quarter is directed by a faculty member or a graduate student. The student-run Barnstorm Theater Company and Rainbow Theater provide even more opportunities for students in most quarters.

Production Auditions

Most staged productions are cast at General Auditions at the beginning of each quarter. Details are posted on the department Auditions page as they become available. Very rarely, auditions are held at a different time and place from the General Auditions. If this is the case, information on those auditions will also be posted or linked to on the Auditions page.

Note that production auditions are different from auditions required for admittance into our by-audition or instructor permission studio courses (classes that involve creative practice but which do not include a public performance). Please see the By-Audition or Instructor Permission Studio Courses of the Undergraduate Handbook for more information.

Additional Opportunities

There are additional performance opportunities on the UCSC campus, including various improv and sketch comedy troupes. These opportunities and productions are not affiliated or sponsored by the UCSC Theater Arts program and will not count as course credit toward our degrees. 

Don’t hesitate to reach out to the Theater Arts Advisor with questions.

Dance

The undergraduate Dance program at UCSC focuses on individual growth within the spectrum of related theater arts and a general humanities education. While dance is not a standalone department or major at UCSC, it is an important part of the Department of Performance, Play & Design.

Dance classes are open to all UCSC students. Some upper division classes have prerequisites and, because the classes are small and popular, priority is given to juniors and seniors pursuing a degree in our department. 

Students may focus on dance within the Theater Arts major, or pursue the separate Dance Minor degree. Pursuing the degree offers students an opportunity to codify their dance training and education.

Students may also pursue both the Theater Arts major and Dance Minor, in which case some or all lower division requirements can be double counted. Please meet with the Theater Arts Advisor to learn which path is best for you and to plan completion of your degree(s).

Prospective students do not need to audition into the department, nor is our department considered a pre-professional training program. Technical training in the subject is intensive, but not at the expense of wide, maturing experience in the university environment. 

The department offers courses taught by world-renowned choreographers, dancers and guest artists and provides many opportunities to perform, including student- and faculty-directed dance productions. A very special opportunity in our department is the annual student-choreographed, student-performed, student-produced dance showcase Random: With a Purpose.

Our dance faculty do not aim to mold students into any particular system of dance which survives from strong individual artists or their second- or third-generation followers. Instead, they aim to provide students with the means to recognize the formation and effect of a variety of performance styles, to understand the uses of dance and movement outside the area of performance, and to develop their own choices in forming a personal style, liberating them to choose the paths they wish to follow. 

The core of the Dance Minor curriculum is 1) foundation work in physiologically correct movement principles and mechanics; 2) conscious use of the craft of movement for the realization of personal intentions in performance and choreography; and 3) understanding of a wide variety of styles in dance performance, history, and ethnology.

Dance in the department addresses three intertwined areas of study, including:

Contemporary Dance Technique & Choreography

Dance studio classes begin with an emphasis on contemporary dance and dance theater broadly defined: from the development of dance skill and performance to an emphasis on developing personal movement vocabularies through improvisation and choreographic tasks. 

Dance Drama & World Cultural Forms

Dance resides in numerous cultural communities on this campus. We have a number of diverse interests and organizations invested in dance, such as the Mexican Folklorico dance troupe. With our current faculty, we offer Indian and African dance forms. Through Porter College we direct our students to additional World dance forms including Filipino, Korean, and Sudanese.

Critical Dance Studies

Critical studies informs the theory and practice of dance at all levels. We offer a rigorous approach to dance in its socio-historical context and include courses in dance praxis (creativity studies, digital arts and new media, education, and community-based approaches).

Non-Academic Dance Opportunities

Students who wish to take dance classes for recreational (non-credit) purposes may find options in the UCSC Athletics & Recreation program. There are also non-academic student-run dance clubs and groups on campus.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to the Theater Arts Advisor with questions.

Directing

If you are interested in pursuing directing, there is a range of opportunities and courses available to you. The department stages 2-3 publicly presented shows each quarter (excluding summer). At least one production each quarter is directed by faculty, and typically at least one is directed by students.

