Devised Theatre

Devised theatre is a practice of collaborative creation in which artists redefine the traditional roles of actor, director, playwright, and designer. Often, a devised theatre maker will do all of the above. A devised performance itself can take on a dizzying array of forms, anything from a solo musical to a site-specific dance installation to a guerrilla clown intervention to a Shakespeare play. This course focuses on developing an artist's toolkit for devising, pulling from a variety of traditions from clowning to creative writing. Students will work closely with each other to make performances of increasing magnitude throughout the semester, culminating in a full-class devised performance piece.