Theater of Business/Business of Theater

Spring 2012 quarter

Faculty

Bill Bruner economics, business , Walter Grodzik theater

Fields of Study

business and management and theater

Preparatory for studies or careers in

performing arts, theater, business and management.

Description

Many playwrights have produced works about business -- Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh, Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, and more recently Caryl Churchill's Serious Money and Lucy Prebble's Enron, are just a few examples. These plays tell us something about business and how business is viewed by playwrights and probably by much of society. At the same time, theater is business; it employs the techniques of business management to raise revenues to support its productions.

This introductory one-quarter program is designed to creatively integrate theater performance and arts management. We will read and perform plays about business and business-related topics. We will examine these plays for what they tell us about business and how they relate to introductory business theories, concepts and practices. The program will include lectures, seminars, reading and analysis, viewing plays and films, writing and performance workshops. Workshops will include the study of theatre games, acting, directing, design, and puppet and shadow theatre.

We will also consider arts management as a means of supporting theater performances. In lectures and workshops we will cover such topics as writing vision and mission statements, setting goals and objectives, organizing, legal forms of organization, governance structures including boards of directors, and preparing budgets for both productions and for the theater organization as a whole. Students will prepare comprehensive management plans for theater companies and select an entire season of plays.

Location

Olympia

Online Learning

No Required Online Learning

Books

Greener Store

Required Fees

$25 for theatre tickets.

Offered During

Day