Professors—Eilenberg, Goto, Howard, Hunt, Kowsar, Mahler, Peters, Schechter
Associate Professors—Baron, Conboy, Washington
Assistant Professors—Kennedy, Roehrman, Wilson
B.A. in Drama
Minor in Drama
M.A. in Drama
M.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Concentration in Design/Technical Production
The Department of Theatre Arts offers a comprehensive program of both practical and theoretical courses for undergraduate and graduate students whose interests center in various aspects of educational and professional theatre.
The curricula provide the student with background for advanced study in the dramatic arts, for teaching, or for a career in professional theatre. As a center for the training of future theatre artists and audiences, the department is committed to introducing a diversity of theatrical traditions and cultures to students. To this end, the department employs its four theatre spaces as learning laboratories, in which students collaborate with faculty and guest professionals; studio workshops and advanced stage productions in those theatres are the culmination of classroom study and rehearsal in and out of class.
Faculty members encourage and facilitate collaboration with off-campus area theatres, in ways that enlarge their experience and open new connections between students and the community. This contact with the community offers students an education grounded in practical professional stage practices as well as university classes and production on campus.
The diverse backgrounds of both faculty and students in the program provide our campus and community with a wealth of theatrical experiences and attractions. Graduates of the program have gone on to professional success in the Bay Area and elsewhere, with positions of leadership in theatre, television, film, and theatre education.
Fundamental to the major program is a core of required courses designed as a foundation upon which to elect, upon advisement, one of the following areas of emphasis: performance, play development and dramaturgy, or technical theatre and design.
The minor program is not a requirement for any credential or degree but it is intended to give the student an opportunity to pursue an interest in theatre arts on an organized basis.
The Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in Theatre Arts is offered with a concentration in design/technical production. The three-year Master of Fine Arts program is designed to provide rigorous, professional graduate training to prepare students for careers as professional theatre artists or artist teachers. In the design/technical production concentration, the focus is on specialized skills in the areas of scene design, costume design, lighting design, and/or technical production management.
The M.F.A. program is organized to combine the elements of professional practice and scholarly work to project a production concept through a specific discipline. The philosophy of the curriculum is based on two necessities of the theatrical art: collaboration and discipline. Students progress through a full-time sequence of courses which trains them to work with other specialized theatre artists in realizing a total work of theatre, as well as to excel in their own chosen arts. The program is designed to develop the candidate's practical skills and personal strengths towards motivating communication, commitment, and support among the production group.
The Master of Arts in Drama provides training for students wishing to expand their knowledge and increase their competence in the fields of history and literature of the theatre, acting, directing, theatre design, and production; seeking teaching credentials where the master's degree is required; and preparing for further graduate work elsewhere.
The Department of Theatre Arts produces its plays in four theatre spaces: McKenna Theatre, a large auditorium that seats 760 people; the Little Theatre, a proscenium stage that seats 250 people; the Studio Theatre, a space that seats 90 people; and the Brown Bag Theatre, which accommodates 55 people.
Theatre Arts classes and production work are also conducted, with professional supervision, in our Scene Shop, Costume Shop, Properties Shop, and Sound Design Laboratory. Some plays have also been staged outdoors, in front of the Student Center, with lighting provided by the California sun.
Career opportunities in theatre arts include performance and technical positions in professional, regional, and community theatres, as well as the areas of film and television, for actor, director, stage manager, designer (lighting, costume, scenery), and craftsperson (seamstress, carpenter, props artisan). Teaching positions range from elementary and high school theatre classes through community college and university curricula in all aspects of the dramatic arts. Other career possibilities include such diverse fields as sales, advertising, design (interior, fashion, display), child care, and recreation.
The core consists of the twenty-seven units listed below while the area of emphasis consists of eighteen units of required and elective courses. No fewer than twelve units, planned with and approved by an assigned adviser, must be taken in residence study.
Online course descriptions are available.