COURSES

It is recommended that students begin by taking our lower division directing course, THEA 40 Introduction to Directing (no prerequisites or previous experience expected), followed by THEA 141 Play Direction Studio I (admission-by-instructor permission, see details in the Class Notes section of the course in the current Schedule of Classes). These classes are typically offered once per academic year. Check the annual THEA Course Offerings list to plan ahead.

While it is advisable to take our directing classes to form a strong foundation in theory, technique and practice, students may submit proposals at any stage in their progress to direct for our student-run Barnstorm Theater Company and Rainbow Theater.

ASSISTANT DIRECTING

Students are encouraged to seek out Assistant Directing (AD) opportunities to work with a faculty member or graduate students.

Each quarter the department stages 2-3 productions in drama (there are also opportunities to direct for our student Random with a Purpose dance showcase). These shows are directed by faculty, visiting professionals, and advanced directing undergraduate or graduate students. Students interested in serving as an AD should contact the director of a particular show to inquire about opportunities. It is entirely at the discretion of the director to accept a student’s petition or not.

If a director accepts a student as their AD, the student will enroll in the production as a class (e.g., THEA 151 or 151A). Serving as AD to a faculty member can fulfill the Production Requirement for the Theater Arts Major or an Upper Division Studio Requirement for the Theater Arts Minor. The role of ADs on a production is determined by the director. Certain productions may have multiple ADs, fulfilling different needs of the production. The duties and responsibilities of an assistant director can range widely, depending upon the production and the student’s level and range of experience and ability. Duties can include note-taking during meetings and rehearsals, being on-book, running errands for a director, making copies, leading actor, dancer, or singer warm-ups, video editing, dramaturgical work, running lines, etc.

The director may request an AD’s presence at auditions and callbacks, or even at preliminary production meetings which may take place during the quarter prior to the production. Therefore, it is highly recommended that a student AD arrange to meet with the director as early as possible, and at the very latest before the first rehearsal, in order to determine the director’s expectations and assignments.

DIRECTING FOR THE STUDENT-RUN THEATER COMPANIES

The student-run Barnstorm Theater Company and Rainbow Theater provide exceptional opportunities for students to direct in most quarters. Barnstorm and Rainbow are student-run and sponsored by the department. Barnstorm typically operates in fall and winter quarters and Rainbow Theater typically stages a show in spring quarter.

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

The UCSC Theater Arts program and the Theater Arts faculty have strong ties to the major theater companies operating in the Monterey and San Francisco Bay Areas. The support offered by the faculty and department has often allowed UCSC undergraduate students to secure competitive professional internships during the summer.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to the Theater Arts Advisor with questions.

Playwriting

The department offers classes and a number of unique opportunities for students interested in learning and developing playwriting skills.

COURSES

Specific to playwriting, the department offers THEA 157 Playwriting and THEA 159 Advanced Playwriting. These courses fulfill upper-division studio requirements for the Theater Arts Major or Minor.

The department also offers courses focusing on specific movements or themes in historical or contemporary performance, or on specific geographic and temporal theatrical eras and cultures. These courses examine the work of influential playwrights and artists within their scope, as well as the structure and common elements found throughout the theatrical or performative form, and how they contrast or compare to contemporary and “classical” theater as we know it. Courses have included Black Women and Diasporic Theatrical Expression, Theater in the Chicano Power Movement, Irish Theater, Yiddish Theater, Women in Theater, Asian Theater, Queer Theater, and more. Courses focusing on the work of individual playwrights have explored the work of Ibsen, Chekov, Artaud, Shakespeare, and more. These courses fulfill upper-division critical studies requirements for the Theater Arts Major or Minor. Descriptions can be found in the course General Catalog.

PRODUCTION OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS

The UCSC Theater Arts program is unique in the number and quality of opportunities it offers playwriting students to see their work performed and/or read on stage.

The playwriting and supervising faculty are very supportive of student playwrights, and available to offer advice and walk playwrights through the process of collaboration, compromise, and editing to see a script be staged.

