Catalog Home College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Theatre Arts

Theatre Arts

The Department of Theatre Arts offers academic programs for undergraduate and graduate students. It also stages live performances throughout the academic year and during the summer.

The department is one of three academic units that make up the Division of Performing Arts.

Undergraduate Programs

The Department of Theatre Arts offers a Bachelor of Arts and a minor in theatre arts. It also participates in offering the Certificate in Performing Arts Entrepreneurship, offered through the Division of Performing Arts.

The major is based on the department's belief that the best way to develop future artists is to expose them to rigorous professional practice within the framework of a liberal arts and sciences education.

Department of Theatre Arts students take workshop courses in acting, directing, design, technical theatre, stage management, and playwriting and complement them with classes in dramatic literature, history, and criticism. Students also are encouraged to explore a range of courses throughout the University. Two dozen productions are staged each year, providing additional opportunities to learn the theatre craft and to develop a personal artistic vision.

The department also educates students who plan to enter other fields in which understanding of the arts and experience with theatre skills are useful. Some pursue a major in theatre arts or work toward a double major in theatre arts and another discipline. Others take theatre classes as nonmajors; see "Courses for Nonmajors" in this section of the Catalog.

Bachelor of Arts

The Bachelor of Arts in theatre arts requires a minimum of 120 s.h., including 33 s.h. of work for the major. The following courses constitute the basic experience for all undergraduate theatre arts students. Registration in some courses for the major requires special permission. Contact the Department of Theatre Arts for details.

Students must maintain a g.p.a. of at least 2.00 for all courses in the major.

Students who transfer to The University of Iowa from other accredited two- or four-year institutions must demonstrate that they have successfully completed course work equivalent to the basic requirements of the theatre arts department and the University before they may take advanced-level electives. Consult the director of undergraduate studies for more information.

Students must complete the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences General Education Program.

In planning course work, especially electives, students should be guided by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences maximum hours rule: Students earning a B.A. or B.S. may apply a maximum of 50 s.h. earned in one department to the minimum 120 s.h. required for graduation, whether or not the course work is accepted toward requirements for the major; students who earn more than 50 s.h. from one department may use the additional semester hours to satisfy requirements for the major (if the department accepts them), and the grades they earn become part of their grade-point average; but they cannot apply the additional semester hours to the minimum 120 s.h. required for graduation.

COMMON REQUIREMENTS

Students must complete a course's prerequisites before registering for the course. Playscript Analysis (049:060) should be completed as soon as possible; it is prerequisite to several 100-level courses. Courses 049:025 Acting I, 049:060 Playscript Analysis, 049:112 History of Theatre and Drama I or 049:113 History of Theatre and Drama II, and the design requirement normally are completed within the first four semesters in the major. Theatre Crafts (049:044) is prerequisite to all production courses; 049:045 Production: Run Crew is prerequisite to 049:046 Production: Crew Chief and 049:047 Production: Construction.

Students who complete 049:002 Theatre and Society: Ancients and Moderns or 049:003 Theatre and Society: Romantics and Rebels before declaring a major in theatre arts must consult the undergraduate director before registering for 049:112 History of Theatre and Drama I or 049:113 History of Theatre and Drama II.

All of these: 

Required production courses: Students must earn a total of 3 s.h. from the following production courses; 049:045 Production: Run Crew is prerequisite to 049:046 Production: Crew Chief and 049:047 Production: Construction. 

Optional courses: With the instructor's approval, students who enroll in one of the three optional courses (049:132 Stage Management, 049:147 Technical Production I, or 049:148 Technical Production: Special Topics) also may enroll in 049:045 Production: Run Crew (a required production course) during the same semester or session and may complete an additional project, earning 1 s.h. for 049:045 Production: Run Crew in addition to the credit they earn for the optional course. Students may earn a maximum of 1 s.h. of required production course credit this way. 

One of these: 

ELECTIVES

Students majoring in theatre arts may count up to 17 s.h. earned in Department of Theatre Arts elective courses (prefix 049) toward degree requirements.

Transfer students should consult the director of undergraduate studies before registering for advanced-level electives.

Student Auditions for Theatre Arts Productions

Theatre arts majors are encouraged to audition for the department's productions in general auditions at the beginning of the fall semester. Students normally present a three-minute audition consisting of two contrasting pieces. From this audition, callback lists are posted for major productions offered during the first semester. Additional general auditions normally are scheduled in early November and in February.

Students in other majors are welcome to audition for the department's productions, as are community members (see "Productions and Auditions" later in this section). For academic considerations, theatre arts majors are given first consideration for roles.

Materials and information about the general auditions are available from the Department of Theatre Arts office in August. Notices of auditions for all subsequent productions are posted on the department's call board.

Four-Year Graduation Plan

The following checkpoints list the minimum requirements students must complete by certain semesters in order to stay on the University's Four-Year Graduation Plan.

Before the third semester begins: at least one-quarter of the semester hours required for graduation

Before the fifth semester begins: three courses in the major (chosen from 049:025 Acting I, 049:043 Elements of Design, 049:060 Playscript Analysis, 049:112 History of Theatre and Drama I, and 049:113 History of Theatre and Drama II) and at least one-half of the semester hours required for graduation

Before the seventh semester begins: three more courses in the major, two semesters of production credit, and at least three-quarters of the semester hours required for graduation

Before the eighth semester begins: two more courses in the major and another semester of production credit

During the eighth semester: enrollment in remaining course work in the major, all remaining General Education courses, and a sufficient number of semester hours to graduate

Honors

Students who wish to pursue honors studies in the Department of Theatre Arts must be members of the University of Iowa Honors Program, which requires students to maintain a cumulative University of Iowa g.p.a. of at least 3.33 (contact the University of Iowa Honors Program for more information). Senior theatre arts majors who are members of the honors program, have earned a 3.33 g.p.a. in the major, and have approval from the theatre arts faculty may undertake an honors project. Projects may be analytical or creative, or an appropriate combination of the two. Projects ordinarily require an oral presentation or performance for designated faculty members as well as a research and writing component, which is due upon the project's completion.

