THR 357 - Intermediate Acting: Acting Political - Bringing Feminist Texts to Life

Course unit(s): 1
Meets GAR (students beginning prior to Fall 2024): Meets general academic requirement DE.
Prerequisite(s): THR 250 Acting Process
Performing scripts with feminist intentions requires actors to master several performance methodologies while also calling upon those actors to work through theorectical lenses such as intersectional analyses, disabilities studies, and, of course, theories of comedy. Students will read texts which invite feminist questions and rely upon specifically “resistant” acting styles used by marginalized theatre-makers. These styles of performance include, for instance, the tragical-farcical (“high-low”) acting as called for by the great American writer, Suzan-Lori Parks, with her politically charged scripts as well as an anti-realistic “downtown Lesbian camp” style to bring performance texts generated by “The 5 Lesbian Brothers” or the Native American group, “Spiderwoman”, to humorous life onstage.