Transylvania University
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DEPARTMENT
THEATER
CLASSES
The focus in Transy Theater is learning practical ways to apply skills and knowledge. First, however, you have to accumulate that knowledge within classes. Classes are often very hands on and you will be trying to apply information as you learn it — whether you're solving "impossible" problems in Tech Theater or making decisions for an imagined theater company in Modern Drama and Theater.
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There are a number of required courses if you major or minor in Theater at Transy. However, these are usually just as fun as the electives. Some of the special interest courses you might find include Theatrical Creatures and Building a Character.
Student Highlights
TECH THEATER
"We worked on a huge range of projects from little prop proposals all the way to a full sized Rube Goldberg machine. I still think that it's the class that is most applicable to life in general. We talked about problem solving for the entire semester, and that's just something that everyone should be able to apply to everyday. Plus we got to play with power tools and that's just the thing that I like to do most now. It was challenging in a way that let you fail over and over again without there being a major negative consequence. It really let you learn from messing up. We weren't allowed to use an easy solution to problems if we could help it. "How do I fill this glass?" Just pour into it right? Wrong. Build an apparatus that fills it for you."
- Ben Wagner '18
FUNDAMENTALS OF PLAY DIRECTING
"Directing has been one of my favorite classes at Transy. I'd already done some directing prior to it, but this class was revolutionary. I had never considered things in such a nuanced way. The ability to analyze scripts in such an in-depth way has helped me in theater as well as in other classes with other texts. I not only feel more confident as a director now, but I also feel much more skilled as an actor. We worked on a few projects collaboratively at the beginning to develop our skills, but for the second half of the course we took on our own scene to develop by ourself. I felt so proud watching my actors perform at the end after all working so hard together."
- Charlotte Stephens '18