- Las Positas College
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- Degrees & Certificates
- Theater Arts A.A.
Degrees & Certificates
Theater Arts
Associate in Arts
2022-2023
About the Program
The Theater Arts major is designed to provide knowledge, training, and practical experience in a variety of areas which can be used in continuing participation and appreciation of theater and film throughout life. The Theater program at Las Positas is a unique blend of hands-on learning, personal creative exploration, and history and culture; theater is a wonderful way to continue to grow as a student and as an artist. Classes cover such topics as theater history, musical theater, acting, theater for young audiences, and directing, as well as stage and production management, lighting, scenery, and costume design. Our student-centered coursework and productions offer many different opportunities for students to become involved in the program and college in a meaningful, academic, and career-centered way. The Las Positas Theater program presents 4 productions annually, as well as many other performing and technical opportunities for our theater majors. We house our program in a beautiful state of the art performance facility with three theaters (a 450-seat proscenium, a black box, and an outdoor amphitheater), a costume shop, scene shop, and rehearsal studio.
About the Degree
The Associate of Arts in Theater Arts is designed to provide knowledge, training, and practical experience in all aspects of theater arts. The curriculum provides the essential lower-division courses necessary for transfer to some similar programs at four-year institutions, as well as assisting students towards employment in professional, academic and Community Theater.
Career Opportunities
Career Opportunities for Theater majors may include: actor, director, playwright, dramaturg, literary manager, casting director, production manager, producer, artistic director, political advocate for the arts, teacher, lighting designer, lighting operator, scenic painter, stage/set designer, stage manager, sound operator, costume designer, or stage hand. While there are a multitude of career opportunities in the arts, Theater majors also develop highly valuable skills sets that are advantageous to any profession.
Program Outcomes
- Upon completion of the AA in Theater Arts, students are able to apply the learned techniques of acting or technical theater in a public performance of various genres of theater, or other types of personal creative work.
- Upon completion of the AA in Theater Arts, students are able to critically analyze the artistic elements in productions, looking at design, acting, directorial choices, as well as personal performance processes.
- Upon completion of the AA in Theater Arts, students are able to possess the skills necessary for textual interpretation for academic discourse, design, and/or performance studies.
- Upon completion of the AA in Theater Arts, students are able to understand how to develop and maintain a positive contribution the field of theater in academics, performance, or technical theater.
- Upon completion of the AA in Theater Arts, students are able to understand the historical
and cultural significance of theater through completion of projects in the technical
theater courses and theater history class.
| Course | Units |
|---|---|
| THEA 1A Theory/Practice of Acting I | 3 |
| THEA 10 Introduction to Dramatic Arts | 3 |
| THEA 47A Performance in Production: Introduction to Live Performance or | |
| THEA 48A Technical Theater in Production - Beginning | 3 |
| THEA 50 Stagecraft | 3 |
| Course | Units |
|---|---|
| Performance Concentration | |
| THEA 1B Theory/Practice of Acting II | 3 |
| THEA 3A Beginning Improvisation | 3 |
| THEA 5 Theater for Young Audiences | 3 |
| THEA 25 Fundamentals of Stage Speech | 3 |
| THEA 31A Drama Workshop - Beginning | 3 |
| THEA 39A Musical Theater Workshop - Beginning | 3 |
| THEA 47A Performance in Production: Introduction to Live Performance | 3 |
| Technical Theater Concentration | |
| THEA 14 Bay Area Theater | 3 |
| THEA 48B Technical Theater in Production - Intermediate | 3 |
| THEA 50L Introduction to Stage Lighting | 3 |
| THEA 51 Introduction to Costume Design | 3 |
| THEA 52 Introduction to Design | 3 |
| Course | Units |
|---|---|
| CMST 2 Oral Interpretation of Literature | 3 |
| CMST 5 Readers Theater | 3 |
| DANC 1 Introduction to Dance | 1 |
| DANC 2A Jazz Dance Fundamentals/Beginning | 1 |
| DANC 3A Ballet Fundamentals/Beginning | 1 |
| MUS 6 Basic Music Skills | 2 |
| MUS 23A Elementary Voice I | 1 |
| MUS 44 Concert Choir | 1 |
| MUS 45 Chamber Choir | 2 |
| MUS 46 Vocal Jazz Ensemble | 2 |
| THEA 4 Modern American Theater | 3 |
| THEA 11 Stage to Screen | 3 |
| THEA 53 Script Analysis | 3 |
| Units Category | Units |
|---|---|
| Total Units in the Major | 25 |
The Associate Degree is conferred upon those students who complete the required 60 or more semester units of the degree pattern with a grade-point average of 2.0 or better, of which 12 units must be earned at Las Positas College. In addition, students must complete a General Education pattern in order to earn a degree: see the Las Positas College General Education Pattern for Associate of Arts (AA) Degree, California State University General Education-Breadth, or the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (for CSU) patterns for listing of areas and courses. Double counting courses in GE and the major is permissible. The number of units that may be double counted will depend on the entry point to the degree program, the optional course(s) taken, and the GE pattern selected. Elective units are degree applicable. Consult with an adviser or a counselor to plan the courses necessary to achieve your academic goal.
Updated: July 2022