THEA 250

THEA 250, Play Analysis; Spring 2010
Sect. U025—TuTh, 11:00 am-12:20 pm; CFA 135
Dr. Ronald Moyer (CFA 184D; 677-5735; <rmoyer@usd.edu>; <http://www.usd.edu/~rmoyer/250syl-s10sec2.htm>)

The Department of Theatre prepares the student for a career in the theatre and encourages personal and creative growth. It does this by providing a comprehensive humanistic education, supplemented by intensive craft training in which classroom study and practical experience are of equal and complementary value. The Department promotes excellence in education, research, and service; explores new questions, techniques, and practices in the theatre; and inspires students to become life long learners who contribute to their disciplines and professions, while enhancing the cultural lives of their communities.

Course objectives are to improve the students’:
1) awareness of principles and patterns in playscript construction;
2) knowledge of purposes and methods of playscript analysis and production conceptualization;
3) ability to analyze scripts in detail;
4) ability to formulate a conceptual overview of a script toward the goal of theatrical production;
5) ability to communicate the concept clearly; and
6) awareness of internet and library resources for the study of theatre.

Date Topic/readings (ready to discuss) Due (hand in)

Jan 14	Introduction; syllabus; on script analysis	Subscribe to USDTHEATRE (by Jan 21)

19	On script analysis
21	Read Thomas, Preface, Introduction, and Appendices A and B; Read Read D. Ball, Backwards and Forwards





26	No class--SDHSAA
28	No class--SDHSAA

Feb 2	Read Waxberg, pp. 1-30; continue Ball
4	No class--SDHSAA

9	Riders to the Sea (obtain own copy if you want to write in it); Read Thomas, Ch 1
11	Continue Riders; Read Thomas, Chs 2-5

16	Exercises, concept paper format: discussion	**Book Response #1
18	The Glass Menagerie	**Time and place: overall and scene-by-scene; also, be able to discuss other aspects of given circumstances


23	Continue GM; Read Thomas, Chs 6 and 7
25	Continue GM; Read Thomas, Ch 8	**Stases

Mar 2	Continue GM	Character functions and how they relate to each other; name protagonist and antagonist, and give reasons
4	Continue GM	Superobjective, action summary, thesis sentence, AND theme for the play; main objective for character of choice



9	No class--Spring Break
11	No class--Spring Break

16	Read Thomas, Chs 9 & 10; review concept paper format; discuss metaphor/graphic image, production approaches (recommend read Clay & Krempel, The Theatrical Image)
18	Mid-term exam: Ball, Waxberg, Thomas, concept paper, and applications using RttS and GM

23	Buried Child	**Reading reaction paper
25	Continue BC	**Book Response #2

30	Continue BC	(Given circumstances)
Apr 1	Continue BC	(Opening and closing stases)

6	Intro. to Shakespearean text	**BC Concept Paper (analysis & production approach)
8	Macbeth	Reading reaction paper



13	Continue Macb
15	Continue Macb

20	Continue Macb	(Given circumstances; opening and closing stases)
22	Continue Macb	(Major conflict; protagonist and antagonist)





27	Continue Macb	(Plot points [intrusion/inciting incident, turning point, climax]; Superobjective; action summary; thesis; major theme)
29	Catch up/TBA


May 5	Wednesday, 12:30-2:30 pm: Scheduled Final Exam Period	Macbeth concept paper due by Wednesday, May 5, at 12:00 pm

Discussion. Participation in class discussion is vital to expand and to demonstrate your awareness of course materials and to develop your ability to participate in reasoned discussion.

Subscribe to and use the department listserve. The Department of Theatre hosts "USDTHEATRE," a listserve (a mailing list that will automatically send e-mail to all subscribers) to provide a forum for discussing theatre, classes, and related subjects.
Share opinions on assignments, plays, videos, movies, department activities, interesting web sites, other resources, etc.; ask questions; help focus classroom discussions to serve your needs. Monitor the list regularly, as announcements—and, possibly, assignments—from the instructor may be posted there.