Students who wish to complete an honors project meet with the departmental honors advisor, who helps them find an appropriate faculty sponsor, prepare and gain acceptance for a written proposal, present the work, and evaluate the outcome. Students normally begin this work before their senior year.

Theatre arts majors who are members of the University of Iowa Honors Program may take honors courses in theatre arts. Courses in the major can be designated as honors courses with permission of the faculty member who teaches the course, the department, and the honors program.

Minor

The minor in theatre arts requires a minimum of 15 s.h. in theatre arts courses, including 12 s.h. in advanced courses taken at The University of Iowa. Students must maintain a g.p.a. of at least 2.00 in the minor. Course work in the minor may not be taken pass/nonpass.

For the minor, advanced courses include 049:021 Basic Acting II, 049:043 Elements of Design, 049:044 Theatre Crafts, 049:060 Playscript Analysis, 049:063 Playwriting II, and any course numbered 049:100 and above. Students must complete all prerequisites for the courses they choose for the minor. They may not include 049:025 Acting I in the minor; it is reserved for students majoring in theatre arts. Students interested in acting should start the minor with 049:020 Basic Acting and then 049:021 Basic Acting II. In rare cases, a student who has completed those may be granted permission to take 049:120 Acting II, which generally is reserved for theatre arts majors.

Courses for Nonmajors

Students in other majors who have an interest in the theatre arts may take courses in the department. The following courses are open to nonmajors. 

Nonmajors with backgrounds in the fine arts may take the following courses with consent of instructor. 

Other courses may be open to nonmajors with consent of the instructor.

Graduate Program

The department offers a Master of Fine Arts in theatre arts.

Master of Fine Arts

The Master of Fine Arts in theatre arts requires 61-69 s.h. of graduate credit, depending on specialty area. Students normally must complete six semesters in residence (internships may be substituted).

The graduate program is dedicated to creative development of theatre artists. Graduates have a solid background in major performance theories, dramatic literature, and practices of the past and present as well as in the craft of their chosen specialties.

Special attention is given to understanding the role and importance of live theatre in society. Interactions among the various theatre disciplines are emphasized, both in classes and through the department's extensive production program. Particular emphasis is placed on the development of new works for the theatre.

Students must make normal progress toward completion of the degree requirements to remain in the program: they must maintain a g.p.a. of at least 3.00 overall and in all course work within the primary area of concentration, and they must build a record of substantial creative work of high quality. Students who fail to make normal progress are placed on academic probation and given one additional semester to demonstrate their qualifications for earning the degree.

Contact the Department of Theatre Arts for specific information on any of the M.F.A. specialty areas.

Admission

Students who demonstrate exceptional ability in acting, directing, dramaturgy, playwriting, design, or stage management may apply for admission to the program of study and production leading to the M.F.A. Admission is based on interview, audition, and/or a portfolio of relevant work, the undergraduate record or other proof of artistic accomplishment, and letters of recommendation.

Submission of playscripts is the most important element in gaining admission to the Playwrights Workshop.

Applicants must meet the admission requirements of the Graduate College; see the Manual of Rules and Regulations of the Graduate College or the Graduate College section of the Catalog.

Facilities

The University of Iowa has one of the finest educational theatre complexes in the country. The Theatre Building offers four theatres and up-to-date facilities for classroom, laboratory, shop, and performance work.

The E.C. Mabie Theatre, a continental-style, 457-seat proscenium playhouse, is one of the finest theatres of its type in the United States. The David Thayer Theatre is a "black box" production space; its flexible seating units accommodate from 140 to 225 people and allow modification of space and audience relationships. Theatre B, which seats 144, is an open-stage theatre dedicated primarily to the production of new and experimental works. The flexible studio theatre seats 50.

In addition to classrooms for acting and directing, several spaces are designed for teaching particular aspects of dramatic studies. The Cosmo Catalano Acting Studio is for study of movement and motion by acting students. The Arnie Gillette Design Studio serves as classroom and studio workshop for design students.

To support its production schedule and to provide students with an appropriate range of experience, the department maintains shops for building, painting, maintaining, and storing scenery, costumes, and properties. Using these shops, students learn to work in metal, plastics, canvas, and wood.

Productions and Auditions

The Department of Theatre Arts presents around 25 public productions each year. These include a subscription series of five plays, a festival of five new works by students, three productions by Iowa Summer Repertory Theatre (a professional company that also employs students), and other productions, many of them new plays.

Special attention is given to the process of developing new works and to the collaborative process that involves writers, directors, designers, dramaturgs, stage managers, and actors. Graduates, undergraduates, faculty, and visiting guest artists work together on large and small projects throughout the year and in a special summer repertory season.

Auditions for Theatre Arts Productions

Auditions for theatre arts productions are open to everyone, including all University of Iowa students and members of the local community. Theatre arts students are given first priority for roles, but many roles are available throughout the year, and many non-theatre students and nonstudent actors are cast each season. Occasionally, professional actors are employed.

General auditions are held at the beginning of the fall semester, and callback lists are posted during the semester. Additional general auditions usually are scheduled in early November and in February. Information about auditions is available from the Department of Theatre Arts office in August. Notices of auditions are posted on the department's call board.