Advanced Christian Theatrical Arts
This course will build upon the skills learned in the first level of Christian Theatrical Arts. The culmination of this class will be each students’ composition of a full-length play of their own composition, which we will work on over the course of the academic year. The year will consist of frequent workshopping, with the instructor and students giving constructive feedback to one another, and writing exercises, which are aimed to help stimulate writing creativity within the students.
In addition, and to aid in the course’s mission, we will be visiting the works of numerous great playwrights and reading them as we work on our own plays. Understanding the work of great playwrights should help students understand principles of dramatic structure which they can then in turn apply to their own work. Students will be expected to write a short reflection on the plays we read to show their engagement with the material.
Using Shakespeare’s King Lear as an example, we will also do in-depth work on action analysis of plays, studying closely the nature of dramatic action in Shakespeare’s work, so that we in turn may apply it to our own. Students may enroll in the course if they have satisfactorily completed the first round of Christian theatrical arts. Other students who may wish to enroll need approval of Mr. Diamond first.
Syllabus
Required Materials:
- Shakespeare – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Folger Edition)( 978-0743477543)
- Shakespeare – King Lear (Folger Edition)( 978-0743482769)
- Aristotle – Poetics, trans. Malcolm Heath(978-0140446364)
- The Plays of Anton Chekhov trans. Paul Schmidt (978-0060928759)
- Euripides – Plays, Vol. I, ed. Grene & Lattimore (978-0226308807)
- Aeschylus – Plays, Vol. II ed. Grene & Lattimore (978-0226311470)
*Required materials are not included in the purchase of the course.
Elias Diamond received his B.F.A. in drama from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in 2013, where he received training in playwriting, acting, design, and theatre history and criticism. He has written several plays which have received production in Pennsylvania and New York, including Sense and Senselessness (produced by Pittsburgh City Theater) and The Park Bench Hero (Manhattan Repertory Theater and Tangent Theater). His plays and poetry have received several awards, including Carnegie Mellon’s Adamson Award and recognition from the American Academy of Poets.
In addition, Elias holds a Master of Divinity from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, from which he graduated with highest honors. He has been blessed to be able to teach in the Crossroad program for two years in the past, and he currently works as a Pastoral Assistant at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ediamond.scholeacademy@gmail.com
Computer: You will need a stable, reliable computer, running with processor with a speed of 1 Ghz or better on one of the following operating systems: Mac OS X with MacOS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or later; Windows 8, 7, Vista (with SP1 or later), or XP (with SP3 or later). We do NOT recommending using an iPad or other tablet for joining classes. An inexpensive laptop or netbook would be much better solutions, as they enable you to plug an Ethernet cable directly into your computer. Please note that Chromebooks are allowed but not preferred, as they do not support certain features of the Zoom video conference software such as breakout sessions and annotation, which may be used by our teachers for class activities.
High-Speed Internet Connection: You will also need access to high-speed Internet, preferably accessible via Ethernet cable right into your computer. Using Wi-Fi may work, but will not guarantee you the optimal use of your bandwidth. The faster your Internet, the better. We recommend using a connection with an download/upload speed of 5/1Mbps or better. You can test your Internet connection here.
WebCam: You may use an external webcam or one that is built in to the computer.
WebCam Recommendations: Good (PC only) | Best (Mac and PC)
Headset: We recommend using a headset rather than a built-in microphone and speakers. Using a headset reduces the level of background noise heard by the entire class.
Headset Recommendations: USB | 3.5mm
Zoom: We use a web conferencing software called Zoom for our classes, which enables students and teachers to gather from around the globe face to face in real time. Zoom is free to download and easy to use.
To download Zoom:
- Visit zoom.us/download.
- Click to download the first option listed, Zoom Client for Meetings.
- Open and run the installer on your computer.
- In August, students will be provided with instructions and a link for joining their particular class.
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This registration will be finalized when the student's placement assessment has been returned by the course instructor with placement confirmation.