Theater
About the Program
The Theater Program is housed within the Department of Theater, Dance and Film Studies at W&L. Students who wish to deepen their understanding or hone their craft can choose to major or minor in theater.
The department produces a number of theatrical events each year, including plays and musicals. Participation in any department production is open to all students at Washington and Lee. Students do not have to be a major or minor to be involved in a show.
Opportunities for Students
Theater productions take place throughout the academic year. Past productions include:
- 2018-19 “The Cherry Orchard”
- 2018-19 “Vana, Sona, Marsha and Spike”
- 2017-18 “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet”
- 2017-18 “James and the Giant Peach”
- 2016-17 “Sense and Sensibility”
- 2016-17 “Dracula”
Past productions founded by the Robert O. and Elizabeth M. Bentley Endowment for the Performing Arts include:
- 2018-19 “Priscilla Queen of the Desert”
- 2017-18 “The Addams Family, a New Musical”
- 2016-17: “Theory of Relativity”
- 2015-6: “Legally Blonde”
- 2014-15: “Monty Python's Spamalot”
The Richard B. Sessoms Fund for Student Experiences helped to support the following opportunities:
- 2018-19 February Break trip to Washington, D.C.
- 2017-18 February Break trip to Chicago, Illinois
- 2016-17 February Break trip to New York, New York
Sample Courses
Script Analysis for Stage & Screen
The study of selected plays and screenplays from the standpoint of the theater and screen artists. Emphasis on thorough examination of the scripts preparatory to production. This course is focused on developing script analysis skills directly applicable to work in production. Students work collaboratively in various creative capacities to transform texts into productions.
Modern Drama
This course explores the principal movements and aesthetics in the modern period in European and American theater history from the end of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century. Significant plays, playwrights, theatre artists and theorists are studied in context of the successive waves of modern movements: realism, symbolism, expressionism, surrealism, epic theater and theater of the absurd. Oral presentations, short research papers and performance projects will be required.
Western Theater History
This course examines theater from the Renaissance period up to the modern era. Students read, analyze and perform texts from this period, studying in detail how the theater is culturally created and maintained. The goal of the course is to gain a general overview of how the theater came to be what it is today. Since theater is primarily a cultural institution, we simultaneously examine politics, philosophy, religion, science and other factors that influence how the art form is created, maintained and culturally preserved. We also examine history itself as an important cultural tool for assessing the events of the past.
Lighting Design
A study of the practice of stage lighting, focusing on styles of production, historical methods and artistic theory. Culminates in a light design for a public theatrical production.
Special Effects for Theater
In this hands-on, project-based course, students apply the process of iterative design and use critical thinking to provide creative solutions to solve the artistic effects required to tell stories in theater. Starting with textual analysis of given scripts, students develop the parameters required for various effects, figure out a process to create those effects, and make them.
Digital Production
Digital technologies and multimedia interaction are increasingly utilized to produce, enhance and innovate theatrical production. Students examine and experiment with various digital technologies as they relate to theater and dance performance. Students create digital audio, video, design rendering and animation projects for theatrical performances.
Meet the Faculty
At W&L, students enjoy small classes and close relationships with professors who educate and nurture.
