Theater
Creativity Takes Center Stage
With a rich tradition of theatrical excellence, we blend rigorous academics with a deep appreciation for the dramatic arts. Whether you're fascinated by acting lighting design, stage management, or the intricacies of directing, our inclusive approach ensures that every student has the opportunity to contribute to all aspects of the production process. Our inclusive community encourages all to discover their voice through captivating productions and collaborative storytelling.
Experience Theater at GS
Theater Courses
ARP400H: Theatrical Makeup
Design and techniques of applying makeup for stage and film are introduced and, for students with prior experience, extended. Principles covered include the ability to specifically articulate how makeup design contributes to character and theme of a production, and how to apply design concepts based on facial anatomy and skin tone. Exercises in corrective makeup and aging are included each year. Other techniques included on a rotating basis are historical makeup, injury effects, animal mimicry, and fantasy design.
ARP400M: Stage Combat and Movement
This course introduces students to the basic mechanics of physical conflict when performing and instills important safety practices. Exercise work examines the elements that make a fight scene safe, truthful and interesting. The actor's individual approach to interpreting fight scenes and their use of body, movement and style is developed and evaluated.
ARP410A: Theater Arts - Acting
This course builds the foundation for the actor’s approach and process. It is designed to welcome students into a safe environment to test and develop a reliable process. Students participate in ensemble-forming exercises that develop concentration, explore the meaning of truth, and encourage spontaneity, simplicity, integrity, and generosity with the goal of helping the actor become more sensitive, imaginative, responsive, and alive on the stage.
ARP410D: Theater Arts - Advanced Acting & Directing
In the Advanced Acting & Directing class, students expand the skills they developed in Theater Arts: Acting. With a specific focus on world theater traditions and practices, students gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of themselves and their role as theater makers. They continue to deepen their critical thinking skills and broaden their personal perspectives of social and human behaviors. Learning to ask probing questions and engaging in meaningful reflection, students develop their artistic perception and creative expression.
ARP410S: Scene Study for the Director
In this course, advanced acting students shift their analytical/creative lens to that of the director. This course demands a highly interactive, collaborative commitment to the art of theater-making. Students further their script analysis work with the aim of making conceptual choices and guiding actors through the rehearsal process.
ARP410T: Advanced Directing
This course furthers development in craft and approach as a director. Students explore every part of the directing process, from the selection of a script to table-work, researching, casting, staging, polishing, and critiquing.