Theatre
The Boston College Theatre Department鈥攆aculty, staff, and students鈥攊s committed to theater education that combines art with scholarship and drama study with theater practice. We seek to foster creativity, critical thinking, excellence, and professionalism through the integration of courses, productions, workshops, and other activities. We value theater as a liberal art as well as a performing art, which means that we seek to understand it not only as a means of artistic expression and a form of entertainment, but as a window onto history, a method of inquiry into all things human, and a vehicle for social change. Interested students are invited to join us in this mission regardless of previous experience. Those who do will develop an intellectual frame of reference, a theatrical imagination, and practical skills that prepare them for advanced training in a wide range of disciplines and vocations.
Major Requirements
The Theatre Department offers a major in Theatre and students earn a bachelor of arts degree. Students must successfully complete a total of eleven 3-credit courses, five of which constitute the foundation upon which the upper-level courses are built. Ideally, these five courses will be completed by the end of the sophomore year. The required foundation courses are:
- THTR1172 Dramatic Structure and Theatrical Process (fall only) or, only in special cases, THTR1170 Introduction to Theater (fall and spring)
- THTR1103 Acting I: Fundamentals of Performance (fall and spring)
- THTR1130 Elements of Stagecraft (spring only; corequisite THTR1017 1-credit lab)
- THTR1140 Elements of Theatrical Design (fall only; corequisite THTR1018 1-credit lab)
- THTR2275 History of Theater I (fall only)聽or聽THTR2285 History of Theater II (spring only)
- Two upper-level Performance/Production courses (numbered from THTR3300 to THTR3369 or from THTR4400 to THTR4469)
- Three upper-level Dramatic Literature, Criticism, and Theater History courses (numbered from THTR3370 to THTR3389 and from THTR4470 to THTR4489 or History of Theater I or II that is in addition to the one taken previously)
- One Theatre Elective, THTR2000 and above, chosen from the Theatre Department curriculum according to individual interest. Students may bundle three 1-credit mini-courses together to make one General Theatre Elective.
- Four additional Production Lab credits numbered THTR1011 through 1016 and THTR1020 through 1060. These are experiential learning courses that involve practical work backstage or in the shops (1 credit) or as a designer or stage manager (2 credits) on Theatre Department productions. Students register for Labs at the beginning of each semester.
Students who wish to declare a Theatre major should contact Professor Luke Jorgensen, Acting Chairperson,聽luke.jorgensen@bc.edu, with an e-mail indicating their interest and providing their Eagle ID number.
Minor Requirements
The Theatre minor is intended for students with a serious interest in theater who for one reason or another are not able to commit to fulfilling the requirements for the Theatre major. Based on the same principles and structure as the Theatre major, it aims to provide students with a broad-based theater education that balances courses in theater studies and theater practice.
A Theatre minor will complete the following courses and requirements:
- THTR1172 Dramatic Structure and Theatrical Process (fall only) or, only in special cases, THTR1170 Introduction to Theater (fall and spring)
- THTR1103 Acting 1: Fundamentals of Performance (fall and spring)
- THTR1140 Elements of Theatrical Design (fall only; corequisite THTR1018 1-credit lab)聽or聽THTR1130 Elements of Stagecraft (spring only; corequisite THTR1017 1-credit lab)
- THTR2275 History of Theater I (fall only)聽or聽THTR2285 History of Theater II (spring only)
- One upper-level Dramatic Literature, Criticism, and Theater History courses (numbered from THTR3370 to THTR3389 and from THTR4470 to THTR4489 or History of Theater I or II that is in addition to the one taken previously)
- One upper-level Performance/Production courses (numbered from THTR3300 to THTR3369 or from THTR4400 to THTR4469)
- Two additional Production Lab credits numbered THTR1011 through 1016 and THTR1020 through 1060
Students who wish to declare a Theatre minor should contact Professor Luke Jorgensen, Acting Chairperson,聽luke.jorgensen@bc.edu, with an e-mail indicating their interest and providing their Eagle ID number.
