Department of Theatre Dance & Film Season Selection Process
PRODUCTION PROGRAM MISSION STATEMENT

The main stage production program of the Department of Theatre, Dance & Film is committed to fostering artistic excellence and growth. It provides opportunity
and support for artistic expression, intellectual development and spiritual growth for both student artists and audience. The program endeavors to create
performances that challenge audience expectations and examine the capability of the performing arts to explore ideas, evoke emotional responses and promote
the dignity, freedom, equality and spiritual nature of all persons.

THE PURPOSE OF THE PRODUCTION PROGRAM
1. ARTIST TRAINING: The production program is an extension of the academic offerings of the Department of Theatre, Dance & Film and
serves as an opportunity for students to apply skills, principles and theories learned in the classroom. Production serves as a workshop in
which theatre majors, theatre and dance minors, film students as well as other students serious about the performing arts may develop their talents.
2. AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT: The production program is dedicated to providing experiences in the arts to the campus community, to augmenting
the liberal arts curriculum and to educating and developing audiences for theatre, dance and film.
3. COMMUNITY OUTREACH: The production program attempts to serve the artistic needs of the greater Providence community and, in keeping with
the Catholic and service orientation of the college, to provide performances particularly to those who would otherwise be unable to
experience the arts.

SEASON SELECTION COMMITTEE GUIDELINES OF OPERATION

-The Managing Director will convene one pre-season, faculty only meeting of the production faculty. The remainder of the meetings will include
students and faculty both.
-The Managing Director of Theatre will convene the Season Selection Committee each year and serve as its Chair.
-It shall be the responsibility of the Managing Director to insure that the committee is a representative body of the faculty and students of the
Department of Theatre Dance and Film.
*All fulltime TDF faculty will be invited to serve on the committee each year.
*At least two students selected from the pool of Theatre majors and minors will be invited to serve on the committee each year. The
Theatre majors and minors will vote to select one student committee member and the faculty of the Department of Theatre, Dance & Film will select one student committee member.
*Non-departmental members of the community may be invited to actas non-voting consultants to the committee at the discretion of the Chair, a Director or a member of the committee.
-At the first meeting of the Season Selection Committee each year, the Chair will provide the committee with the following aids:
1. A copy of the mission statement of the production program of the Department of Theatre Dance and Film.
2. A list of the plays produced during the previous four year period which designates: type of play, nation of origin, year written, author’s gender, and cast breakdown.
3. A list of the styles of plays that the Department of Theatre Dance and Film seeks to produce in a four to six year period.
4. A list of guidelines which will assist committee members in insuring that the plays selected for production meet the pedagogical and artistic goals of the department and are capable of being produced within the resources available to the department.
-It will be the responsibility of the committee to annually determine the methodology that will be used to create a list of plays to be considered and evaluated as candidates for production in that year.
-As Chair of the Season Selection Committee, it is the responsibility of the Managing Director of theatre to insure that plays selected for production over a four to six year period provide students with exposure to a broad range of theatrical styles and with ample opportunities for involvement
both on stage and back stage.

GUIDELINES FOR PLAY SELECTION
The Season Selection Committee will consider the following issues as plays are reviewed and evaluated during the selection process. Plays selected for
production should:
1. Be of interest to enough students to insure a successful audition process.
2. Provide a sufficient number of roles to accommodate the talented students who have expressed an interest in acting.
3. Provide an acceptable balance between the number of male and female roles, or roles that can reasonably be played by females.
4. Be able to be produced within the limits of available resources including: facility, scheduling, financial and staff limitations.
5. Have the potential to be successfully marketed to an audience drawn from the college community and the greater Providence community as
well.
6. Fulfill at least one of the categories identified as the department goal for producing a cycle of play types in a four to six year period (see Cycle document.)
7. Offer the potential for a variety of styles of play and production in a single season.
8. In the case of a musical, have music that student actors can sing and student musicians can play.
9. In the opinion of a majority of the committee, be compatible with the mission statement of the college and the mission statement of the production program of the Department of Theatre Dance & Film.

The following is some of the information that should be provided by any committee member who submits a title for consideration by the season selection
committee:
1. Anyone with a PC student ID is eligible to audition. If a faculty or staff member asks to audition, that request must be accommodated at the
director’s discretion. However, auditions will not be specifically promoted for non-students. Our first priority for casting is PC students,
and the PC community at large is the second priority. Directors may not go outside the PC community for actors without prior planning as indicated below.
2. Identify all the specialized staff or visiting artists that must be engaged in order to produce the play (e.g. stage combat choreographer, visiting actor, musician(s) etc.)
3. Identify any known specialized equipment or special effects associated with the play that will have significant budgetary implications.
4. State any ideas for the production of the play that are known at the time of submission that may impact the committee’s decision to select or reject the play.

PLAY CATEGORY CYCLE
In a four to six year cycle the Blackfriars Theatre will aim (as an ideal) to rotate the selection of plays through the following categories:
1. Musical Theatre – a traditional “Broadway” style musical at least every other year
2. Shakespeare – at least one every four years
3. American Play – a play authored by an American playwright from any period
4. Classic – a play from the Greek, Roman, Medieval or Renaissance periods
5. British Play – a non-Shakespearean British play from any period
6. Contemporary – a play written within the last 15 years
7. New Play – a previously unproduced play or a play that has not received widespread commercial production.
8. Young Audience – a children’s theatre production or a play that will appeal to a family audience.
9. Female Playwright – a play authored by a woman from any period or culture.
10.Curriculum Related – a play that has a specific tie-in with a course or courses regularly offered within the curriculum of Providence College, especially DWC
11.Catholic Heritage – a play that reflects the Catholic heritage of the Providence College community
12.Ethnic Heritage – a play that reflects the ethnic heritage of the college and of Rhode Island selected from the Irish, Italian, Portuguese or other western tradition.
13.Non Western – a play selected from Asian, Latin, African or other non western tradition

Approved January, 2016 Printable version here.