Faculty Profile
Kent Barrett
Associate Professor of Theatre Design (2015)
Contact Information
Montgomery House
Bio
KENT BARRETT is a multi-disciplinary theatrical designer and artist who has developed a wide-ranging body of work and established a national and international presence on the performance scene. Kent is a former company member with The Wooster Group, an NEA Grant recipient and an instructor at MIT. A prolific technologist, Kent's works have been seen at venues such as The Park Avenue Armory, Harlem Stage, La MaMa, Signature, The Public, The Brooklyn Lyceum, and Lincoln Center as well as internationally. In addition to his work in theater, dance and performance, Kent has also collaborated widely on independent films, art installations, and with various architectural lighting firms. Kent is a co-artistic director and founding member of the experimental performance collective VALLEY TRACTION. To learn more about their work visit www.ValleyTraction.org
Education
- B.A., Stephen F. Austin State University, 2004
- M.F.A., University of Florida, 2013
2024-2025 Academic Year
Fall 2024
FYSM 100 First-Year Seminar
The First-Year Seminar (FYS) introduces students to Dickinson as a "community of inquiry" by developing habits of mind essential to liberal learning. Through the study of a compelling issue or broad topic chosen by their faculty member, students will:
- Critically analyze information and ideas
- Examine issues from multiple perspectives
- Discuss, debate and defend ideas, including one's own views, with clarity and reason
- Develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information, and
- Create clear academic writing
The small group seminar format of this course promotes discussion and interaction among students and their professor. In addition, the professor serves as students' initial academic advisor. This course does not duplicate in content any other course in the curriculum and may not be used to fulfill any other graduation requirement.
THDA 190 Production and Performance
A laboratory experience in the creation and performance of theatre production. Under the guidance of faculty, students will explore the interpretive processes by which theatre productions are rehearsed, built and presented. Carries .5 academic credit. Credit/no credit. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor based on an open audition process for performance or application process for production. Two .5 academic credits of this course can be used to satisfy the Arts distribution requirement.
THDA 302 Sustainable Sculpting
In this course we will learn, experiment, and develop skills in spatial designs and sound designs; how the intentional manipulation of sound and space sculpts worlds on stages and through the lens of the camera.
Spatial and sound designs have become key components in live performance, from theater and dance, to concerts, galleries, and events, while making up one of the core elements in creating contemporary media.
Throughout the semester, the student will study contemporary practitioners, theory, sustainable approaches and techniques of the interrelated fields of scenography and sound before developing their own style and work in visual and sonic story telling through hands-on creations in both film and live work. Special attention will be paid toward where material comes from, where it goes, as well as our relationship to our landscape and community.
Spring 2025
THDA 190 Production and Performance
A laboratory experience in the creation and performance of theatre production. Under the guidance of faculty, students will explore the interpretive processes by which theatre productions are rehearsed, built and presented. Carries .5 academic credit. Credit/no credit. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor based on an open audition process for performance or application process for production. Two .5 academic credits of this course can be used to satisfy the Arts distribution requirement.
THDA 214 Movement and Media
Cross-listed with FMST 220-05. This introductory studio class focuses on multiple ways of tracking, viewing, and capturing bodies in motion and daily choreographic movement, such as walking to a chair to sit, closing a door or opening a drawer. The course will emphasize working with the camera as an extension of the body to explore radically different points of view. We will experiment with framing, composition, and camera movement to bring a heightened awareness of kinesthetic involvement and emotional immediacy to the bodies on screen and behind the camera. The course examines various artists’ practices and their creative research to expand the methodologies of art making. The course will balance discussion and studio/lab time as students create collaborative & individual projects. This course will focus on experimentation and exploration rather than technical skill building. It is about familiarizing yourself with the uses of various mediums and processes to explore work through practices and projects. Previous experience in performance/video composition can be beneficial but is not required.
FMST 220 Movement and Media
Cross-listed with THDA 214-01. This introductory studio class focuses on multiple ways of tracking, viewing, and capturing bodies in motion and daily choreographic movement, such as walking to a chair to sit, closing a door or opening a drawer. The course will emphasize working with the camera as an extension of the body to explore radically different points of view. We will experiment with framing, composition, and camera movement to bring a heightened awareness of kinesthetic involvement and emotional immediacy to the bodies on screen and behind the camera. The course examines various artists’ practices and their creative research to expand the methodologies of art making. The course will balance discussion and studio/lab time as students create collaborative & individual projects. This course will focus on experimentation and exploration rather than technical skill building. It is about familiarizing yourself with the uses of various mediums and processes to explore work through practices and projects. Previous experience in performance/video composition can be beneficial but is not required.
THDA 233 Sustainable Light Design
This class explores the artistry of light within a live performance context as well as the use of light design in film. Students will gain an introductory understanding of the basic tools and equipment used in film and on stage to create lighting designs, while studying both technique and theory associated with the art forms through the lens of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This class is divided into theoretical exploration and hands-on studio work which stresses the conceptual and artistic elements of these abstract design forms while giving the student the basic technical skills required to create work with light while keeping an eye toward the environmental consequences, impacts, and benefits that light may have. Studio projects will fluctuate between conceptual work to gain a broader understanding and foundation of tools and techniques, to realized, large scale designs on the mainstage and for the camera.