DHARMA-GRACE FOUNDATION CREATIVE WRITING AWARD

In select years, the department is able to offer the Dharma-Grace Foundation Creative Writing Award to one junior or senior undergraduate student dramatist in good academic standing. Established in 2005, this endowed award fund is exceptional amongst theatrical undergraduate programs in that it not only supports the development of an undergraduate student-written work, but also fund a staged public production. The selected play will be paired with a professional director, dramaturg, student actors and other artists as needed to develop the play for presentation on the Theater Arts Center Mainstage as part of the PPD theatrical season. Finalists will be considered for a staged reading in the New Play Festival. 

Eligible candidates are selected by a faculty committee of the Department of Performance, Play & Design and recommended to the Dean of the Division of Arts for final approval. The faculty committee will determine the amount of the award.

Playwrights can work with the director, designers, and actors – within the discretion of the director – at all stages and levels of rehearsal and production, and gain invaluable insight into the process of transforming an original script into an independent production.

For more information on the Dharma-Grace, and submissions and deadlines, please email theater@ucsc.edu.  

PLAYWRITING FOR THE STUDENT-RUN THEATER COMPANIES

The student-run Barnstorm Theater Company and Rainbow Theater provide exceptional opportunities for playwrights in most quarters. Barnstorm and Rainbow are student-run and sponsored by the department. Barnstorm typically operates in fall and winter quarters and Rainbow Theater typically stages a show in spring quarter.

ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

The UCSC Theater Arts program and the Theater Arts faculty have strong ties to the major theater companies operating in the Monterey and San Francisco Bay Areas. The support offered by the faculty and department has often allowed our students to secure competitive professional internships. 

Playwriting students can gain valuable insight into the professional process for a playwright by interning under the literary or artistic management departments of a professional company.

Student playwrights also find opportunities within the department working as dramaturgs for faculty directors. Dramaturgy work can guide a playwright in examining the formation of a theatrical world, and can give them the opportunity to assist in the creation of a new play. Additionally, interning as a dramaturg or dramaturgy assistant for a professional company can provide insight into the translation of scripts to productions and at times can give a student the opportunity to work on the development of a new play in production.

Within the UCSC Theater Arts program, there are numerous faculty members who are also published and working playwrights. The faculty are fully available for consultation, guidance, and support to student playwrights, their education, and independent studies or projects they may pursue.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to the Theater Arts Advisor with questions.

Theater Design and Technology

Students interested in design and technology have many opportunities to develop skills in stage management, set design, costume design, and lighting through taking classes and engaging in hands-on production work. 

All Theater Arts majors are required to take the lower division studio class THEA 10 Introduction to Theater Design and Technology and three quarters of THEA 50: Fundamentals of Theater Production, a two-unit practicum course in which basic backstage training is offered during work on a production (see important THEA 50 enrollment and other details in the THEA Undergrad Handbook). Theater Arts minor students are required to take one quarter of THEA 50 and may use THEA 10 toward a requirement. 

In addition to fulfilling required courses, students may choose to focus on developing skills in a particular aspect of theater. 

The program offers a variety of other lower-division studio design classes, including those listed below. These introduce students to a range of backstage areas, providing foundations to advanced courses and preparation for hands-on production work:

Upper-Division Design Courses 

The Theater Arts major and minor require students to take a certain number of courses from the category of Upper Division Studio. The program has offered many courses in this category. While priority is given to design students pursuing a degree within the department, any UCSC student is welcome to enroll in these classes, though certain prerequisites may apply. The following list shows a sampling of these courses that have been offered regularly in recent years:

In addition to production and studio courses, the department offers upper division theory and history courses in design, including:

Production Work for Designers and Technicians

In addition to classroom courses, students also have opportunities to gain hands-on experience as designers or assistant designers on faculty-directed or student-directed productions. 

All designers and assistant designers are assigned to department shows via the Tech Grid, posted in the A-building hallway near the Green Room.

The majority of assignments on the Tech Grid are determined at the Technical Interest Meeting held toward the end of spring quarter every year for the upcoming year’s season of shows.  If you miss the meeting or are just entering the program, you may still apply to work on productions by submitting a Technical Interest Form, and speaking to the Department Chair.

