CONCENTRATION & MINOR in the BA ENGLISH MAJOR

What You’ll Study

Studying theatre empowers you to work together with your peers to bring artistic visions to life. It prepares you to lead a life distinguished by self-awareness, open communication, and making a difference. Theatre studies within Warren Wilson’s well-rounded liberal arts curriculum will expand your intellectual, emotional, and practical capacities by teaching you the broad range of skills needed to create theatre and by investigating the purpose of theatre as collaborative art.

You have the opportunity to take courses spanning a range of plays, historical styles, and theatrical arts. You’ll apply your classroom learning in productions and projects staged by the Warren Wilson Theatre, the department’s performance laboratory. Here, in collaboration with diverse members of the campus community, you’ll explore contemporary staging techniques as applied to texts from various periods and cultures, as well as contemporary dramatic and post-dramatic texts, musical comedy, original, and devised work.

By studying theatre, you will develop:

  • the ability to recognize and articulate the purpose, value, and effectiveness of your own and others’ artistic work.
  • the fundamental skills necessary to participate in the effective implementation of a theatrical vision.
  • an appreciation of the importance of a good collaborative process as you gain an ever-greater investment in the artistic result.
  • theatrical contexts to better integrate your academic, work, and community experiences.

Explore Classes in This Program

THR 1130

Technical Theatre

This course will introduce you to several aspects of backstage work including set and prop construction, stage lighting and sound equipment, and scene painting. You will also learn how to use construction tools, lighting equipment, and stage rigging.

THR 1170

Acting 1

Learn stage acting through daily physical and vocal exercises, exercises in concentration/focus, observation, imitation, and representation. Expect to participate in classroom discussions, spend time rehearsing together outside of class, read and analyze scripts, and write short reflection and research papers. The class completes a public performance at the end of the semester.

THR 3140

Shakespeare in Performance

Practice classical acting and learn theory through analysing and studying Shakespearean texts and attending performances in the community. Projects include the presentation of an ample selection of scenes, monologues, and sonnets. Throughout this course you will memorize and perform these texts in both solo and ensemble situations.

Meet Our Faculty

I don't think I would have gotten this part without Candace. Needless to say, when I showed up at Wilson, I knew I wanted to act, but I was scared... and it was the most terrifying thing ever. Candace worked with me just endlessly.

Lewis Pullman '15
Candace Taylor
Candace Taylor, MFA

I love my students. They are truly the reason I get up in the morning and come to work. They are so genuinely curious about the world and how we can make it a better place. My students inspire me, challenge me, and have helped me understand a little bit more about myself in my time here.

Kris Hernandez
Kris Hernandez
Candace Taylor