Liberal Arts

Theatre Arts

Professors Blair, David, Derry, Klein, Reichert

Associate Professors Benjamin, Crews, Cromer, Donahoe, Johnson, Knauert
Lavarnway, Lafferty, McDowell (chair), Rodriguez, Walker, White

Assistant Professors Deer, Hellems

The Department of Theatre Arts is devoted exclusively to the training and education of under-graduate students in the areas of dance, motion pictures, and theatre. These programs lead to the Bachelor of Arts and the Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees.

The Department of Theatre Arts is empowered by the Ohio Revised Code to "require particular preliminary training or talent" for admission to specific programs, and each of the five B.F.A. degree programs has specific criteria for admission to each level of training. Students in all areas must earn a minimum GPA of 2.0 by the end of the freshman year to continue in a theatre arts major. Students who wish to be admitted as majors in acting, dance, or directing/stage management must successfully pass an audition or interview. Transfer students are admitted into B.F.A. programs on the basis of a successful audition, interview, or portfolio presentation. The department has an open admis-sions policy for students wishing to major in the B.A. programs in theatre studies and motion picture history, theory, and criticism, and B.F.A. programs in design/technology and motion picture production.

All students who return after an absence of four or more consecutive quarters must reapply to the faculty for readmission to the program, and at the discretion of the faculty they may be required to satisfy program requirements in effect at the time of readmission. Details of the admission and retention policy are detailed in the Department of Theatre Arts Student Handbook.

Dance

The program in dance is designed to train students for a career in performance, teaching, or choreography. This program combines theatrical and musical training that helps prepare dance students for either specialized careers in modern dance or in ballet companies, or for a career in the professional theatre as a dancer who sings and acts.

The foundation of the dance curriculum is a daily class in ballet technique with additional training in modern, jazz-theatre dance, and tap. Classes in choreography, dance pedagogy, and dance history are required. Seniors must complete an individually choreographed senior dance project. Required courses outside of dance include studies in theatre, acting, music theory, music literature, and singing.

All students must successfully audition for admission into the dance program. All transfer students are required to audition for acceptance and placement. To remain in the dance program, students must demonstrate continual growth as judged by the faculty, maintain a 2.5 GPA in all dance courses, and a 2.0 GPA overall. Dance faculty evaluate all majors at the end of each academic year; students must earn a positive recommendation before they can enroll for the next level of training.

Exceptional dance majors are selected to study and to perform as members of Dayton Ballet II or Dayton Contemporary II. These dancers are eligible for scholarships from the Department of Theatre Arts.

Dance majors are required to audition for the Wright State Dance Ensemble. Other auditions may be required by the dance faculty for other performances, including lecture-demonstrations, choreographic presentations, dance tours, and dramatic and musical productions. Dance majors must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.0 to be eligible for graduation.

Degree Requirements - Dance

Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree

Motion Pictures

The program in motion pictures provides a study of film as a fine art. The curriculum offers two options: the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatre with a concentration in motion picture production; and the Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre with a concentration in motion pictures history, theory, and criticism.

The B.F.A. Program

The B.F.A. program follows an open admission policy only for the first quarter; thereafter, students must progress according to department guidelines in order to continue. Prospective motion picture B.F.A. students must take TH 131 the fall quarter of their freshman year and receive an "A" or "B" in order to proceed to any other classes as a major. Students successful in TH 131 should register for TH 231 in the winter quarter. In order to be eligible to take TH 180 and TH 232 in the spring quarter, students must have completed 24 university credit hours, received a "C" or higher in TH 231, and achieved an overall GPA of 2.25 by the end of winter quarter.

After completion of the spring quarter, prospective B.F.A. students must submit a Sophomore Audition Application and be officially accepted as a film major in order to continue into the sophomore year. Note that there will be a limited number of students invited to enroll into the second year and become B.F.A. majors. Further details regarding evaluation standards can be found in the Theatre Arts at Wright State Booklet, published by the department.

At the end of the sophomore year, B.F.A. students must audition successfully for entrance into the junior and senior years of the program. This process is called the Junior Audition and is a comprehensive process involving multiple meetings with faculty and review of all work done in the program. Before students are accepted into the junior year, they must have a 2.5 GPA in all film history/theory classes and a 2.25 overall GPA. Students must also have completed six film history/theory courses, not including TH 131, and including TH 232 and 233, and have earned at least 85 credit hours. Students are required to submit original media work for faculty evaluation. To be accepted to the third year, students must show promise of benefitting from continuing education. In their third year, all production students are expected to demonstrate growth in film technique and earn additional credits in film history, theory, and criticism, as well as credits in General Education classes and electives.

