Theater Studies
Duke baseball player Ollie McCarthy pens an article in UNCUT discussing how he was able to juggle athletics and the acting bug. "I dreamt of acting in serious productions; however, as an athlete, it seemed like a distant dream," he wrote. Read more. read more about Lights, Camera, Action »
The Department of Theater Studies at Duke University in Durham, NC invites applications and nominations for an open-rank Visiting Professor or an Instructor to begin July 2021. The field is Musical Theater. This full-time, one-year position requires a PhD in Theater History or a related field at the time of hire. The 2/2 teaching load will include both scholarly and laboratory-based classes in musical theater, so the ability to bridge theory to practice is essential; the ability to teach a more general… read more about Job Announcement: Visiting Professor or Instructor/Musical Theater »
The Department of Theater Studies at Duke University in Durham, NC invites applications for a Visiting Professor or an Instructor to begin July 2021. The field is Acting. This full-time, one-year position requires an MFA or related terminal degree in the field at the time of hire. The 2/2 teaching load will include small laboratory-based courses in stage acting and Black theater and performance; the ability to teach screen acting or to direct productions would be an asset. If hired as a Visiting Professor, the successful… read more about Job Announcement: Visiting Professor or Instructor/Acting »
FINDING CREATIVE WAYS TO ENSURE THE SHOW GOES ON While the pandemic has changed the way Duke’s Theater Studies Department works, it hasn’t derailed the group’s creative spirit. Over three nights in November of last year, eight students – six of them actors - from Duke and North Carolina Central University joined with artists from the Durham community to produced “Citizen: An American Lyric” for an audience that watched online. “The students really appreciated how incredible it was to be in person and… read more about Dedicated Devils: Rising to the Challenge During COVID-19 »
In this interview, Chaz Hawkins ’17, screenwriter at Heroes and Villains Entertainment, shares his experience as a Duke student, discusses his transition into the film industry, and offers advice for students interested in pursuing careers in creative industries. Recently, his screenplay “The Sauce” was selected for this year’s The Black List, an annual survey of the “most-liked” motion picture screenplays that have not yet been produced. What are 2-3 ways your Duke experience helped prepare you for your current career role… read more about Q&A with Chaz Hawkins ‘17, Screenwriter at Heroes and Villains Entertainment »
It’s been a busy three years at Duke for Theater Studies Professor Esther Kim Lee. Along with her appointment in Theater, she holds positions in International Comparative Studies and Asian American and Diaspora Studies—and she was the faculty director for the Focus Program’s new Immigration and Citizenship cluster for the fall semester. The Focus Program (FOCUS) allows first-year, first-semester students to study a topic from multiple perspectives through interdisciplinary clusters of no more than 18 students. “… read more about FOCUS on Asian American Experiences Through Performance »
Do you still need a course for Spring? We have several classes for you to consider—including the newly added Shakespeare Studio. Questions? Please contact: coco.wilder@duke.edu. Shakespeare Studio | THEATRST 246S (Newly added) on-campus and online F 10:15am-12:45pm Instructor: Avery Glymph In addition to his extensive stage work on numerous Shakespeare productions, Avery Glymph has appeared in various films and television shows including Bull (upcoming), Law & Order,… read more about Spring Course Spotlight »
Last year, five Duke University faculty members set out to build skills and add new dimensions to their work. In these excerpts from their Faculty Teaching/Research Enhancement Grants (FTREG) reports, they share what they undertook and how these experiences will help them and their students. Improvisation Jody McAuliffe, Theater Studies and Slavic & Eurasian Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences I took the Summer Intensive in improvisation offered at the iO Theater in Chicago. Widely considered the premier… read more about Five Scholars Find Creative Ways to Strengthen Their Research and Teaching »
Audition for the Theater Studies Spring Mainstage: MEDEA Directed as a senior distinction project by Maria Zurita Ontiveros and designed by Ash Jeffers November 7 and November 8, 4:00-7:00pm via Zoom. Follow this link for more info on how to audition, sides, and signups: http://bit.ly/MainstageMedea About MEDEA, by Euripides: This is a border zone, with Corinth a thriving place but poverty and loss beyond its walls. Medea, an immigrant who abandoned her family and her homeland to follow… read more about Auditions for Spring Mainstage: MEDEA »
As part of its event series tgiFHI, the Franklin Humanities Institute is conducting interviews with its faculty speakers in order to familiarize broader audiences with the diversity of research approaches in the humanities, arts, and interpretive social sciences at Duke University. Dr. Darren Gobert is the William and Sue Gross Professor of Theater Studies and Professor of English. In this edited and condensed interview, he describes the process of reconstructing and imagining the unknowable in performance studies… read more about Meet Your Humanities Faculty: Darren Gobert »
