Spring 2020 Theater Courses and Programming

To our Majors, Minors, and all Dartmouth Theater students:

We know that this is a confusing and disappointing time, and the staff and faculty of the Department of Theater want to make sure that you know that we are here to support you. Our goals in this challenging moment are: 

• To offer as much continuity in your education as we can
• To make sure that our seniors graduate
• To do everything possible to ensure that we all stay healthy

It is not a simple thing to teach theater classes remotely; it is particularly difficult to transition the practical theater courses that we typically offer into an online format. But we are determined and excited about making this work. The following courses will be offered online this spring:

THEA 10.08         Creativity and Collaboration, Dan Kotlowitz and Melinda Evans
THEA 10.32         Acting for Musical Theater II, Carol Dunne
THEA 17              Theater and Society III: 19th-20th Cent. Performance, Monica White Ndounou
THEA 22              Black Theater USA, Monica White Ndounou
THEA 24              Asian Performance Traditions, Woon-Ping Chin
THEA 27              Movement Fundamentals II, Keith Coughlin
THEA 29              Dance Theater Performance, John Heginbotham and Rebecca Stenn
THEA 48              Costume Design, Laurie Churba
THEA 50              Playwriting I, Joe Sutton

These courses will be offered using a combination of sychronous and asynchronous teaching styles, meaning that some will be taught mainly in real time via telecommuting tools (zoom, skype,etc.), while others will rely more heavily on course materials that students may access at any time. For more details regarding each course's specific spring term plan, please email the individual professors. 

The following four classes have been cancelled for the spring 2020 term:

THEA 30 Acting I
THEA 36 Speaking Voice for the Stage
THEA 40 Technical Production
THEA 54 Directing

Senior theater majors needing a stage management production credit in order to graduate will be able to complete an online seminar in stage management; please stay tuned for more details about that. Majors and minors with immediate concerns or questions about fulfilling the requirements for graduation should contact the Department Chair Dan Kotlowitz directly, with a cc to Academic Assistant Paula Holwerda.

On the production side of our programming, we have cancelled all pre-existing production plans for the spring. That includes our MainStage production of The Wolves, which we hope to be able to produce a year from now; YourSpace and Studio Lab performance slots; and the performative elements of our various Honors Thesis projects. In place of all this, we would like to encourage you to propose any projects for the spring that might capitalize on remote communication: the creation of a radio or video play, for example, or a video/spoken word archive of artistic responses to the extraoradinary moment that we find ourselves in. We welcome your suggestions; please click HERE for more details about how to propose a spring term remote performance project. 

While we may not be able to accomplish all things, we’re eager to explore what might be possible this spring, both academically and practically, and to find ways to support the artistic creativity of our remarkable students in this extraordinary time.

With hope and affection,

Dan Kotlowitz, Department Chair

Jamie Horton, Director of Theater