"There were things I did at Kent that I never thought I would-drama, for example..."Read More
Drama Courses
Drama courses at Kent are offered through the English Department. In the Winter term, both Acting - Scenes and Monologues and Shakespeare for the Stage are available, while in the Spring Term you may try your hand at Screenwriting.
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.
Screenwriting
Screenwriting exposes students to the art and craft of an often overlooked, but critical genre within the 20th and 21st centuries: screenwriting. Throughout the term, we analyze published screenplays and view films in an effort to grasp the genre’s conventions, including format, dialogue, plot structure, and character development. Students extend their understanding of these conventions by developing and writing original screenplays in a workshop environment.
Shakespeare for the Stage
Have fun playing the Shakespearean roles you always coveted but may never have been cast in! Students work on a variety of scenes from Shakespeare’s comedies, histories, and tragedies, exploring the text and developing effective, memorized performances. A close study of Shakespeare’s language gives students the confidence to deliver lines with ease. The course devotes considerable attention to acting techniques used in Shakespeare’s time. There are readings and some writing related to past actors’ approaches to the challenges posed by the greatest roles, with active in-class application of techniques as the primary focus.