Courses
The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.
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CFA TH 349: Theatre in Practice
Theatre in Practice serves as the CFA School of Theatre's laboratory for the development of new work or new approaches to existing work and encompasses the practical application of the skills that the student develops through their collective coursework within their program of study. This course covers the design, rehearsal, production, and performance work in the mounting of School of Theatre productions. The specific role each student is assigned is made by the SOT faculty with thought towards a student's personal artistic and academic goals. Assignments seek to challenge the student to take artistic risks and engage with a diverse community of theatre artists. 2.0 credits. Fall & Spring semesters. -
CFA TH 350: Scene Painting 2
Prereq: TH348 Studio class. Continuation of exposure to materials and tools used in theatrical scene painting. Exercises in general lay-in texture techniques and beginning work in nature studies. -
CFA TH 351: Technical Production 1
This course is designed to introduce students to the roles and skills that the technical director fulfills. Students will focus on drafting scenery to be built, budgeting, paperwork, and communication. Throughout the semester, students will take an actual designed show and break it down to its individual parts. They will each draft, budget, and organize a load-in. AutoCAD or Vectorworks computer drafting required. -
CFA TH 352: Technical Production 2
Prereq: CFATH 351. This course is designed to give students a working knowledge of stage rigging techniques, tools, and equipment. Course work, readings, field trips, and practical application will ensure the student can analyze loads; problem solve and safely lead a rigging crew. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU HUB area: Quantitative Reasoning 1. -
CFA TH 353: AutoCAD 1: 2D Theatrical Drafting
Prereq: CFA TH 173 Introduction to Computer Aided Drafting program AutoCAD and its application to theatrical drafting. Basic terminology, plate organization and technical drafting for Technical Production majors. Drafting elective requirement variable for BFA Design, Production & Management Core. -
CFA TH 354: AutoCAD 2
Prereq: CFA TH 353 A continuation of AutoCAD 1 as a more advanced, in-depth study of AutoCad. A heavier focus on 3D Modeling and an introduction to CAM for theatrical shops. -
CFA TH 357: Costume Production 5: Historic Tailoring
This class emphasizes the historical evolution of tailoring in menswear dating from 1690 to 1800. Lectures focus on the historical significance of silhouettes for each time period facilitating information on changing seam lines and infrastructure of the garment. Time will be allotted in class to participate in detail sample making, pattern drafting from different systems, cutting and assembling garments. Fittings will also be used to teach different methods of construction through class participation. The final product will be a finished tailored garment in preparation for modern tailoring. Fall semester of odd academic years. -
CFA TH 358: Costume Production 6: Ladies' Tailoring
This tailoring class emphasizes the historical development of the female suit in the 20th century. Lectures focus on the development and use of inner structures of the suit and the evolution of this throughout the decades. Students will choose a suit from their research and reproduce it following the appropriate tailoring methods. Class time is allotted for drafting, fittings and also demonstrations of tailoring techniques used during the 20th century. The final product of this class will be a finished tailored women's suit. 3.0 credits. Spring semester of odd academic years. -
CFA TH 363: Scene Design 3
Prereq: CFA TH 258. Intermediate design solutions with an emphasis on conceptual approach; work in a variety of theatre spaces. Students work in collaboration with costume and lighting designers and directors. Readings and projects incorporate all theatre genres, ballet, dance, opera, television, and film. -
CFA TH 368: Scene Design 4
Prereq: CFA TH363 Continuation of CFA TH 363 Scene Design 3. Intermediate design solutions with an emphasis on conceptual approaches based on a deep script analysis and understanding of the text. Work in a variety of the unique theatre spaces that students will encounter while at Boston University. Students work on research, developing a design through preliminary sketches, storyboarding, intermediate models and and final rendered models. Readings and projects incorporate many theatre genres including opera, musical theatre and new plays, depending on the needs of the students in the class. -
CFA TH 375: Costume Design 3
Prereq: CFA TH 258 For the intermediate design student. Geared toward practical application of design theory. Continued development of script analysis, style, research techniques and rendering skills. Exercises examine the principles of design as applied to historical costume. Readings and projects incorporate all theatre genres, ballet, dance and opera depending on individuals in the class. -
CFA TH 383: Lighting Design 3
Prereq: CFA TH 286 An in-depth look at the functions and qualities of light and how to apply them in complex ways within the lighting design for the stage. We will also explore the process of lighting design, beginning from the initial reading of a script through to the creation of production-ready paperwork. -
CFA TH 391: Vectorworks 1
Prereq: CFA TH 173 Introduction to Computer Aided Drafting program Vectorworks and its application to theatrical drafting. Basic terminology, plate organization and technical drafting for Lighting and Sound designers. Drafting elective requirement variable for BFA Design, Production & Management Core. -
CFA TH 392: Vectorworks 2
Prerequisite: CFA TH 391 Advanced work in Vectorworks CAD; Focusing on the use of Spotlight as it applies to drafting light plots and related lighting paperwork. -
CFA TH 394: Lighting Design 4
Prerequisite: CFA TH 383 A continuation of CFA TH 383. Introduction to lighting design for the stage as a medium for communicating artistic ideas to an audience. Explores the language of light, both verbal and abstract, with a strong emphasis on dramaturgical analysis and how these textual ideas can be interpreted using light. Required Labs will supplement class work with hands-on activities. -
CFA TH 396: Costume Design 4
Prerequisite: CFA TH375; Continuation of CFA TH 375. For the intermediate design student. Geared toward practical application of design theory. Continued development of script analysis, style, research techniques and rendering skills. Exercises examine the principles of design as applied to historical costume. Readings and projects incorporate all theatre genres, ballet, dance and opera depending on individuals in the class. 3.0 units. Spring semester. -
CFA TH 399: Stage Management 3: Types & Styles
Prereq: CFA TH 299 Stage Management 3: Types & Styles examines approaches to leadership, management, communication, critical thinking, and ethics for the stage manager. Through the lens of the artful application of these skills to the different types of live performance the stage manager may encounter, such as new works, musicals, opera, dance, and event work, students will strengthen and hone their personal stage management style. This course requires additional work outside of class time for engagement in practice-based exercises and rehearsal/performance observations. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking -
CFA TH 403: Advanced Playwriting
Prereq: CFA TH 303 Students will learn the art of developing an early stage first draft into a production ready final rehearsal draft. Run like an intensive development workshop, this is where the most intensive, and arguably, most satisfying work will begin. Students learn the nuts and bolts of massaging a play: fleshing out characters, streamlining action, refining dialogue and finessing structure. Playwrights will also learn about the expectations and strategies for productive collaborative in-process relationships with actors, directors and dramaturges. This class is required for writers intending to produce original works for BFA Thesis. -
CFA TH 404: Dramatic Writing 5: Playwriting Colloquium
Prereq: CFA TH 303. This course is designed to support those students who have elected to write and/or devise an original piece of work for the Senior Capstone Project. Students and instructor(s) will meet weekly to discuss the art and practice of creating new work for the stage, which will include introduction to and discussion of rewriting, engaging with artistic collaborators, and best practices for the playwright in rehearsal and during performance. This course is repeatable. -
CFA TH 405: Classical Theatre Through a Contemporary Lens
Prereq: CAS WR 120 - Explores and applies contemporary theories, ideas, and research to canonical works of theatre. Considers how race, gender, identity, nationality, structure, and politics consort in the making, production, distribution, reception, and legacy of classic works. Students learn to approach theatre as a dramaturg/scholar would: by reading texts and generating writing and projects with a theatrical sensibility, asking rigorous questions of all. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Research and Information Literacy, Writing-Intensive.
