*The Course Schedules below are subject to change pending enrolment pattern changes. Detailed course descriptions by instructors are added when available and are also subject to change.
**Please consult the Registrar's Time Table for mode of delivery for courses.
DRE121H5F Traditions of Theatre and Drama
DRE200H5F Canadian Theatre History
DRE201H5F Acting
DRE300H5F Exploring Puppetry in Performance
DRE346H5F Studies in Theatre & Drama 2 (Chekhov)
DRE362H5F Playwrighting
DRE420H5F Studies in Theatre & Drama 3 (Brecht)
DRS121Y5 Acting 1
DRE122H5S Modern and Contemporary Theatre and Drama
DRE202H5S Intermediate Acting
DRE222H5S The Performance Text
DRE223H5S Shakespeare in the Theatre
DRE305H5S Topics in Indigenous Performance (Native Feminisms)
DRE358H5S The Audience and the Theatre
DRE363H5S Workshop in Playwriting
DRE422H5S Senior Seminar 2 (Political Theatre)
DRS122Y5 Acting 2
Course Title: Traditions of Theatre and Drama
Course Code: DRE121H5F | Lecture MW 11-12 | Tutorials W 12-1, W 2-3, W 3-4
Instructor: Holger Syme
For the UTM calendar description of this course, click here.
Group n/a
Course Title: Modern and Contemporary Theatre and Drama
Course Code: DRE122H5S | Lecture MW 11-12 | Tutorials W 12-1, W 2-3
Instructor: Signy Lynch
For the UTM calendar description of this course, click here.
Group n/a
Course Title: Canadian Theatre History
Course Code: DRE200H5F | Lecture M 11-12, W 11-1
Instructor: Signy Lynch
For the UTM calendar description of this course, click here.
Group n/a
Course Title: Acting
Course Code: DRE201H5F | Lecture F 11-12 | PRA F 1-3, F 3-5
Instructor: TBD
For the UTM calendar description of this course, click here.
Group n/a
Course Title: Intermediate Acting
Course Code: DRE202H5S | Lecture F 11-12 | PRA F 1-3
Instructor: TBD
For the UTM calendar description of this course, click here.
Group n/a
Course Title: The Performance Text
Course Code: DRE222H5S | Lecture M 10-12, W 10-11
Instructor: Leticia Ridley
For the UTM calendar description of this course, click here.
Group n/a
Course Title: Shakespeare in the Theatre
Course Code: DRE223H5S
Instructor: Holger Syme
For the UTM calendar description of this course, click here.
Course Title: Exploring Puppetry in Performance
Course Code: DRE300H5F
Instructor: Lawrence Switzky
For the UTM calendar description of this course, click here.
Detailed Description by Instructor: This course offers a practice-informed introduction to the puppetry arts. Students will learn how (and why) puppetry works by making and operating several types of puppetry, including shadow, glove, string, rod, body, and tabletop puppets, object and material performance, giant puppetry, and toy theatre. We’ll learn to be better puppeteers by watching and analyzing puppetry performances and applying their discoveries to our own creative practices.
Puppetry is an ancient and transcultural art and we’ll consider a global sweep of puppetry performance traditions along with contemporary experiments. Across them all, we’ll focus on the core principles of creating “puppet life”—clarity, weight, breath, timing, and focus, among others. We’ll also explore the puppet’s possibilities as a philosophical instrument and the kinds of stories that puppets are particularly well-suited to tell, alongside human actors or on their own terms.
This is a performance-intensive class that encourages play and collaboration. Students should expect to take part in regular exercises in puppetry acting, improvisation, design, and construction, and to present their work-in-progress at most sessions.
Selected Major Readings:
Puppetry is primarily a visual and performing art, so we’ll watch a lot of puppetry on film, most of it in class together—clips as well as full-scale productions. These will include examples from groups like Blind Summit, Bread and Puppet Theatre, Great Small Works, Handspring Puppet Company, Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo, Improbable Theatre, Manual Cinema, The Old Trout Puppet Workshop, Puppetmongers, Royal de Luxe, Sogolon Puppet Theater, and Ukwanda Puppetry Arts, as well as many individual artists.
The readings for this course will mostly consist of short essays on puppetry that we’ll test and apply through performance.
First Texts/Authors to be Studied:
Stephen Kaplin, “A Puppet Tree: A Model for the Field of Puppet Theatre”
Basil Jones, “Puppetry, Authorship, and the Ur-Narrative”
Steve Tillis, “The Actor Occluded: Puppet Theatre and Acting Theory”
Claudia Orenstein, “A Puppet Being and a Puppet Doing”
Peter Schumann, “The Radicality of the Puppet Theatre”
Method of Instruction:
Lecture
Discussion
Improvisation
Informal show and tell sessions
Performance analysis
Performance exercises
Puppet fabrication
Storyboarding
Method of Evaluation:
Participation in exercises and improvisations
Analytical and reflective podcasts (“puppetcasts”)
In-class presentations
In-class performances
Periodic puppet slams
Does your course feature an assessed creative writing component?
Yes, as well as assessed creative fabrication with materials
Course Title: Topics in Indigenous Performance (Native Feminisms)
Course Code: DRE305H5S | Lecture M 1-3
Instructor: Maria Hupfield
For the UTM calendar description of this course, click here.
Course Title: Studies in Theatre & Drama 2 (Global Performance)
Course Code: DRE346HF | Lecture W 11-1
Instructor: Leticia Ridley
For the UTM calendar description of this course, click here.
Course Title: The Audience and the Theatre
Course Code: DRE358H5S | Lecture W 1-3
Instructor: Signy Lynch
For the UTM calendar description of this course, click here.
Group n/a
Course Title: Playwriting
Course Code: DRE362H5F | Lecture F 1-4
For the UTM calendar description of this course, click here.
Group n/a
Course Title: Workshop in Playwriting
Course Code: DRE363H5S | Lecture F 1-4
Instructor: TBD
Group n/a
Course Title: Senior Seminar
Course Code: DRE420HF | Lecture M 11-1
Instructor: Jacob Gallagher-Ross
For the UTM calendar description of this course, click here.
Group n/a
Course Title: Senior Seminar
Course Code: DRE422H5S | Lecture W 11-1
Instructor: Signy Lynch
For the UTM calendar description of this course, click here.
Group n/a
Course Title: Acting 1
Course Code: DRS121Y5 | Lecture TBD
Instructor: TBD
For the UTM calendar description of this course, click here.
Group n/a
Course Title: Acting 2
Course Code: DRS122Y5 | Lecture TBD
Instructor: TBD
For the UTM calendar description of this course, click here.