Dance Minor
The Dance Minor began its 2-year pilot phase in fall 2021. The minor is only open to 15 students per graduating class during the pilot phase.聽Only Dance Minors聽will be eligible for credits as a department choreographer, performer, or dance captain.
Required Courses:
- 2 Core Technique courses
- THTR1125: Beginning Ballet I
- THTR1126: Beginning Ballet II
- THTR2221: Contemporary Dance I
- THTR3321: Contemporary Dance II
- THTR2223: Dance for Musicals I
- THTR3323: Dance for Musicals II
- THTR2222: Jazz Dance I
- THTR3322: Jazz Dance II
- 1 History or Theory Class
- THTR1120: Elements of Dance (also fulfills University Arts Core)
- History of Dance
- An additional 3 courses from the following
- Any Intermediate or Advanced level technique course
- 1, 2, or 3 credits as either a department choreographer, dance captain, or performer
贰尘补颈濒听luke.jorgensen@bc.edu聽for more information and to register for the Dance minor.
Educational Theatre Minor
For students in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development with an interest in the teaching and practice of theater in school and institutional settings, the Theatre Department offers a minor in Educational Theatre. An Educational Theatre minor will complete the following courses and requirements:
- THTR1172 Dramatic Structure and Theatrical Process (fall only)聽or,聽in special cases, THTR1170 Introduction to Theater (fall and spring)
- THTR1103 Acting I: Fundamentals of Performance (fall and spring)聽or聽THTR1130 Elements of Theater Production I (spring only)
- THTR3378 Creative Dramatics (fall only)
- THTR2268 Theater for Youth (spring only)聽or聽THTR3366 Directing I (fall only)聽辞谤听THTR4469 Composition and Performance Workshop (intermittent)
- One upper-level Literature, Criticism, History course (see above)聽or聽THTR2275 History of Theater I (fall only)聽or聽THTR2285 History of Theater II (spring only)
- One upper-level Production/Performance course (see above)聽or聽THTR1130 Elements of Stagecraft (fall only)
- Two 1-credit Production Labs (including at least one Prep Lab)
Lynch School of Education and Human Development students who wish to declare this minor should contact Professor Luke Jorgensen, Acting Chairperson, (luke.jorgensen@bc.edu) with an e-mail indicating their interest and providing their Eagle ID number. Contact should also be made with the Assistant Dean in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development.
All courses for the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences minor in Theatre and the Lynch School of Education and Human Development minor in Educational Theatre need to be chosen from the Theatre Department curriculum. Courses taken abroad, courses taken at other institutions, and Readings and Research/Independent Study courses will only count towards a Theatre minor in rare and exceptional circumstances.
Mentoring and Advisement
The Theatre Department faculty place great emphasis on academic advisement and professional mentoring. We are committed to helping students design an academic program that stimulates their curiosity, supports their interests, and advances their abilities. In this interest, we encourage students to pursue professional internships and/or summer training programs that provide practical experience and help to clarify long-range goals. When arranged in advance, internships can earn academic credit and often lead to job offers after graduation. Junior and senior Theatre majors are guided and coached as they prepare for graduate study, advanced training, a full-time professional internship, or early-career job experience.
The Theatre Department Production Program
The Theatre Department maintains an ambitious co-curricular production program that includes four faculty-or-guest directed Mainstage productions and two student-directed, student-designed Workshop productions per academic year. Casting is open to all students and based mainly on audition. The Theatre Department actively encourages students of color to audition for all productions and is firmly committed to a policy of non-traditional color conscious casting, which means that race and ethnicity are not a factor when casting decisions are made. Opportunities abound for students who are interested in design, technical production, and stage management.
Information for Study Abroad
The Theatre Department has no formal affiliation with international programs that focus on theater training or theater study. Students who are considering study abroad are advised to meet with their advisor a full year in advance of their departure in order to plan their academic progress and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of being off campus for a semester or more as an upperclassman. In general, students can receive credit towards the Theatre major (as appropriate) for no more than one course taken abroad. For more information, please contact Professor Luke Jorgensen, Acting Chairperson,聽luke.jorgensen@bc.edu.