THET 102 Acting for Non-Theatre Majors
This course engages non-theatre majors in the art and craft of acting at a beginning level, focusing on the actor’s physical and vocal response, concentration, and imagination. Beginning-level work on character creation is introduced through theater games and exercises, performance, and script analysis. Students will also examine the creative process through observation and responses to live theatre events.
Hours Weekly
3 hours weekly
Course Objectives
- 1. Organize and articulate beat changes through elementary scoring of monologues and
scenes based on the Stanislavsky system, incorporating director/actor vocabulary into the
rehearsal process. - 2. Communicate interpretations of stage literature to an audience through imaginative formal
performances, releasing physical and vocal impulses that arise while playing an action or
responding to another’s reaction, and demonstrating active listening. - 3. Use spoken and symbolic forms of communication to convey character, plot, and general
circumstances of a script, using a variety of formats and techniques. - 4. Analyze one’s own communication style and choices, and those of others, through honest
and constructive class critique of peer performances and live theater events and revise one’s
own performance based on collaborative feedback. - 5. Assess, reflect on, and critically analyze the role of theatre and performance in illuminating
the human condition. - 6. Identify and apply concepts and theories of enduring and contemporary issues of aesthetics
and creativity, through ensemble trust, emotional commitment, character development,
physical and mental readiness, imagination, and life observation. - 7. Incorporate innovation, risk-taking, and creativity into performance choices through
investigation of one’s own sense memory and emotional memory, on a basic level, as an
interior source for character inspiration, by using analysis and
problem-solving methods.
- 8. Pose and address questions related to the confluence of creative expression with social and
cultural contexts of selected stage scripts, respecting diverse opinions and encouraging the
participation of others.
Course Objectives
- 1. Organize and articulate beat changes through elementary scoring of monologues and
scenes based on the Stanislavsky system, incorporating director/actor vocabulary into the
rehearsal process. - 2. Communicate interpretations of stage literature to an audience through imaginative formal
performances, releasing physical and vocal impulses that arise while playing an action or
responding to another’s reaction, and demonstrating active listening. - 3. Use spoken and symbolic forms of communication to convey character, plot, and general
circumstances of a script, using a variety of formats and techniques. - 4. Analyze one’s own communication style and choices, and those of others, through honest
and constructive class critique of peer performances and live theater events and revise one’s
own performance based on collaborative feedback. - 5. Assess, reflect on, and critically analyze the role of theatre and performance in illuminating
the human condition. - 6. Identify and apply concepts and theories of enduring and contemporary issues of aesthetics
and creativity, through ensemble trust, emotional commitment, character development,
physical and mental readiness, imagination, and life observation. - 7. Incorporate innovation, risk-taking, and creativity into performance choices through
investigation of one’s own sense memory and emotional memory, on a basic level, as an
interior source for character inspiration, by using analysis and
problem-solving methods.
- 8. Pose and address questions related to the confluence of creative expression with social and
cultural contexts of selected stage scripts, respecting diverse opinions and encouraging the
participation of others.