Casting: History, Theory, Practice (THR339)
Casting – the process whereby actors are assigned to particular roles – has largely eluded scholarly investigation. This course enacts just such an inquiry through a survey of the history, theory and practice of casting within U.S. entertainment industries over the last one hundred years. Course participants will trace the emergence of “casting” and “the audition” as discrete modes of performance making practice through review of dramatic literature, “how to” guides and documentary films, as well as relevant scholarly and popular literatures. Course readings will be historical, literary and theoretical, with primary documents functioning as texts for the course’s analytic project.
For sample syllabi from previous iterations of the course, click the following link/s: FALL 2012.