<p>just beginning to think about new england drama/conservatory programs. i’m interested in current or graduate opinions of the brown program in theatre arts.</p>
<p>ha! i thought you were asking about social drama. and the answer is yes.</p>
<p>
The degree conferred is in “Theatre Arts.” The major (or “concentration”) was formerly known as Theatre, Speech, and Dance and is now known as Theatre and Performance Studies, or TAPS.
With the change in name came a transfer of the playwriting program from Literary Arts (i.e. Creative Writing) over to the TAPS department.
The short answer to your question is that national “opinion” of Brown’s Theatre department puts it among the very topmost in the country, certainly in the top three.
Since I mentioned playwriting, I’ll start there. Every fall, American Theatre magazine tallies the most-produced plays in America during the preceding year. This year, 4 of the top 5 most-produced plays of 2009 were by graduates of the Brown program, including number 1, “Boom” by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb (at Brown he was a double-major in theatre and biology), and Sarah Ruhl’s “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” (Sarah is now the most-produced playwright in America). Stephen Karam and Rachel Sheinkin were the other two Brown playwrights in the national top five.
Here’s an article about the phenomenon:
<a href=“The Providence Journal: Local News, Politics & Sports in Providence, RI”>The Providence Journal: Local News, Politics & Sports in Providence, RI; other focus areas in the Brown TAPS department are of similar quality, and at the end of the process there is the unmatched advantage of the national Brown theatre alumni network, which Laura Linney (Brown '86) refers to as the “Brown Mafia.”
Because of this connectedness, many New York and Los Angeles theatrical types send their kids to Brown theatre (as you may already know), e.g., in the most recent period, David Mamet, Dustin Hoffman, Danny DeVito, and others.
There is no city in the country that does not have a theatre company either started by, or heavily peopled by, Brown grads.
The Brown/Trinity Rep Consortium puts Brown in partnership with one of the best regional Rep companies in the country (run by Curt Columbus, formerly of Chicago’s Steppenwolf), and when the New York Public Theatre tapped Brown/Trinity’s Oscar Eustis (who commissioned the first production of Kushner’s “Angels in America”) as its new leader, that officially placed Brown/Trinity in the national pecking order.
So, what would your TAPS focus be at Brown?</p>
<p>[Oops. Here’s a repost to fix that link.]
The degree conferred is in “Theatre Arts.” The major (or “concentration”) was formerly known as Theatre, Speech, and Dance and is now known as Theatre and Performance Studies, or TAPS.
With the change in name came a transfer of the playwriting program from Literary Arts (i.e. Creative Writing) over to the TAPS department.
The short answer to your question is that national “opinion” of Brown’s Theatre department puts it among the very topmost in the country, certainly in the top three.
Since I mentioned playwriting, I’ll start there. Every fall, American Theatre magazine tallies the most-produced plays in America during the preceding year. This year, 4 of the top 5 most-produced plays of 2009 were by graduates of the Brown program, including number 1, “Boom” by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb (at Brown he was a double-major in theatre and biology), and Sarah Ruhl’s “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” (Sarah is now the most-produced playwright in America). Stephen Karam and Rachel Sheinkin were the other two Brown playwrights in the national top five.
Here’s an article about the phenomenon:
[Brown</a> University turning out one exceptional playwright after another | Theater | projo.com | The Providence Journal](<a href=“The Providence Journal: Local News, Politics & Sports in Providence, RI”>The Providence Journal: Local News, Politics & Sports in Providence, RI)
The other focus areas in the Brown TAPS department are of similar quality, and at the end of the process there is the unmatched advantage of the national Brown theatre alumni network, which Laura Linney (Brown '86) refers to as the “Brown Mafia.”
Because of this connectedness, many New York and Los Angeles theatrical types send their kids to Brown theatre (as you may already know), e.g., in the most recent period, David Mamet, Dustin Hoffman, Danny DeVito, and others.
There is no city in the country that does not have a theatre company either started by, or heavily peopled by, Brown grads.
The Brown/Trinity Rep Consortium puts Brown in partnership with one of the best regional Rep companies in the country (run by Curt Columbus, formerly of Chicago’s Steppenwolf), and when the New York Public Theatre tapped Brown/Trinity’s Oscar Eustis (who commissioned the first production of Kushner’s “Angels in America”) as its new leader, that officially placed Brown/Trinity in the national pecking order.
So, what would your TAPS focus be at Brown?</p>