Theatre
Major and Minors
Faculty and professional interests
Neil Blackadder, chair
Dramaturgy, playwriting, dramatic literature, theatre history
Elizabeth Carlin Metz
Acting, directing, feminist theatre, dramatic literature
Craig Choma (on leave Fall 2012)
Scenic design, lighting design, videography design, theatre technology
Jeff Grace (on leave Spring 2013)
Theatre history, dramatic literature, directing, acting
Ian Zywica
Scenic design, technical direction
Distinguished Writer-in-Residence
Sherwood Kiraly, Playwriting, screenwriting, fiction
Lecturer
Margo Shively, Costume design, technical artistry
Cooperating faculty from other programs
Claire Falck, English
The study of theatre in a liberal arts context cultivates many widely applicable capacities such as communication skills, aesthetic understanding, creative problem-solving, and intuitive as well as analytical thinking. Knox offers a broad range of courses at introductory and advanced levels in performance, design, and literature and history. Those curricular offerings complement and are integrated with a variety of co-curricular opportunities for students to act in, write, direct, design and create theatre.
The Department of Theatre seeks to create a supportive, collaborative environment in which students can put into practice what they learn in the classroom, the rehearsal studio and the design studio. All of the department's curricular and co-curricular experiences are grounded in the belief that the rigorous study and practice of theatre provide students with a unique and vital means of investigating and making significant discoveries about the world and their own place in it.
Students who major or minor in theatre emerge well prepared for advanced study in playwriting, performance, directing, design, and dramatic literature and history. Those students who do not pursue careers in theatre gain at Knox a wealth of experience beneficial to professional life in many other areas, including business, law, and education, among many diverse fields.
The departmental curriculum contributes to the College's Key Competency Requirements as follows:
- Writing Key Competency - THTR 151, 352, and 383 serve as writing-intensive courses for majors
- Speaking Key Competency - THTR 121, 131, 231, 232, and 331 serve as speaking-intensive courses for majors
- Information Literacy and Informed Use of Technology - Special skills in the use of computers in locating, retrieving, and manipulating audio and visual materials are introduced in THTR 121 and are further developed in the 220- and 320-level design courses. Skills in gathering information from print, non-print, and digital sources as well as means of evaluating these sources are introduced in THTR 151 and are further developed in the 250-, 350-, and 380-level dramatic literature and theatre history courses.
Departmental Learning Goals
Students completing a major in Theatre will:
- Demonstrate mastery in one or more areas of theatre and drama including, but not limited to, acting, directing, design (sets, lighting, videography, costumes, sound, properties), stage management, playwriting, dramaturgy, history, theory, and literature
- Demonstrate facility and acuity in the articulation of the role of theatre as a means of knowing and an interpretative lens by which human beings may understand and negotiate culture, society, and self
- Recognize, construct, prioritize, implement, and evaluate a range of solutions to topics of concern regarding text, context, creation of the means of performance, and performance as central to the creative process of knowing