Theatre
Major, Minors
Knox's theatre program excels at working closely with students to create the best that theatre has to offer-observation and analysis of all dimensions of human experience, and public performances that engage audiences on multiple levels. The study of theatre offers a means of understanding the world and one's place in it through creative expression in a fundamentally collaborative art form.
Theatre students at Knox learn about all areas of theatrical practice in the classroom and the rehearsal room-by taking courses providing expert training in performance, literature, and design; by collaborating with professors on faculty-directed mainstage productions; and by working independently on student-directed and student-designed productions.
The Program
Knox offers courses in acting and directing, dramatic literature and theatre history, design, dramaturgy, and playwriting. The Theatre major requires introductory courses in drama, acting, and design, and a range of upper-level courses that permits students to specialize in their particular areas of practical interest while ensuring that all majors engage in in-depth study of a broad range of dramatic literature.
Five different minors allow students pursuing theatre as a secondary field to focus on one of five areas of concentration, each requiring five credits:
- Dramatic Literature and History
- Performance
- Directing
- Design and Technology
- Playwriting
A unique opportunity available at Knox is Repertory Theatre Term, during which students dedicate themselves full-time to the study and production of two major plays. Students take no other courses during "Rep Term." Working together with faculty-members, students form a repertory theatre company in which they serve as both actors and crew. Intensive and rewarding, "Rep Term" is a Knox highlight for many students.
Recent Knox College Theatre Productions
Three Houses Beyond the Fourth Wall, a devised theatre piece directed by Lindsey Snyder, more.
Tartuffe, by Molière, directed by Neil Blackadder.
Hamlet, directed by Elizabeth Carlin-Metz.
Rosa and Blanca, by Rebekka Kricheldorf, translated and directed by Neil Blackadder.
Cloud 9, by Caryl Churchill, directed by Kelly Hogan.
Working, a musical by Studs Terkel, directed by Liz Carlin-Metz, and The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux, directed by Dr. Robert Whitlach--Repertory Term XIV.
Our Town, written by Thorton Wilder, directed by Dr. Robert Whitlatch.
Nora, written by Ingmar Bergman, adapted from Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, directed by Neil Blackadder—featured a more concise script written by the acclaimed film director, staged "in the round" on the stage of Harbach Theatre.
As You Like It, written by William Shakespeare, directed by Liz Carlin-Metz—direction inspired by the "hippie" movement of the 1960s, featuring live music and original compositions of Knox student, Adam Prairie.
Noises Off!, written by Michael Frayn, directed by Dr. Robert Whitlatch—the famous farce whose set, which included a two-storied house, was built on a rotating platform.
The Skriker, written by Caryl Churchill, directed by Liz Carlin-Metz—a feminist play that featured mythical characters, vibrant costumes, and a set with trap doors and slides leading underneath the stage.
Round Dance, written by Arthur Schnitzler, directed by Neil Blackadder—featured student designed and created period costumes, and translations by the director himself.
Dancing at Lughnasa, written by Brian Friel, directed by Dr. Robert Whitlatch—a play about rural Ireland in the 1930s; half its cast was played by first-year students.
Rep Term XIII "War and Sex", featured Trojan Women, written by Euripides and Lysistrata, by Aristophanes, directed by Dr. Ivan Davidson and Dr. Robert Whitlatch, founders of Rep Term.
Theatre Resources
Harbach Theatre is a spacious 600-seat main stage (revolving proscenium and thrust), with a computer-controlled lighting system.
Studio Theatre, dedicated to student work, is a flexible, yet fully capable experimental stage. Large, fully equipped costume, scene and make-up shops complete the facilities, which have been rated third among all colleges and universities in Illinois and by far the best among institutions of comparable size.