<p>Doe anyone have experience and feedback about the theatre major at Oberlin?</p>
<p>Theater Department has classes in acting (the cornerstone of the major), theory, directing, setting, costuming and pushes students to take classes in dance and english departments. Acting classes are incredibly competitive, small and focused, with teachers emphasizing the Stanislovsky method. Most of the teachers in the department went to Yale's drama school.
To be in a main stage (teacher directed) show, students need not be theater majors to audition- however, most parts go to theater majors (because they're better trained).
There are student directed shows, student written shows, a musical theater association, 3 improv groups, sketch comedy, semi-improvised groups, 3 operas a year, and a circus. </p>
<p>The major is intense, and amazing. But theater in Oberlin is larger than the major, which means a lot of shows and a lot of performers. It's really great.</p>
<p>Noir.stork basically said everything I know; however I thought I should mention that there are not as many opportunities here for musical theater than other forms like drama.</p>
<p>Normally, one of the Theater Main Stage shows is a musical (ie. assasins) and OMTA puts on one show a semester. It's been an off-year for it. Last year, when I came back from Winter Term, I saw 2 musicals in 2 days.
Also, directing and playwriting classes use actors in new work, which is really cool.</p>
<p>Thank you for the feedback! My daughter was concerned when she read in the Insiders Guide to Colleges (Yale Students) that drama at Oberlin was considered a "slacker major." From you response, this does not seem to be the case.</p>
<p>There's no major at Oberlin that's really a 'slacker major.' Some departments are considered more strong than others, but you'll have to work hard no matter what you take.</p>
<p>Well, it isn't biochem or classics, but theater's too competitive to make it a slacker major. Theater majors do have lives, but also do shows, which eat huge amounts of time. If you're unreliable, the whole department finds out.</p>
<p>The Insider's Guide to Colleges is notoriously unreliable--and usually based on "information" about 10 years old. I wouldn't trust anything it says.</p>
<p>Can you take a voice minor with a drama major?</p>
<p>datripp, yes you can, if you're double degree.</p>
<p>Really? I didn't think you could minor in anything in the con... Best bet would be a double-degree (with full voice and theatre majors), or doing the theatre major in the college with voice lessons/conservatory classes for credit. That's the most popular solution.</p>
<p>noir.stork is correct.</p>
<p>Just adding to what noir.stork said, there are two voice major options - a degree with the conservatory or a college music major. And as a general rule, college students cannot minor in any conservatory field and vice versa (though i'm not sure about double degree).</p>
<p>I'm sorry, I misread, I thought you wanted to major in both.</p>
<p>How often to they produce student written works? I'm really interested in doing playwriting and stuff like that....</p>
<p>Hellojc-</p>
<p>I took Oberlin's Playwriting class last year, which was an amazing experience. It's run through the Creative Writing department, but it's open to non-majors (especially theatre folks). It's a 12-person workshop with David Walker, who's supercool. The first half of the semester is writing all different kinds of scenes, the second half is working on a one-act that will be performed (that's the "final"). We have a sketch comedy group, semi-improvised shows, a 24 hour theatre competition, and two student-written theater festivals a year. Cinema studies classes also need screenplays to film in every class.</p>
<p>In short, there's a lot.</p>