Courses

Intro to Theatre:The Introduction to Theatre class is for beginners wanting to get a taste of everything the theatre department offers. It covers: movement for the stage and warm-ups, pantomime, parts of the stage and blocking, stage make-up application, improvisation, scene work and acting concepts, vocal technique, character voice, script writing, radio shows, and stage design and construction. Rehearsal and performance is put to the test at the end of the year, when the Intro class puts on three student directed one-act plays as their final exam.

Acting:The Acting class is the next step after Intro for students who want to pursue the performance side of theatre. It covers: acting technique, improvisation, dialect/voice, children’s theatre, puppetry, sewing technique, scene work, scoring scenes, “character” make-up, acting Shakespeare, acting for the camera, scripting, and auditioning monologues. As in the Introduction to Theatre class, the final exam for the Acting class is to put on student directed one-act play.

Technical Theatre:The Technical Theatre class is for the “behind-the-scenes” savvy students coming out of the Intro class. It covers: fundamentals of play production, sound design, lighting design, stage safety, rigging, scene design, promotions and advertising, costume design, “The Art of Cinema * film feedback”, stagecraft and scene painting, as well as building all the sets for our main-stage shows. Over the year the students are also required to log “lab hours” or work done outside of class time; the completion of “lab hours” counts as the students final exam.

C’ville Players:C’ville Players is an advanced acting/film class that students audition for after completing either Acting or Technical Theatre. It covers: improvisation, monologues, scene work, acting for the camera, video editing, camera techniques, commercial production, screenplays (sitcoms, dramas, ect.), children’s theatre (holiday show), and theatre workshop (elementary/middle school). The students’ final exam is an independent film project that they work on for the last quarter of the year.

In addition to theatre classes, the theatre department puts on three productions each year. CHS enters the annual one-act play competition for VHSL in the fall and works on a full-length play for performance in the spring, each directed by David Small. In the fourth quarter, a senior takes the Black Box helm and directs Dessert Theatre, a collection of skits, scenes, and musical performances. Open auditions for the school take place for each of them.