Theater Arts and Dance Undergraduate Experience

Overview of 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 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.

Acting

Students interested in pursuing acting have a range of performance opportunities and courses available.

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:

• 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

• THEA 121 Acting Studio II: Shakespeare *
• THEA 124 Movement for Performers ** 
• THEA 126 Acting Studio III * /  ** 
• THEA 126M The Meisner Technique: A Practical Exploration *
• THEA 145R From Hamlet to Hamilton: Performing Rhythm and Rhyme in the Twenty-first Century

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.

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 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.

ACTING IN THE BARNSTORM THEATER COMPANY

Barnstorm Theater Company is student-run and sponsored by the department. It typically operates in fall and winter quarters and produces student-directed and collaborative work. Any UCSC student may apply or audition to participate in Barnstorm. 

Productions have included staged readings, stand-alone or excerpted scenes, cabarets, full-length plays, film and media projects, and other performance or theatrical-based works produced as one-night shows, or full run productions.

• Auditions for Barnstorm productions are typically part of General Auditions at the beginning of each quarter (excluding summer). Details are posted on the department Auditions page as they become available. 
• There is usually an informational meeting at the beginning of fall and winter quarters for all students (performers and backstage folks) interested in Barnstorm. This is posted on the Auditions page.
• The 5-unit Barnstorm course THEA 55A can satisfy the Production Requirement and/or the Lower Division Elective for the Theater Arts major (THEA 55B does not fulfill any degree requirement). 
• More information can be found on the Barnstorm website. You may also contact the Barnstorm management team during the regular academic year, or email the Theater Arts Academic Advisor during the summer: theater-ugradadv@ucsc.edu.

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. 

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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). Each of these classes is offered once per academic year. Check the annual Course Offerings list [link] to plan ahead.

While it is advisable to take the 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 [link] and Rainbow Theater [link]. Chautauqua – student play festival – LisaMarie’s new enterprise? Dharma-Grace Foundation Playwriting Award – directing opportunity.

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 dance showcase – information here [link]). 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 [link] or an Upper Division Studio Requirement for the Theater Arts Minor [link]. 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 BARNSTORM THEATER COMPANY

Barnstorm Theater Company is student-run and sponsored by the department. It typically operates in fall and winter quarters and produces student-directed and collaborative work.

All Barnstorm productions are directed by students. These have included staged readings, stand-alone or excerpted scenes and other written works produced as part of one-night Cabarets, as well as full-length plays, film and media projects, and other performance or theatrical-based written works have been produced as one-night shows, or full productions.

Submissions for Barnstorm productions are accepted toward the end of the quarter preceding the quarter of production. For full or one-night productions, submitting playwrights are encouraged to try to secure a committed director prior to proposal submission. Any UCSC student can submit a proposal to Barnstorm. For current deadlines and guidelines for submission, please contact the Barnstorm Management team, or check in with the Theater Arts program.

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.

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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 BARNSTORM THEATER COMPANY

Barnstorm Theater Company is student-run and sponsored by the department. It typically operates in fall and winter quarters and produces student-directed and collaborative work.

Student playwrights have seen their work produced by Barnstorm in a variety of forms. Scripts have been produced in staged readings, stand-alone or excerpted scenes and other written works have been produced as part of one-night cabarets, and full-length plays, film and media projects, and other performance or theatrical-based written works have been produced as one-night shows, or full productions.

Play submissions for Barnstorm productions are accepted toward the end of the quarter preceding the quarter of production. For full or one-night productions, submitting playwrights are encouraged to try to secure a committed director prior to proposal submission. Any UCSC student can submit a proposal to Barnstorm. For current deadlines and guidelines for submission, please contact the Barnstorm management team, or contact the Theater Arts Academic Advisor: theater-ugradadv@ucsc.edu.

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 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.

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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:

• THEA 12 Stage Management
• THEA 14 Introduction to Drawing
• THEA 17 Costume Construction
• THEA 18C Drafting-Computer Aided
• THEA 19 Design Studio: Lighting Studio A (introduction to lighting design)

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:

• THEA 114 Sound Design and Engineering for the Theater
• THEA 115A Design Studio: Scenic Design 
• THEA 117 Design Studio: Costume
• THEA 117A Advanced Costume Construction 
• THEA 119 Design Studio: Lighting Studio B 

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

• THEA 113 The History of Design for Theater
• THEA 116A History of Clothing and Costume

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 Chautauqua – 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.

DESIGN AND TECHNICAL WORK FOR THE BARNSTORM THEATER COMPANY

Barnstorm Theater Company is student-run and sponsored by the department. It typically operates in fall and winter quarters and produces student-directed and collaborative work.

Students interested in stage management, scenic design, lighting design, sound design, costume design, etc., should submit the Barnstorm Tech Interest Form then follow up by speaking with the Barnstorm management team and attend the Barnstorm Information Meeting, generally held on the first Monday of the quarter, after General Auditions.

Students are invited to consult with the Theater Arts Undergraduate Advisor [LINK TO ADVISING PAGE] to determine which classes and opportunities are available in a given year, and to create an academic plan if they wish to pursue a degree in theater arts or dance. 
More about production classes and the major’s Production Requirement here.

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Dance

The undergraduate Dance program at UCSC focuses on individual growth within the spectrum of related theater arts and a general humanities education.

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. 

The Dance Minor offers students an opportunity to codify their dance training and education. Technical training in the subject is intensive, but not at the expense of wide, maturing experience in the university environment. 

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.

Our program does 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, it aims 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. 

• Learn about classes offered in dance and the Minor in Dance. [LINK TO MINOR IN CATALOG]

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RAINBOW THEATER 

In spring – details from Don? 

NEW PLAY FESTIVAL 

In spring – details from LisaMarie? 

Chautauqua is the annual student play festival produced every spring quarter by the Theater Arts program. Student playwrights submit scripts for one-act plays up to an hour in performance length during the winter quarter. A committee of the student Chautauqua Management team and faculty will read and review submitted scripts, selecting the festival roster.

Once the festival goes into production, student playwrights will see their work fully performed on stage for a live audience and will have the opportunity to seek critique from friends, colleagues, and faculty on their work.

Learn more about:

• Barnstorm Theater Company [link] 
• Rainbow Theater [link] 
• Chautauqua New Play Festival – student play festival – LisaMarie’s new enterprise? [link] 
• Dharma-Grace Foundation Creative Writing Award – directing opportunity [link] 

Also see:

• Directing [link] 
• Dance [link] 
• Playwriting [link]