Theatre
Craig Clinton
Directing, drama history and literature, playwriting.
Kristeen Crosser
Theatre design and technology.
Natalie Leavenworth
Costume design and construction.
Kathleen Worley
Acting, directing, intercultural theatre.
The theatre department views performance work as a synthesis of an individual’s critical and creative faculties. Hence the great importance of the liberal arts experience to theatre artists, who must be able to analyze texts, research historical and cultural contexts, and make critical decisions, all of which contribute to imaginative and challenging performance work. Students use analytic and research tools in the projects they undertake as class assignments and in the larger productions that are produced for the Reed community and the public Classes and production work are open to majors and non-majors, and first- and second-year students are eligible to enroll in almost all of the department’s courses. In two performance spaces, the department has produced a wide range of works by major playwrights from Sophocles to Shakespeare to Shepard. Recent productions include Shakespeare’s
Much Ado About Nothing, Gilman’s
Boy Gets Girl, Stoppard’s
Arcadia, Jarry’s
Ubu Roi, Molière’s
Tartuffe, and the musical
The Triumph of Love. Each year, projects are directed both by faculty members and by senior thesis students.
Senior Thesis
One unit selected from dance, music, or art is recommended.Divisional requirements include proficiency in a foreign language at the second-year level and Humanities 210, 220, or 230 (generally used to fulfill the college’s Group B requirement).
Students majoring in theatre or combined theatre programs are required to contribute a minimum of 50 unpaid crew hours on technical staffs for department-sponsored productions before taking the junior qualifying examination. Student-directed productions under the aegis of the theatre department qualify as “department-sponsored.” Students should enroll in Theatre 162 in each semester in which they plan to work toward fulfilling this requirement.
Junior Qualifying Examination
Students are evaluated through a qualifying examination in the second semester of their junior year. The evaluation of the exam determines the student’s ability to proceed to senior standing and the nature of the thesis project to be undertaken. Students are expected to have completed the crew requirement by the time of this exam.
The senior thesis of a theatre major may be a creative project with a research component or an academic research project. Recent creative projects have been undertaken in directing, playwriting, acting, dramaturgy and design.
Requirements for the Major
Crew Requirement
