First Year of Technical Production Track is considered a "foundations" year. There are four
major components to the student's training:
• Graphic Communication (drafting and drawing)
• Fundamentals of Stagecraft (encompassing all areas of the backstage craft: scenery, costumes, lighting, sound, scene painting)
• Organization
• Fundamentals of Design (expression of ideas using form, color, composition,
reading and interpreting texts, locating, interpreting and using research)
At the end of the first year all students will have a basic understanding
of how to read a play, develop a point of view on that play and
express that point of view through the vocabulary of theatrical sets,
costumes, lights and sound. They will be able to communicate
these ideas with a director or with the support staff; and finally
execute the work at the level of very small production, such
as student directing projects or other student generated work.
First year students are not expected to focus tightly on a singular aspect of production.
The goal of the first year curriculum is that all students are trained and experienced in
multiple areas of production. This foundation should lead to an informed choice of specialization
in the second year.