To subscribe: (a) send e-mail—in “Plain Text”—from your account to listserv@usd.edu
(b) leave the subject line blank
(c) include the following message (without the quotation marks): "subscribe Usdtheatre-list lastname, firstname" (where firstname and lastname are your actual name, e.g.: "subscribe Usdtheatre-list Moyer, Ronald")

To unsubscribe: (a) send a plain-text e-mail from your account to listserv@usd.edu
(b) leave the subject line blank
(c) include the message (without the quotation marks): "unsubscribe usdtheatre-list"

To post messages to the list
a. send e-mail from your account to usdtheatre-list@usd.edu
b. if the message pertains to THEA 250, start the subject line with 250: and
then an accurate subject heading (e.g., 250: Menagerie theme)

NOTE: you must be a subscriber in order to post messages to the group; you must post from the same account (i.e., internet ID; does not have to be the same computer) you use when you subscribe; if you change ISPs (for example, from USD to Hotmail) you should unsubscribe before you leave the old ISP and you must resubscribe using the new ISP. Anyone with an e-mail account can subscribe to the list (whether or not they are enrolled in the course; on or off campus); you are welcome to remain a subscriber to the list after you have completed the course. If you stop reading the list (like, if you graduate or leave campus for a great job) unsubscribe (otherwise it can cause a mess of trouble).

Explore the web. There is a growing body of material on the web. Some of it is trash, but much of it is interesting and helpful. Explore, seek useful sites: information on theatre, plays, authors; dictionaries and pronunciation guides; information on subjects
included in the plays; visual resources; and you can have fun, too.

Additional assignments. Supplementary readings and additional minor analytical or research reports may be assigned. One or more announced or unannounced quizzes may be given if discussions do not reflect knowledge of assigned readings (if so, grading percentages will be adjusted to include the quizzes).

Extra credit final project. Concept paper for a full-length script to be determined in consultation with instructor and to include an action analysis of one act. This may used to replace any of the completed assignments for an earlier play.

Book responses. Brief (2-4 pp., single-spaced), typed review/response reflecting awareness of the book’s general contents and approach and responding personally to useful/enlightening aspects (do not waste space complaining about what you don’t like). Some of the books devote only limited space for discussion of script analysis. For Actors, one report is recommended to be Waxberg’s The Actor’s Script; for Designers/Technicians, one report should be on Ingham, Payne, or one of the directing texts. The reports may be on any of the "Recommeded references" except Barry, Gross, Hodge, or Jones.

Textbooks:
David Ball, Backwards and Forwards
James Thomas, Script Analysis for Actors, Directors, and Designers, 3^rd ed.
John Millington Synge, Riders to the Sea (any edition)
Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie (DPS ed.)
Sam Shepard, Buried Child (“revised” DPS ed.)
William Shakespeare, Macbeth (New Cambridge; ed. Braunmuller)

Recommended references:
Ball, William. A Sense of Direction
Barry, Jackson G. Dramatic Structure
Benedetti, Robert. The Director at Work
Catron, Louis E. The Director’s Vision
Clay, James H., and Daniel Krempel. The Theatrical Image
Gross, Roger. Understanding Playscripts
Grote, David. Script Analysis
Hodge, Francis. Play Directing
Hornby, Richard. Script into Performance
Ingham, Rosemary. From Page to Stage
Jones, Robert Edmond. The Dramatic Imagination
Kahn, David, and Donna Breed. Scriptwork
Longman, Stanley Vincent. Page and Stage
O’Neill, R. H. The Director as Artist
Payne, Darwin Reid. The Scenographic Imagination

Pritner, Cal, and Scott E. Walters. Introduction to Play Analysis
Sweet, Jeffrey. The Dramatist’s Toolkit
Waxberg, Charles S. The Actor’s Script

Absences. Each unexcused absence beyond three will lower the semester grade by one-third of a letter (i.e., A- to B+, etc.).

Tardiness. While there is no specific policy, frequent tardiness will be interpreted as rudeness toward classmates and lack of interest in the course. If you have some consistent difficulty in arriving at class on time, please discuss this with the instructor.

Students with Special Needs. Any student who feels s/he may need academic accommodations or access accommodations based on the impact of a documented disability should contact and register with Disability Services during the first week of class. Disability Services is the official office to assist students through the process of disability verification and coordination of appropriate and reasonable accommodations. Students currently registered with Disability Services must obtain a new accommodation memo each semester. For information contact:
            Ernetta L. Fox, Director
            Disability Services
            Room 119 Service Center
            605-677-6389
            http://www.usd.edu/ds ; dservices@usd.edu

Academic honesty. No credit can be given for a dishonest assignment. At the discretion of the instructor, a student caught engaging in any form of academic dishonesty may be:
            a.         Given a zero for that assignment.
            b.         Allowed to rewrite and resubmit the assignment for credit.
            c.         Assigned a reduced grade for the course.
            d.         Dropped from the course.
            e.         Failed in the course.

Grading. GM, mid-term exam, Macb, and Buried Child (20% each); book responses (5% each); discussion (in-class and online), exercises, attitude, and other (10%). Late submission of an assignment will lower the grade for that assignment by one letter. Failure to submit an assignment will lower the semester grade by one letter (i.e., A to B, B+ to C+, etc.).