The Department of Theatre at the University of
Haifa was opened at the beginning of the academic year 1995-96, and is now
embarking on its fourth year of academic and artistic activity. On 20 May,
1997, it was granted an official academic recognition by the Israeli
Council of Higher Education, and is authorized to confer a BA degree in
Theatre.
The aim of the Department of Theatre is to further theatre research
as well as train students in the various fields related to the art of the
theatre: acting; directing; set, costume and lighting design (a joint program
with the department of Fine Arts); puppet theatre; theatre in education
(a joint program with the school of education), social theatre, playwrighting
and theatre production. The department's faculty consists of both academic
scholars and practitioners of the theatre, all prominent in their respective
fields, and most of whom are constantly active in the various facets of
the professional theatrical scene in Israel.
The distinction of the Department of Theatre at the University
of Haifa among other, parallel programs of theatre studies in Israeli
universities lies in its flexibility through variety: while providing the
possibilities for the study of a great variety of fields of theatre
theory, history and practice, the program is not heavily strict and
coercive, allowing maximum flexibility for the individual student's needs,
proclivities and abilities. The advisors of the department guide each
student in selecting her/his choice of courses, and while each enhanced
program of practical training (such as acting, directing, theatre design,
puppetry, theatre in education, community theatre, etc) has its basic list
of obligatory courses, a wide leeway is left for the student to complement
the basic program with various classes of his/her individual choice.
Out of the studies in dance and movement during the current year,
a group of students of Ethiopian origin has formed an initial dance theatre
workshop under the direction of Ruth Eshel, a
choreographer and a member of faculty, which has already performed its
first fruits of collective work under the title Eskesta
,touring Israel as well as Paris (summer 1996). This workshop, which was
started on a volunteering basis this year, is now officially incorporated
as part of the department's curriculum.
Another successful enterprise launched by the Department of Theatre
is the annual international publication JTD - Journal
of Theatre and Drama, published in English on November of every year.
JTD was established by the late Professor Chaim Shoham
, who initiated the Department of Theatre at the University of Haifa,
but died untimely before he could see his vision materialize. Shoham
planned JTD to be an organ exclusively devoted to the study of Jewish
Theatre and Drama (the only one of its kind in the world), and managed to
finish editing the first issue of the magazine (published posthumously as
vol 1, 1995 of JTD) under that policy. His
enterprise is continuing by the department, but the scope of the
publication, at the suggestion of Professor Mordechai Shechter, then
rector of the University of Haifa, which was willingly adopted by JTD's
current editorial board, was enlarged to include all topic related to
Theatre and Drama, while still securing a particular section in every
issue for the study of Jewish and Israeli theatre and drama. Since JTD is
a high-standard refereed journal, its international advisory board has
been enlarged accordingly, and includes now an illustrious list of first
class critics and scholars covering among themselves a wide range of
theatrical fields of interest.
In the academic year 1996-97, the department has started its full-
fledged theatrical activity with theatre
productions of various sizes and styles, laying the grounds for a
permanently active University Theatre. Among the plays already produced
were plays by Edward Albee, Geraldine Aron, Alan Ayckbourn, Bertolt
Brecht, Caryl Churchill, Euripides, Georges Feydeau, Maria Irene Fornes,
Ghassan Kanafani, Franz Xaver Kroetz, Federico Garcia Lorca, William
Shakespeare, Neil Simon, Martin Speer, Tom Stoppard, Frank Wedekind, as
well as Hanoch Levin and other Israeli writers.
The department of theatre offers the following programs:
General Theatre studies (double major)
Acting (single/double major)
Directing (single/double major)
Theatre Design (double major)
Social and community theatre (double major)
Puppet Theatre (double major)
Playwrighting (double major)
Full recognition for the BA degree in theatre has been granted the
department by the Israeli Council for Higher Education, on 20 May 1997,
and a program for advanced studies (MA in theatre research and MFA in
theatre directing and theatre design) is expected during 2002.
Graduates of the Department of Theatre have already been doing their
first steps in the Israeli theatre.
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