"There were things I did at Kent that I never thought I would-drama, for example..."Read More
Drama courses at Kent are offered through the English Department. In the Winter term, both Acting - Scenes and Monologues and Irish Drama are available, while in the Spring Term you may try your hand at Playwriting.
Acting – Scenes and Monologues
There are as many ways to learn acting as
there have been teachers of acting. In this
course, we will explore the techniques of
some of the greatest teachers of all time,
including Uta Hagen, Sanford Meisner,
Lee Strasbourg, Michael Chekov, Stella
Adler, and, of course, Constantin
Stanislavski. Stanislavski’s eight principles
will be employed as students work on
scenes and monologues to be presented
in class. Improvisation, scene study,
and text analysis techniques will be
developed, and students will leave the
course with a thorough understanding
of how actors approach their craft. In
addition to performing, students will give
a final presentation in class on the work
and techniques of a great acting teacher
or director.
Irish Drama
This small island nation has produced not only several of the most enduring and influential playwrights in history, but also many of the best contemporary playwrights. After taking a look at some of the Irish greats of the past (Yeats, Shaw, Synge, O’Casey, and Friel), we will turn our attention to the last ten years. Recent work by Conor McPherson, Martin McDonagh, and others will demonstrate the ongoing vitality, humor, passion, and relevance of the Irish voice.
Playwriting
Students in this class will write short original plays, after spending the first portion of the term learning “tricks of the trade” from some of the masters of art. Students will study the work and criticism
of a wide variety of authors, from Aristotle
through Shakespeare to contemporary
playwrights. They will develop their work
in class through the use of improvisation,
group dialogue construction, and peer
criticism, finishing the semester with
polished, dramatically sound works. We
will end the term with in-class readings of
the completed plays.