| Core Courses | Units | |
| TH A 130 | Acting Workshop I | 3 |
| TH A 205 | Introduction to Technical Theatre and Design | 2 |
| TH A 240 | Evaluating the Theatrical Script for Production | 3 |
| Units selected from the following | 6 | |
| TH A 310 | Stage Scenery and Properties | |
| TH A 312 | Costuming and Make-Up | |
| TH A 313 | Stage Lighting and Sound | |
| TH A 340 | Principles of Directing | 3 |
| TH A 401 | Theatre Backgrounds: 500 B.C.-1642 1 | 3 |
| TH A 402 | Theatre Backgrounds: 1642-1900 1 | 3 |
| TH A 403 | Theatre Backgrounds: 1900-Present 1 | 3 |
| TH A 515 | Stage Management or | 3 |
| TH A 519/520 | Theatre Management and Laboratory | |
| Area of Emphasis (one Area of Emphasis chosen from below) | 18 | |
| Total | 45 | |
| Areas of Emphasis | ||
| Performance | ||
| TH A 125 | Movement I: Skills | 3 |
| TH A 223 | Voice I: Skills | 3 |
| TH A 230 | Acting Workshop II | 3 |
| Units chosen on advisement from one of the following clusters | 9 | |
| Acting | ||
| TH A 330 | Acting Workshop III | |
| TH A 423 | Voice II: Styles | |
| TH A 430 | Acting Workshop IV | |
| TH A 530 | Acting: The Play | |
| TH A 531 | Styles of Acting | |
| Directing | ||
| TH A 440 | Acting/Directing Workshop | |
| TH A 531 | Styles of Acting | |
| TH A 640 | Directing: Collaborative Concepts | |
| TH A 660 | Advanced Play Development Workshop | |
| TH A 690 | Brown Bag Theatre Company (5) | |
| TH A 691 | Advanced Multicultural Production Workshop | |
| Lyric Theatre | ||
| TH A 330 | Acting Workshop III | |
| TH A 333 | Lyric Theatre Workshop | |
| TH A 423 | Voice II: Styles | |
| TH A 425 | Movement II: Styles | |
| TH A 433 | Musical Theatre Workshop | |
| TH A 533 | Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop | |
| Asian Theatre | ||
| TH A 330 | Acting Workshop III | |
| TH A 332 | Asian Acting for Western Actors | |
| TH A 408 | Asian Plays and Performance Styles | |
| TH A 425 | Movement II: Styles | |
| TH A 430 | Acting Workshop IV | |
| TH A 525 | Movement III: Techniques | |
| TH A 532 | Asian Theatre Workshop | |
| Other | ||
| Units selected from the following on advisement: | ||
| TH A 330 | Acting Workshop III | |
| TH A 332 | Asian Acting for Western Actors | |
| TH A 333 | Lyric Theatre Workshop | |
| TH A 335 | Rehearsal and Performance Technique | |
| TH A 408 | Asian Plays and Performance Styles | |
| TH A 423 | Voice II: Styles | |
| TH A 425 | Movement II: Styles | |
| TH A 430 | Acting Workshop IV | |
| TH A 433 | Musical Theatre Workshop | |
| TH A 440 | Acting/Directing Workshop | |
| TH A 525 | Movement III: Techniques | |
| TH A 530 | Acting: The Play | |
| TH A 531 | Styles of Acting | |
| TH A 532 | Asian Theatre Workshop | |
| TH A 533 | Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop | |
| TH A 640 | Directing: Collaborative Concepts | |
| TH A 660 | Advanced Play Development Workshop | |
| TH A 690 | Brown Bag Theatre Company (5) | |
| TH A 691 | Advanced Multicultural Production Workshop | |
| Play Development and Dramaturgy | ||
| Units chosen from the following: | 12 | |
| TH A 406 | The Art of Comedy | |
| TH A 408 | Asian Plays and Performance Styles | |
| TH A 460 | Play Development Workshop | |
| TH A 605 | Writing and Performing Monologues | |
| TH A 660 | Advanced Play Development Workshop | |
| Elective units on advisement | 6 | |
| Technical Theatre and Design | ||
| TH A 305 | Design Graphics for Stage and Screen | 3 |
| TH A 504 | Historical Styles for the Theatre: Pre-history-1700 | 3 |
| TH A 505 | Historical Styles for the Theatre: 1700-Present | 3 |
| One course selected from the following which was not taken as part of the core: | 2 | |
| TH A 310 | Scenery and Properties Laboratory and Crew (2) | |
| TH A 312 | Costuming and Make-Up Laboratory and Crew (2) | |
| TH A 313 | Lighting and Sound Laboratory and Crew (2) | |
| Elective units chosen from the following: | 7 | |
| TH A 315 | Theatre Production: Technical Crew (1) | |
| TH A 410 | Scene Design for Stage and Screen | |
| TH A 411 | Costume Design for Stage and Screen | |
| TH A 413 | Stage Lighting Design I | |
| TH A 415 | Sound Design in Theatre (2) | |
| TH A 510 | Advanced Stagecraft | |
| TH A 610 | Practicum in Theatre | |
| TH A 611 | Seminar in Costume Design and Technology | |
| TH A 613 | Stage Lighting Design II | |
| TH A 615 | Seminar in Technical Theatre Arts | |
Teaching Credentials in the Single Subject Approved Program in English (Drama) require completion of courses in English as well as Theatre Arts. For details on this program, please consult credentials advisers in the English Composition and Secondary Education offices.
A minimum of twenty-two units, of which at least eleven must be at the upper division level, should be planned with an assigned adviser.