Years ago, Theater Studies Professor Neal Bell was asked to do a complete screenplay overhaul of a horror movie being shot in Toronto. The director, who shared a similar theater background, remembered that Bell was a horror buff, so he flew him to Canada to see the finished movie sets (mainly those of a shady hospital). Then, the producers informed him that he had a mere two weeks to write a completed screenplay. While Bell always loved movies, he’d never written a screenplay—so he pulled a 14-day version of an all-nighter… read more about Here, There Be Monsters »
Years ago, Theater Studies Professor Neal Bell was asked to do a page-one rewrite (or complete screenplay overhaul) of a horror movie being shot in Toronto. The director, who shared a similar theater background, remembered that he was a horror buff, so he flew Bell to Canada to see the finished movie sets (mainly those of a shady hospital). Then, the producers informed him that he had a mere two weeks to write a completed screenplay. While Bell always loved movies, he’d never written a… read more about Bell Examines the Quality of Writing That Goes into the Films that Scare Us »
This fall semester, Duke Kunshan University lecturer Ashton Merck will be communicating with her students more than usual. She plans to check in with her students early and often through WeChat messages, email, and virtual office hours. Merck hopes that by staying in contact, students will feel more connected to the course and to each other, no matter where they are in the world. “I think that especially in this stressful time, instructors have a responsibility to open up lines of communication that… read more about How Duke Faculty Prepared for the Fall Semester »
CALL FOR OPEN AUDITIONS CITIZEN: AN AMERICAN LYRIC by Claudia Rankine Adapated for the stage by Stephen Sachs Directed by JaMeeka Holloway-Burrell August 20-26 9am-2pm Additional times are available, please email: jameekaholloway@gmail.com Roles available: Citizen 1: female, Black Citizen 2: female, Black Citizen 3: male, Black Citizen… read more about Open Auditions for CITIZEN: AN AMERICAN LYRIC »
A traditional Theater Studies mainstage course (THEATRST 350) would provide students the chance to participate in the department’s major production for the semester, with a faculty member not only teaching the course, but also directing. Classwork would focus on analyzing, researching, and producing a play, with students auditioning for roles and rehearsing lines well into the fall. Costumes and sets would be built and props gathered—all culminating in a multi-week public performance on a stage at the Bryan Center.… read more about Theater Studies Mainstage Addresses Racism Against Black America »
August 12 2:00-3:00pm Welcome to Duke! We’d like you to join us for our annual Open House. You don’t have to be a Theater Studies major/minor to attend. This is a great opportunity to speak with students and faculty, learn about our courses and productions, and find YOUR home in theater. Breakout rooms created based on your interests. To RSVP, please email coco.wilder@duke.edu Zoom link: https://duke.zoom.us/j/98645290903 read more about Theater Studies Virtual Open House »
The faculty and staff of Theater Studies stand in solidarity with those protesting the country’s systemic racism and anti-Black violence. We recognize that theater has historically exploited artists of color and that institutions of theater have marginalized artists and audiences of color. We also acknowledge that theatrical representations and performances have been deployed perniciously to create and perpetuate both explicit and implicit racial hierarchies. At the same time, artists of color have developed powerful… read more about Theater Studies Statement in Support of Black Lives »
If you asked Theater Studies instructor Talya Klein in March how she and her students in “Acting for the Camera” were adjusting to remote learning, Klein would have admitted to a lofty goal. She hoped to have a feature film completed as a final project to an anomalous semester. “We’ll see,” she said. “I don’t know what May will bring, where we’ll be, or what the film will look like—but we have to try.” While the Duke community finished spring semester from home and celebrated graduates by Marking the Moment, Klein’s… read more about Filmmaking and Social Distancing: When "Going Viral" is a Good Thing »
If you asked Theater Studies instructor Talya Klein in March how she and her students in “Acting for the Camera” were adjusting to remote learning, Klein would have admitted to a lofty goal. She hoped to have a feature film completed as a final project to an anomalous semester. “We’ll see,” she said. “I don’t know what May will bring, where we’ll be, or what the film will look like—but we have to try.” While the Duke community finished spring semester from home and celebrated graduates by Marking the Moment, Klein’s… read more about Filmmaking and Social Distancing: When “Going Viral” is a Good Thing »
Duke faculty teaching visual arts, music, and theater share how they navigated the move to online teaching. It wasn’t easy. Supplies were mailed, collaborative projects were reinvented. Transformations and solutions discovered this spring have expanded the teaching repertoire—even as we look forward to safely returning to studio and stage. Sending the Art Studio Home to Students To really see a painting, print, or drawing is to notice its details—the quality of a particular brushstroke, the subtle distinctions in hue, the… read more about How Do You Teach Art & Collaborate Remotely? »
