FOUNDATIONS
The first two years of the program contain your foundational courses. Each year you will have a series of core classes covering Acting, Improvisation & Collaboration, Literature of Theater, Text Analysis, Theater History, Voice & Speech, and Physical Technique (which may include aerobics, tumbling, Suzuki training, Viewpoints, contact improvisation, dance, yoga, biomechanics, strength training and both neutral and character mask work). You can also explore Playwriting, Directing and areas of Musical Theater. You will also study the basics of theater production and work backstage in the Cornish Theater season in a variety of capacities. As the program progresses and you develop a greater sense of your own mission as a theater artist, you will move into more specialized courses in your area of interest.
THEATER AREAS OF STUDY
Acting
Following a successful audition at the end of the sophomore year, you will engage in intensive study of classical theater texts, exploring material from the Greeks to Shakespeare to Chekhov. You will learn the technical skills necessary to bring heightened and poetic language to life on stage, while imbuing your character portrayals with a sense of dramatic truth. Acting students also have the opportunity to do on-camera projects.
In the senior year, you delve deeper into subtext, ambiguity, and mystery through the work of Beckett, Pinter, and a range of contemporary playwrights. You will also strategize how to launch your career, while developing useful skills such as stage combat, voiceover, and auditioning for both live and digital performance. Your senior thesis project may involve self-producing a one-act play or performing as an acting intern in a local professional theater.
Musical Theater
Musical Theater students take the core acting-based skills classes in the Foundations years, supplemented with classes in singing, dance, and musical theater. You study singing and dance as well as music theory, including ear training, sight reading and singing, group singing, rhythm and harmony. This culminates in a musical capstone as part of the sophomore ensemble project.
Following a successful audition for continuance in the program at the end of the sophomore year, you participate in classes in theater dance styles, musical theater performance and audition techniques. You perform in productions of both original and established musical theater works, including a cabaret at the end of the fall of the senior year. You also take singing lessons. Your senior thesis project needs to demonstrate acquisition of a range of musical theater skills.
Original Works
Original Works is designed for artists whose goals include directing, playwriting, generating original performance pieces, or being part of a generative ensemble or the artistic staff of a theater. After successful completion of an audition at the start of the junior year, you explore a wide variety of generative methods, including playwriting, directing, personal clown, and other physical/improvisational approaches, as well as self- producing and dramaturgy.
Reading and research are essential aspects of the program. In addition to intensive practice in writing and directing, you study the work of important generative artists, playwrights, and directors.
Your senior thesis project will be a generative piece, either written by you or created by an ensemble under your creative supervision which reflects your aesthetic vision.