Graduate Advisers—Kennedy, Roehrman, Wilson
Applications for classified status in the M.F.A. program are accepted beginning November 1 of the preceding year, for admission the following Fall. Applicants are required to file two applications, one to the university and one to the Theatre Arts Department. Admission to classified status requires acceptance by both the university and the Department of Theatre Arts. A departmental application form may be obtained by writing to: Department of Theatre Arts, Graduate Coordinator, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, California 94132.
Level One: evaluation of graduate student's statement of purpose, which is a written requirement for admission to classified standing in the Theatre Arts Department. On the basis of this material the graduate coordinator may properly advise a student on the need to obtain additional skills in writing. If remedial work is required it is so indicated as a condition to classification. Level Two: judged by a graduate student's written work while enrolled in TH A 701 or 709. It is expected that papers written for this course will demonstrate scholarly style.
To complete the M.F.A., students must satisfy all university and Department of Theatre Arts requirements. The university requirements are described in the front of the Graduate Education section of this Bulletin. Department requirements are provided in detail by the M.F.A. graduate coordinator and M.F.A. concentration advisers. In addition to satisfactory completion of the course requirements, the department requires satisfactory performance on yearly departmental reviews, participation in the department's production program, and the successful completion of a final creative project or thesis. The Department of Theatre Arts accepts a limited number of transfer units on a course-by-course basis, only on advisement.
At present, this program is suspended due to budget constraints.
| Core Requirements | Units | |
| TH A 705 | Seminar: Performance and Production Theory | 3 |
| TH A 711 | Collaborative Processes in Theatre | 3 |
| TH A 740 | Play Production Concepts | 3 |
| TH A 757 | Internship in Theatre | 3 |
| TH A 894 | Creative Work Project | 3 |
| Total for core | 15 | |
| Concentration | ||
| One of the following: | 3 | |
| TH A 701 | Seminar: Theatre History and Historiography | |
| TH A 702 | Seminar: Shakespearean Production Style | |
| TH A 710 | Seminar in Stage Arts | |
| TH A 750 | Design Studio | 9 |
| TH A 810 | Advanced Practicum in Theatre | 9 |
| Electives on advisement | 24 | |
| Total for concentration | 45 | |
| Total for degree | 60 |
|
Graduate Advisers—Eilenberg, Hampton, Howard, Kowsar
Applicants should submit the following directly to the graduate coordinator: (1) statement of purpose (include proposed area and/or areas of emphasis); (2) copy of transcript; (3) three letters of reference from people who know the applicant's theatre work; and (4) information considered important but which does not appear on the transcript.
Students must meet university departmental requirements, and must normally have completed an undergraduate major in Theatre Arts. Consideration is given to students with a strong undergraduate minor or other relevant work. Admission to the program is based on the Theatre Arts Graduate Committee's evaluation of a student's previous work and supportive materials.
Level One: evaluation of graduate student's statement of purpose, which is a written requirement for admission to classified standing in the Theatre Arts Department. On the basis of this material the graduate coordinator may properly advise a student on the need to obtain additional skills in writing. If remedial work is required it is so indicated as a condition to classification. Level Two: judged by a graduate student's written work while enrolled in TH A 707. If papers written for this course do not earn a superior grade, students must secure the graduate coordinator's permission before enrolling in other 700 level courses.
Besides meeting all general requirements, a diagnostic examination on the entire field of drama may be given at the time of registration to aid the graduate adviser in developing each student's program. Weaknesses in any area may necessitate enrollment in specified courses selected in order to build strength in the area. Such courses are usually taken in addition to the minimum number of units required for completion of the graduate major.
All upper division courses in Theatre Arts in acting, directing, management, and design are acceptable upon advisement except: TH A 300, 310, 312, 313, 315, 335, 401, 402, and 403.
Online course descriptions are available.
| Core Requirements | Units | |
| TH A 700 | Theatre Research Methods | 3 |
| TH A 701 | Seminar: Theatrical History and Historiography | 3 |
| TH A 707 | Seminar: Theatrical Writing | 1 |
| TH A 709 | Seminar: Dramatic Literature and Criticism | 3 |
| Other Requirements | ||
| Selection of one seminar from the following: | 3 | |
| TH A 702 | Seminar: Shakespearean Production Style | |
| TH A 703 | Seminar: The American Stage | |
| TH A 704 | Seminar: Contemporary Plays and Performance | |
| TH A 705 | Seminar: Performance and Production Theory | |
| TH A 894 | Creative Work Project or | 3 |
| TH A 898 | Master's Thesis | |
| Upper division or graduate course in drama | 3 | |
| Supporting upper division or graduate courses in related subjects approved by graduate major adviser | 12 | |
| Minimum total | 31 | |
| and Master's Comprehensive Written Examination (If failed may be repeated once only and must be repeated within a year of the failure.) | ||
Master's Thesis or Creative Work Project. Depending upon the educational and professional aims of the student, the departmental graduate committee recommends whether a master's thesis or creative work project is to be undertaken by the individual student.
Footnotes