Lauren Reinhard

This course includes a weekly group conference and individual rehearsal meetings for students who will be directing readings, workshops, and productions in the theatre program and in independent companies during the fall semester. Students will meet once a week as a full group and in individual, one-on-one conferences with the teacher that will be scheduled around their own individual rehearsals. Students will read and discuss the texts of all selected plays in the full-class meeting in a shared, hands-on approach to production. Students will analyze form and style and context and discuss all aspects of their upcoming productions. The teacher will observe rehearsals for individual director’s projects as the basis of the one-on-one meetings. This class will meet twice a week for the group and individual conferences. Students with an interest in directing but are not directing in the fall term are welcome to join Director's Conference.

In this directing course, we will focus on directing modern and contemporary plays. Through hands-on exercises and in-class and out-of-class work, students will explore directorial strategies and will develop their ability to take a play from page to stage. Students will learn strategies around script selection and then how to break down their chosen performance text. Students will learn how to analyze a text, how to prepare for the rehearsal process, and how to craft a directorial concept and work with designers. Directors will learn casting strategies and consent-based practices for designing audition and callback processes. Moving into the rehearsal stage, directors will learn rehearsal planning strategies, rehearsal techniques, and the mechanics of directing actors. Directors will also learn consent-based and trauma-informed directing practices, as well as basic intimacy choreography, to create ethical rehearsal spaces. In the first semester, the class will work together on breaking down and analyzing one play, with students choosing one scene from the play to direct. In the second semester, directors will choose a 10- to 20-minute play to direct, which will culminate in a showing at the end of the semester.

In this directing course, we will focus on directing modern and contemporary plays. Through hands-on exercises and in-class and out-of-class work, students will explore directorial strategies and will develop their ability to take a play from page to stage. Students will learn strategies around script selection and then how to break down their chosen performance text. Students will learn how to analyze a text, how to prepare for the rehearsal process, and how to craft a directorial concept and work with designers. Directors will learn casting strategies and consent-based practices for designing audition and callback processes. Moving into the rehearsal stage, directors will learn rehearsal planning strategies, rehearsal techniques, and the mechanics of directing actors. Directors will also learn consent-based and trauma-informed directing practices, as well as basic intimacy choreography, to create ethical rehearsal spaces. In the first semester, the class will work together on breaking down and analyzing one play, with students choosing one scene from the play to direct. In the second semester, directors will choose a 10- to 20-minute play to direct, which will culminate in a showing at the end of the semester.

This graduate level course will focus on pedagogy and the theory of teaching theatre in higher education. Students will prepare to work as a theatre artist and educator in universities and colleges. Students will learn the practical skills of developing materials necessary to secure a position teaching theatre such as a teaching CV, pedagogical statement, artist statement, and diversity statement. Students will also learn the practical skills they will need once they’ve landed a teaching position such as developing a syllabus and other documents to track student progress.

We will discuss different perspectives on arts pedagogy and learn what is new and on the cutting edge of developing culturally competent, anti-racist, trauma informed, consent based, and inclusive teaching practices. Students will learn that Inclusive Teaching is a foundational framework for teaching in an increasingly diverse and globally connected society–one that recognizes and affirms the myriad backgrounds, perspectives, and identities individuals bring to learning environments. We will grapple with this in each class as students are encouraged to design their teaching materials to be welcoming, accessible, inclusive and explicitly centralizing of a broad range of students.

Students will learn how to identify their teaching goals for a course and then how to develop curriculums that will work towards those goals with each lesson. They will learn how to design exercises with multiple entrance points and they will learn how to design both summative and formative assessments. In addition to this in class work together, students will gain hands-on experience executing lessons and exercises by assisting a professor in the the SLC theatre program.

In this course we will discuss the ideas of thinkers including bell hooks, James P. Comer, Bettina Love, Kim Solga, Augusto Boal, Paulo Freire, Gada Mahrouse, Chanelle Wilson, Nayantara Sheoran Appleton, and Heidi Safia Mirza, among others. Open to graduate students.

This course will be made up of exercises, monologues, and scene work intended to teach actors how to use acting techniques like Stanislavsky and Hagen in the craft of acting. Students will learn how to craft a set of given circumstances and make playable choices and objectives based on the analysis of their chosen performance text in order to create a truthful performance. The goal of the class is to give each student his/her own understanding of the importance of developing technique, rigor, and artistic practice in the craft of acting, as well as how to unlock the layers and complexities of any character that they play.

This course will be an immersive, hands-on experience designed for actors and directors to collaboratively explore the unique craft of musical theatre. Unlike straight plays, musical theatre demands a specialized approach, integrating acting, singing, and movement into a cohesive storytelling experience. This course will provide practical techniques and methodologies for both actors and directors, equipping them with the skills necessary to excel in this dynamic art form. In fall, students will focus on small-scene work—including musical theatre songs, duets, and scenes—while learning the specifics of directing and acting in musical theatre work. We will focus on musical theatre directing skills, such as selecting material, the casting process and best practices for assembling a strong ensemble, scheduling and structuring rehearsals efficiently, collaborating effectively with choreographers and musical directors, developing and communicating a clear directorial concept to a creative team, and facilitating productive and inclusive rehearsals with an emphasis on creating a consent-forward rehearsal space. We will also delve into musical-theatre acting skills, such as acting through song and integrating emotional truth with musicality, character development in musical-theatre performance, vocal health and maintaining your physical instrument, movement and physical expression in musical theatre, and auditioning techniques including preparation, song selection, and professionalism. In spring, students will apply their acquired skills in a semester-long project, culminating in a public presentation of musical-theatre scenes and performances. Each participant will take on dual roles as both an actor and a director, developing a well-rounded understanding of the creative process from both perspectives. During this course, students will engage in open rehearsals and peer feedback sessions, collaborate with classmates to stage and refine scenes, and engage in hands-on learning as both actor and director. By the end of the course, students will have a comprehensive understanding of the unique demands of musical theatre, gaining both practical experience and confidence in their ability to direct, perform, and collaborate effectively in the field.

Think Tank is a component for all Theatre Thirds. Theatre Meeting/Think Tanks are held once monthly and are intended to expose students to guests from different areas of the theatre, who will join us to share their expertise.

Undergrad Lab is a practicum course designed to give undergraduate students exposure to, and experience working with, ensemble-generated theatre. Students will get hands-on experience working with a wide range of devising methodologies that can be utilized to create original performance work. This class will be a laboratory environment in which to rigorously investigate how to generate work, how process affects the final production, and how to hone the student’s ability to edit and revise his/her own work. Each participant will get the opportunity to create original works of theatre as an actor, writer, and director. In the first semester, students will consider how to begin with a blank canvas; they will engage with vocabulary drawn from Tectonic Theater’s Moment Work, Frantic Assembly, and Jerzy Grotowski. In the second semester, students will study various types of long-form structures and investigate the relationship between form and content, as they experiment with editing and rehearsing their own longer-form devised project.