Congratulations to the following student award winners from Duke University units in 2020. African & African American Studies John Hope Franklin Award for Academic Excellence: Elizabeth DuBard Grantland Karla FC Holloway Award for University Service: Beza Gebremariam Mary McLeod Bethune Writing Award: Jenna Clayborn Walter C. Burford Award for Community Service: Kayla Lynn Corredera-Wells Art, Art History & Visual Studies… read more about Student Honors and Laurels for 2020 »
Each year, Duke University awards approximately twenty Benenson Awards in the Arts, which provide summer funding for arts projects, research, and training. Three Theater students are among the awardees. Congratulations to Daniel Kim, Shaina Lubliner, and Valerie Muensterman. Read more. read more about Theater Students Among Benenson Prize Winners »
The Department of Theater Studies at Duke University recently presented five undergraduates with awards celebrating ongoing achievements in the discipline. “These annual, faculty-nominated awards are our department’s opportunity to acknowledge students who embody the creative, intellectual, and collaborative values we hold of paramount importance in Theater Studies,” says Chair, Jeff Storer. “These five undergraduates have distinguished themselves through hard work and dedication, and we wish them all the best for… read more about Theater Studies Announces 2020 Awardees »
Cast of "Fefu and Her Friends" shortly before the virtual curtain rises. The Department of Theater Studies was a mere 23 days from opening night of its Spring Mainstage Production “Fefu and Her Friends” by Cuban playwright María Irene Fornés–when President Price announced that Duke would transition to remote classes and cancel events drawing 50 or more people. At that point, the cast and crew had devoted six solid months to the production: costume, sound, stage, and lighting designs… read more about The Show Did Go On: Re-inventing Live Performance during COVID-19 »
Are you interested in stage management? Would you like to gain practical experience? This is an excellent opportunity to work one-on-one with Director of Theater Thom Quintas on all aspects of stage management for the Spring Mainstage production of "Fefu and Her Friends." We are currently seeking 1-2 interested students. Thom Quintas is the Director of Theater for Theater Studies at Duke University, and will serve as stage manager in the spring production. He brings over 20 years of … read more about Assistant Stage Managers Needed for Spring Mainstage Production »
The Theater Studies Department is proud to announce our 2019/20 mainstage season, inaugurating a new play selection process featuring student input. A committee of faculty and students have determined the scripts for next year’s THEATRST 350 mainstage shows to be As You Like It by William Shakespeare and Fefu and Her Friends by María Irene Fornés. See Information on Auditions & Crew Calls for these productions. THEATRST 350 (ALP, CCI, R) gives Duke undergraduates the opportunity to work… read more about Theater Studies Marks 2019/20 Season with New Play Selection Process »
The Theater Studies department is proud to announce the reading of senior distinction candidate Morgan Fears' autobiographical screenplay Daddy Issued, Saturday March 2 at 7:00pm in Brody Theater (Branson building, East campus.) In the tradition of developing works-in-progress, the director Tara Maier and the cast members are handling Morgan's changes in the script as they rehearse. Hearing their script interpreted by actors creates important feedback for writers in terms of what reaches an audience… read more about Morgan Fears' original screenplay Daddy Issued on March 2, one night only! »
Do you have big plans for making theater this summer? Could you use some financial assistance? Applications for the Theater Studies annual student awards are now open! Students taking theater classes are encouraged to read through the opportunities listed here. The Theater Studies department is fortunate to have a variety of awards with funding attached that is often used by students to help cover summer theater training. This year's deadline to apply for departmental awards is Monday, March 18, 2019. Some… read more about 2019 Student Theater Awards now open for application! »
This December, for one night only, the Duke University Theater Studies department presents a developmental workshop of the groundbreaking Kurt Weill-Alan Jay Lerner musical Love Life directed by New York-based director and actor Victoria Clark (Light in the Piazza). More than thirty undergraduates have been working intensively on the show in a class with Clark, an artist-in-residence at Duke, and Professor Bradley Rogers as part of Duke Theater Studies’ musical theater… read more about Tony Award-winner Victoria Clark directs Love Life for Duke Theater Studies »
Exciting news for Theater Studies at Duke! Professor Darren Gobert (pictured) will be joining the faculty as a full tenured professor this spring. Professor Gobert, the editor of Modern Drama, specializes in comparative modern and contemporary Western drama, dramatic and performance theory, and the philosophy of theater. As a theater practitioner, he has written stage adaptations and directed plays by Albee, Beckett, Chekhov, and others. As a writer, his… read more about Theater Studies department continues to grow »