The B.A. Program

Students who are interested in the B.A. program generally follow the same program of study for the first year as the B.F.A. students. Like B.F.A. students, B.A. students are required to take TH 281 and TH 282. At the end of the freshman year, B.A. students should indicate to the faculty their intention to return to the program. If places are available, they will be allowed into TH 281 and TH 282 the fall and winter quarter of their sophomore year. More likely, B.A. students will be guaranteed entry into TH 281 and TH 282, but not until their junior or senior year. A B.A. degree in motion pictures can be thought of as a general liberal arts degree preparing one for entrance into professions requiring knowledge of contemporary culture. More specifically, the B.A. degree can prepare one for graduate study in film and subsequent employment as a professional writer or teacher in a university; other job options include working for a film archive, festival, library, museum, arts council, or publisher.

Motion Picture Honors Program

The honors program in motion pictures provides students of superior academic ability with the opportunity to broaden and demonstrate their skills. To earn a degree with honors, students must complete the departmental major requirements, maintain a superior GPA throughout their course of studies, and successfully complete a senior honors project, TH 499, sometime in their senior year. To be admitted to the honors program, students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 in their major and an overall GPA of 3.25. Both B.A. and B.F.A. students should contact the coordinator of the motion pictures area or the department chair for further details.

Degree Requirements - Motion Picture History,
Theory, and Criticism

Bachelor of Arts Degree

The Bachelor of Arts degree combines a liberal arts education with an appreciation of the aesthetic, social, and historical aspects of the film medium. Because film is a highly eclectic medium of expression, the department has designed a coordinated program of electives for the B.A. student.

Degree Requirements - Motion Picture Production

Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree

The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree is designed to give students preprofessional training for vocations closely related to film and video production, while simultaneously giving them an opportunity to develop their creativity.

Theatre

Students who wish to study theatre choose from professional programs leading to the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, or from the Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre studies. The professional programs are acting, acting-musical theatre, and design/technology/stage management.

Admission for the acting program is by audition. The department has an open admissions policy for first-term freshmen in the design/technology/stage management and theatre studies programs. Transfer students must audition or interview for all B.F.A. programs. Each B.F.A. program has set criteria for selectively retaining students in the programs. These include a requirement that students must earn a GPA of at least 2.0 to continue in the B.F.A. programs; most of the programs require a higher minimum GPA for graduation. The policies are spelled out in the following sections and in the Theatre Arts Student Handbook, which is issued annually. Students are required to consult quarterly with an academic advisor.

Degree Requirements - Acting and Acting - Musical Theatre

Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree

The professional acting and acting/musical theatre programs are an intensive, four-year progression of studies in acting, voice, movement, dance, and singing. Acting majors may choose an emphasis in musical theatre. Because courses in the acting program follow a set sequence, students are generally admitted only in the fall quarter. The Professional Actor Training program is limited by audition only to selected, superior students who show promise of high achievement in acting and/or musical theatre. Retention in the Professional Actor Training program is determined by periodic review. Students are retained in the program based on their growth and development as judged by the acting faculty. All students in the program must earn a grade of "C" or better in an acting sequence to continue in the program. A 2.0 overall GPA is required for continued good standing.

Acting

Acting/Musical Theatre

Degree Requirements - Design/Technology/Stage Management

Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree

The program in design/technology prepares students for careers as designers, technicians, and stage managers in the professional theatre. During the junior year, students begin a concentration in either design or technology in the fields of costumes, scenery, lighting, sound, or properties. Students interested in concentrating in stage management do so beginning in the freshman year. All design/technology majors must present their portfolio for an evaluation at the end of each year of study. Students are retained in the program and accepted into the sophomore year of study based on (1) their maintaining an overall GPA of 2.0, and (2) their continual growth as determined by the faculty and by a successful portfolio evaluation at the end of each year of study. Before students can begin their junior or senior year, they must have a 2.5 GPA on all design and technology classes and a 2.25 overall GPA. Students must also continue to show steady growth in their craft. Student must demonstrate leadership skills and self-discipline and show promise of benefiting from continued training. Any student whose overall GPA falls below 2.25 will be suspended from production, graphics, and design classes, and from using facilities until the GPA is raised. The faculty reserves the right to totally suspend from a program any student who does not fulfill these continuing requirements. Students may be reinstated if the requirements are subsequently fulfilled. Students not performing in their academic or production assignments will be dropped from the program.

* Recommended electives for students in the Stage Management Concentration are TH 131, 498 (12–15 hours), and COM 453.

Degree Requirements - Theatre Studies

Bachelor of Arts Degree

Theatre majors working toward the Bachelor of Arts degree combine the advantages of a liberal arts education with preparation for a career in theatre or theatre-related areas. The department encourages students to maintain a balance between theory and practice, and among the various arts of the theatre, gaining insight and perspective by studying art, history, literature, music, philosophy, religion, and science.

Because of the strength of the theatre produc-tion program, the B.A. theatre studies student is in a particularly advantageous position to acquire a high level of practical as well as theoretical knowledge, a distinction not afforded theatre students in programs with lesser production emphases. The student is encouraged to diversify in a variety of disciplines; courses throughout the department as well as production opportunities are open to these students.

The major in theatre studies is generally considered to be preparation for further study at the graduate level.

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