Assignments will be determined based on interest and experience, both in terms of previous design experience, and practical experience working in the shops or on crews, stints as technical directors or master electricians, etc. Generally, beginning design students are assigned as assistants to more advanced design students, faculty designers, or visiting professionals on specific shows before being assigned to design their own show.

The department faculty includes several currently practicing professional designers who teach courses in their areas of focus and are available as mentors. Many faculty have ties to professional theater companies throughout the Monterey and San Francisco Bay Areas, and beyond, that have led to professional internships, overhire work, and even professional employment for talented and ambitious UCSC students.

Many student designers begin designing in the department as part of – Barnstorm? Rainbow? New Play fest?, the annual student play and film festival. Chautauqua is entirely student run and produced, offering a wide range of opportunities for designers on its numerous shows. Additionally, Chautauqua provides discussion sections for its designers, so students with little or no experience of design, or designing within the department are guided through the steps and procedures, to provide a basis of experience for more independent design.

STAGE MANAGEMENT, DESIGN AND TECHNICAL WORK FOR THE STUDENT-RUN THEATER COMPANIES

The student-run Barnstorm Theater Company and Rainbow Theater are sponsored by the department and provide exceptional opportunities for students interested in stage management, scenic design, lighting design, sound design, costume design, etc. Barnstorm typically operates in fall and winter quarters and Rainbow Theater typically stages a show in spring quarter.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to the Theater Arts Advisor with questions.

Dramaturgy and Theater History,
Theory & Critical Studies

Courses focusing on theater history, theory, critical studies and dramaturgy emphasize the interrelationship between drama and other arts, not only the theater arts fields of design, dance, and acting, but also literature, music, studio art and art history. These are primarily structured as lecture courses, though several are hybrid in nature, also including elements of creative practice. 

Lower-Division 

Theater Arts majors are required to take the three-course THEA 61 lower-division theater history series. Theater Arts minors are required to take any one course from the series that they choose. These courses introduce students to issues and methods in analyzing historical and contemporary performance practices from a variety of disciplinary perspectives while reviewing the broad history of theater and performance. Course readings contextualize theatrical objects and offer theoretical tools for analyzing, interpreting, and making performances from them. Each class is offered consistently once per year as noted below.

In addition to the THEA 61 courses, the program offers a variety of other lower-division lecture-based classes, including those listed below. These may be used to satisfy the lower-division elective requirement for the major. As almost all fulfill a General Education requirement, these courses are also popular among the wider UCSC undergraduate population. 

Upper-Division 

The Theater Arts major and minor require students to take a certain number of courses from the category of Upper Division History/Theory/Critical Studies. The program has offered many courses in this category. The following list shows a sampling of these courses that have been offered regularly in recent years:

  • THEA 116A History of Clothing & Costume
  • THEA 143 Ecofutures
  • THEA 161B Black Women and Diasporic Theatrical Expression 
  • THEA 161M Sexuality, Gender & Performance
  • THEA 161P Theater in the “Chicano Power” Mvmnt (X-listed as LALS 161P)
  • THEA 161Q Queer Theatricks: Representations and Sensibilities 
  • THEA 161R Theater of American Cultures: Fighting Oppression
  • THEA 163A Shakespeare
  • THEA 164 Issues in Dance History and Theory
  • THEA 165 Dance Modernism
  • THEA 166 Ballet: A History
  • THEA 168 Disability and Performance

Within this category, the program offers two course specifically focused on dramaturgy:

  • THEA 160 Dramatic Theories – this course is required for all Theater Arts majors and may be used toward a Theater Arts minor requirement.
  • THEA 161 Advanced Dramaturgy – this course, taken after THEA 160, is not required but may be used toward a Theater Arts major or minor requirement.

Also see our GET INVOLVED page to learn about these exceptional opportunities:

Don’t hesitate to reach out to the Theater Arts Advisor with questions!

Theater & Dance Advising

Schedule an advising by appointment with the Theater Arts advisor through
Navigate Slug Success for the Theater Arts Major, Theater Arts Minor, or Dance Minor.

Many questions can also be answered by email:
theater-ugradadv@ucsc.edu

View Theater Arts & Dance Advising

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Last modified: Nov 05, 2024