Course Descriptions

Note: courses marked with an asterisk (*) are required for the Minor in Drama.
First year students may take either Drama 1173, Drama 2170, or both in their first year of study. Consult the Director of Drama, Len Falkenstein, if you have questions about which introductory course is best for you.

Drama Program Core Courses

Drama/English 1173: Introduction to Acting and Performance
3 Credit Hours; Fall Term: TTh 1:00-2:20

This Drama/English course is a half-year course in the fundamentals of acting suitable for actors of all skill levels, from beginners to experienced performers. The course is also designed to be of value to non-actors who wish to become more poised at public speaking and in presentations. Instruction will cover the basics of voice, movement, improvisation, script analysis, and monologue and scene work. Students will complete a number of performance assignments individually and in groups, culminating in a final performance project. The emphasis throughout the course will be on fun, participatory, and active learning designed to make students better and more confident stage performers.

Written work for the class will consist of journal assignments. In lieu of written exams, students will be graded primarily on their performance pieces. Because of the participation-centred nature of the course, attendance at all classes is mandatory and some rehearsal time will be required outside of regular class hours.

Drama/English 2170: Principles of Drama Production*
6 Credit Hours; Full Year: M W 2:30-3:50

This course offers a hands-on opportunity to learn the many different aspects of theatrical production. Along with instruction in the fundamentals of voice, movement, acting, and technical theatre, the company formed by course members mounts two productions (one at the end of each term) under the direction of the instructor. Students are encouraged to develop a well-rounded repertoire of theatrical skills, including acting, stage management, publicity, design, set and props building, painting, audio, makeup and costumes.

Like any theatrical activity, this course is collaborative and makes special demands while offering unique rewards to students. It insists on the full and enthusiastic participation of all students. Time demands can be heavy (two ninety-minute classes per week, plus extra rehearsals and workshops outside class time), and attendance at all class sessions is mandatory. Students will be evaluated primarily on their participation in class and contributions to the course as a whole, as well as on written work consisting of journal writing, play reviews, and two mid-terms. There  is no final exam for the course. The reward for hard work is the thrill and fun of collective accomplishment. The textbooks will be announced on the first day of classes.

Drama/English 3170: Advanced Drama Production*
6 Credit Hours; Full Year:  TTh  2:30-3:45

This course builds on the work completed in ENGL 2170 “Drama Production” and entry into it is normally restricted to students who have credit for ENGL 2170, an equivalent course at another institution, or other advanced drama production experience. ENGL 3170 is a project-based course that offers students advanced instruction and practice in improvisation, script analysis, performance, and technical theatre, along with an introduction to the fundamentals of directing for the stage. Students will participate in the staging of one or two mainstage productions for the Theatre UNB season and one smaller, self-directed, collectively created production; they will also complete two or three technical theatre projects that will enhance their skills in areas such as lighting and sound design, costume design, props rendering, carpentry and set construction, and scenic painting.

Like ENGL 2170, this course demands the full and enthusiastic participation of all students. Time demands are heavy at times and attendance at all class sessions and rehearsals is mandatory. Students will be evaluated based on class participation and written work in the form of play reviews, journals, and technical projects. There is no final exam for this course. Required textbooks will be announced on the first day of class.

Drama/English 4170: Thesis Production and Independent Project*   
Full Year

Open to students completing the final year of a Minor in Drama. In one term, students, working in groups, produce a full-scale production for Theatre UNB. In the other term, students complete an independent project designed to further their knowledge of a theatre discipline of their choice. Both halves of the course are completed under the supervision of the Director of Drama. Prerequisite: DRAM/ENGL 2170 and/or DRAM/ENGL 3170 and permission of the Director of Drama.

Note: the equivalent of Drama 4170 can be taken over two different academic years in the form of two 3 cr. courses as follows:

Drama/English 4173: Thesis Production
One term

Open to students completing the final year of a Minor in Drama. Working in groups, students produce a full-scale production for Theatre UNB, under the supervision of the Director of Drama. Prerequisite: DRAM/ENGL 2170 and/or DRAM/ENGL 3170 and permission of the Director of Drama.

Drama/English 4174: Independent Drama Project
One Term

Open to students completing the final year of a Minor in Drama. Under the supervision of the Director of Drama, students complete an independent project designed to further their knowledge of a theatre discipline of their choice.. Prerequisite: DRAM/ENGL 2170 and/or DRAM/ENGL 3170 and permission of the Director of Drama.

Elective Courses

English 3877: Modern Drama
3 Credit Hours; One Term

This course offers a survey of major developments in late nineteenth-and twentieth-century theatre. Plays will be studied with attention to their often controversial engagements with social and political issues, moral debates, and theatrical conventions, as well as their connections to movements such as realism, modernism, expressionism, and absurdism.  Students will engage with a range of plays from a variety of perspectives.

English 2263: Shakespeare and Film
3 Credit Hours; One Term

This course will study a handful of Shakespeare’s plays in modern film or video versions. Recent film successes such as Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet, Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V, and Julie Taymor’s Titus, remind us that Shakespeare continues to be vastly appealing to a huge range of actors and audiences around the world. His work has in fact been the subject of films from the earliest days of cinema in the 1890s. We shall consider the ways in which the more visually oriented medium of film transforms writing for the theatre, and how it re-creates these plays’ interpretive and performance possibilities as new expressions of contemporary art and culture. The final grade for this course will be based on two essays and a final examination.

English 3260: Shakespeare
6 Credit Hours;  Full Year

After 400 years, Shakespeare’s ability to thrill audiences, inspire writers, and challenge actors is undiminished, and in this course we shall learn why by studying a selection of his comedies, histories, and tragedies. We shall consider the current range of critical and theoretical approaches of textual interpretation as well as notable performances in the history of Shakespeare on stage and in film.

English 2195: Introduction to Creative Writing: Poetry and Drama
3 Credit Hours; One Term

Introduction to the writing of poetry and drama, with a focus on basic technique, style, and form. Combines writing exercises and lectures on the elements of writing, but also introduces the workshop method, by which students provide critiques of each other’s work and develop editorial skills. May include assigned readings.

English 3163: Creative Writing: Drama
3 Credit Hours; One Term

This course is an advanced class in writing for the stage, designed to refine students’ skills in voice, pacing, visual description, dialogue, and editing/revision. Taught in a workshop format, the course will require students regularly to submit work for discussion and constructive critique by other class members and the instructor. Students will complete a variety of exercises along with one short play (10 minutes) and one longer play (one act to full length). They will also be required to read and offer short presentations on the work of accomplished playwrights, and to attend plays performed in Fredericton. The final grade will be based on a portfolio of students’ final, revised creative work for the course, their performance in class discussion and presentations, and their written critiques of other students’ writing, when assigned. There is no final examination for the course.