Theatre Training

Prof. John Hofland, Gonzaga University, Spokane, USA

(…) As you can see, getting an education at Gonzaga requires students to make choices and to plan each semester carefully. While it is possible for them to make wonderful plans to prepare for future careers, it is also possible for them to make some very poor plans. To prevent poor choices, each student is assigned an "advisor." Before the student begins her university studies, she meets with her advisor to discuss her plans. Then, before each new semester each student must meet his advisor to get approval for his next semester's course selections. While it is expected that the advisor will help the students in their planning, it is the student's responsibility to choose the proper courses. The advisor's role is not as an authority, but as a guide.

When a course has been completed, a professor will provide a test to evaluate the students' mastery of the material. She might give students a final examination during the final class, she might give them a take-home test – usually a question or set of question that require the students to write a composition explaining their understanding, or she might give them a project to complete. Students in scenic design, for example, are required to complete designs for scenery for a play that will be mounted later that year at the university.

But at the end of the course, students also evaluate their instructors. At the end of each semester, the Academic Vice President, who is the equivalent of your rector, sends each professor a set of evaluation forms. The students fill in each form, telling how well they believe the professor taught the course. They bring the completed evaluations, not to the professor, but back to the Academic Vice President, whose secretaries send the evaluations and summaries to the dean of the college, who then sends it to the head of the professor's department. The department head reads the forms and sends them to the professor, who is expected to use the evaluations to improve his classes.

As you can see, this kind of arrangement tends to make teachers and students partners in learning. Each has responsibilities, and each is held responsible by the other.

You may ask me what some of the graduates from this year's class are planning to do. One is going to London to study acting. One is going to work as a technical director for a small theatre, one is going to do volunteer work in a poor neighborhood for a year before going to graduate school in drama therapy (a combination of theatre and psychology), one is going to California to find work as a movie actor, one will do graduate work in children's theatre, one will make a career in stage makeup, one in voice-over work (advertising and acting on radio), and one in advertising and business.

The university provides a number of ways to guide and support its new graduates as they search for places of employment. There is a large group of graduates who volunteer to meet with recent graduates on a regular basis to help them determine career goals, help them find work, help them adjust to new positions, and in general act as a wise, experienced friend. Secondly, each spring the university arranges a career fair where businesses are invited to explain to graduates what kind of skills they are looking for and possibly to set up interviews. Last of all, the Career Counseling Center is a place where students can go to at any time while they are at school to get advice on finding jobs.

Last of all, some words about Gonzaga University as an institution. The university has four schools, the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Education, the School of Business, and the School of Law. The theatre program is part of the School of Arts and Sciences. In addition, the university has a branch location in Florence, Italy, called Gonzaga in Florence. The branch school is especially popular with art students, but students from a wide variety of disciplines spend a year studying in Italy.

Now let us look more closely at the theatre program at Gonzaga. The faculty of the program includes a teacher of acting and directing, Kevin Bradshaw; a teacher of design and technology, myself; a costumer, Summer Berry; three part-time dance teachers in jazz, tap, ballet, and liturgical dance, and a part-time director.

Some of the theatre courses that we offer are required, and others are available as choices. Students are required to take the following courses:

· An introduction to the theatre – its history, literature, and the elements of production.

· Theater graphics – a study of drafting and drawing for the theatre.

· Two courses in acting – an introduction to Stanislavsky (American style) and characterization.

· Two courses in the history and literature of the theatre.

· Directing.

· A senior project – students are required to write a plan discussing their future professional interests.

In addition, students are required to participate in our productions in the following ways. They must perform acting roles in three main stage performances, and they must work in a technical area in three productions.

Also there are some classes that are available as limited choices. Students must take at least one dance class. They must study a course in either stage construction or costume construction. And they must choose two to three courses of their choice from dance, directing, or technical theatre (such as scenic, costume, or lighting design).

Each year the program mounts three faculty directed productions, a dance production, and a small number of student directed productions. The productions are built around a four year schedule so that in four years students will have worked on Greek theatre, medieval theatre, Renaissance theatre, realistic, post-realist theatre, children's theatre, and American musical theatre.

This concludes my lecture. I hope the information has been useful to promote discussion. I will enjoy answering your questions. Thank your for your attention.