Explore and evaluate techniques in clowning, puppetry, mime, and pantomime. Throughout this course students gain knowledge and experience with puppetry, clowning, and a variety of other performance styles. Exercises in character creation and comedy basics allow students to see these theatrical styles as powerful ways of communicating.
This course focuses on a few of the peripheral styles in the theatrical arts, and because of this, students who intend to be actors or performers gain immense clarity about performance itself and how to utilize tools that are sometimes overlooked as keys to engaging an audience.
This course emphasizes the central role of the imagination in creative expression and asks students to consider their work as part of the Missio Dei. Creating a foundation for the actor with a variety of performance techniques allows adaptability and continued growth, an essential for any performer.
The text for performance throughout this course is created using the Bible. Students are asked to consider Biblical stories as a starting place for constructing believable characters and performances with the use of masks and puppets.
Working with puppets and masks can provide a new and exciting experience in the context of our missional work as Christians.
Students are asked to consider the context of both the text of each performance and the context of the audience to whom the performance is meant.
Puppetry, clowning, and mime have expressions in countries and cultures all over the world. This course explores some of those instances while considering how our own work can be culturally sensitive.
Exercises such as puppet creation and building a personalized clown character allow students the opportunity to work directly with the concepts covered in the course.
Throughout this course students are challenged to create hands-on examples of their work. Exercises and assignments dedicated to puppetry, clowning, and mask work.
