Bio
Dr. Theresa Larkin has been a professor in the CSU since 1986, and with the Department of Theatre and Dance at Cal State LA since 1989, where she is a tenured full professor in the Department of Theatre, and Dance. Her areas of expertise span a broad spectrum, which include acting (classical and modern), art, artivism, arts management, business, communications, cultural studies, dance, directing, documentary/film, globalization, media philosophy / media studies, music appreciation (classical and world), performance studies, performance training (Shakespearean acting, movement, voice production & speech training), Shakespeare, sociology, VPA, and U.S. Constitution (LAUSD Training). Academic degrees include the following: BA in Drama and Dance from Loyola Marymount University (1977); MFA in Drama (Specialization: Shakespearean Performance) from U C Irvine (1983); MA and Ph.D. in Cultural Studies (MA Specialization: Cultural Documentary; Ph.D. Specialization: Grassroots Artivism) from Claremont Graduate University (2009 and 2011); Ph.D. dissertation title: The Vismistic Triadic.
Dr. Larkin is an expert in culture, media and performance. Most notably, Shakespearean performance (classical acting and First Folio text analysis), theatre directing (auteur, new works, multi-media art, one-person shows, performance lectures, and classical texts), producing (non-profit theatre, video, film), arts administration (non-profit consulting, management, strategic planning, grants, event planning), voice for the stage (vocal production, IPA, diction, accents and dialects), movement (choreography: modern, period, and folk), cultural studies (cultural documentary, culture and society, alternative cultural environments,) political theatre (Boalian and Frierian Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed), grassroots activism, and artivism. After a decade long study of activism in the arts, she has devised a performance training technique for grassroots artivists called VISMS, which is a values-centric praxical approach to framing, making, producing, and performing ethical glocal artivism.
During 2012-2014, she devoted time to developing and teaching online courses in theatre arts for the College of Arts and Letters.
Ms. Larkin has received numerous theatre awards for producing and acting, and is responsible for coordinating and conducting hundreds of productions, workshops, staged readings, conferences, symposia, talk backs, and master classes (producing, directing, acting, choreographing, and writing). She founded (and co-founded) non-profit and profit companies, most notably: The Artists' Collective, Theatre for the 21st Century, Latino Classical Repertory (with Tony Plana, et al, now renamed East Los Angeles Theatre Company), and TheatreLife. Profit companies include LioLark Productions and Palar Corporation. In 1988, Theresa served as Associate Artistic Director for Idaho Shakespeare Festival in Boise. Before assuming her professorship at Cal State LA, Theresa spent three years as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the MFA program (Acting / Directing / Voice / Movement) at San Jose State University (1986-89); two years as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the MFA program (Acting / Directing / Voice / Movement) at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (1984-86); and three years as an Lecturer in Acting at University of California, Irvine (1980-83). She also previously taught English as a Second Language (ESL) for Berlitz, School of Languages (1983-84).
Additionally, Professor Larkin taught at National University (27 years - teaching hundreds of classes across 17 disciplines), American InterContinental University (AIU) (9 years across 5 disciplines), Springfield College (5 years in Communications, Behavioral Science, Writing and Research), and guest lectured at numerous campuses around the world, including Santa Clara University, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Oberlin College, and Chulalongkorn University (Thailand); among other campuses. She was voted Outstanding Professor twice at AIU (In 2002 for Business and in 2005 for General Education).
For a complete list of courses taught and productions directed since coming to the Cal State system in 1986, please go to http://www.theresalarkin.com
Early career, Ms. Larkin trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, London Contemporary Arts, Shakespeare and Company, and with numerous other specialized training environments in the arts in Hollywood, New York, and London. In the last few years, she has studied film structure and storytelling with James Bonnet, while also being certified in editing techniques in Avid and Final Cut Pro. In previous years, Theresa completed a number of activist and cultural documentaries. Her artistic performance training has been extensive. Modern acting/directing mentors include Robert Cohen, Keith Fowler, Pamela Barnard, Stella Adler, and Virginia Barnelle. Shakespearean performance mentors include George William Needles, Brewster Mason, and medieval scholar Edgar Schell. Dance/Movement/Armed & Unarmed Combat mentors include Mary Lynn Waterman, Donald Hewitt, Charles Edmondson, Teo Morca, Bella Lewitsky, Antoinette Marich, Judy Scalin, B.H. Barry, and Henry Marshall. Voice mentors include Cecily Barry, Patsy Rodenberg, Kristin Linklater, Dudley Knight, and Carla Meyer. As a professional director and actor, Theresa has been a member of the following unions and organizations: Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Screen Actors' Guild, Actors' Equity Association, American Federation of Radio and Television Artists, the Royal Society of Art, and the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival. She is also a current member of California Faculty Association.
In 2002, Ms. Larkin was cited by veteran critic Polly Warfield (Dramalogue / Backstage West) as a Living Legend of Los Angeles for her award-winning performance in 1981 as Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander (in the play Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander by Preston Jones). Ms. Larkin shares this honor with fellow actor, Jeffrey Meek, for his role as Skip Hampton.
As a conference planner she worked on a national level for a number years with Association For Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE-founding the Directing Forum in 1985), American Theatre College Festival (ATCF-Regional Festival Adjudicator since 1980), and Center for Theatre of the Oppressed/Applied Theatre Arts/Los Angeles (CTO/ATA/LA) as a founding member, workshop leader, national conference planner, and core conference planner for the international conference held in Hollywood at the Renaissance Hotel (home of the Kodak Theatre) celebrating Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed with colleagues from the CTO/ATA/LA. For four years, Theresa served as Historian/Documentarian for CTO/ATA/LA.
In 2003 and 2004, Dr. Larkin served on the Hollywood Hills West Neigborhood Council (HHWNC) as Chair of Cultural Planning and Community Outreach, respectively.
In 2007, Theresa was awarded a proclamation from the County of Riverside for an original multi-media work (co-written with biographer Mary H. Curtin) celebrating Mine' Okubo (Japanese-American internee artist famous for her camp drawings) entitled Mine': A Name For Herself. This production was invited to perform for the Day of Remembrance at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.
In 2009, Professor Larkin was honored by ACTF with an 'Excellence in Education' Award for 27 years of volunteer service with this national organization housed in the Kennedy Center. The designation celebrates her critical response to countless university productions and for serving as a regional adjudicator and festival judge for nearly three decades at regional festivals held in the Midwestern and Southern United States.
During the 2016-2017 academic year, Professor Larkin is proud to have successfully launched a new on-campus program designed to enhance dramatic literacy entitled Performance Salon, which presented twenty single-night staged dramatic readings of theatrical plays during the Fall and Spring Semesters. Performance Salon will continue to offer quality dramatuc readings of the world canon during the academic year of 2017-2018. See listing of titles below.
For more information, please go to: http://www.performancesalon.org
Academically, in her spare time, Dr. Larkin is also completing a second Ph.D. at European Graduate School in Saas Fee, Switzerland and Valletta, Malta in Philosphy, Art and Critical Thought (previously listed as Communications and Media Philosophy), with an expected completion date in early 2018. The Ph.D. dissertation title is Cancer and the Healing Arts.
During Fall 2016, in response to gowing homelessness that is occuring throughout Los Angeles, Theresa began actively pursuing a Citizens Think Tank on Homelessness with LA District Attorney Mike Fueur's Community Justice Initiative, with the specific intent to tour TAC's new performance lecture Homeless to various communities experiencing an exponential increase of homeless populations in their neighborhoods and business districts. This passionate endeavor has gotten little support from community members, but it has evolved into a series of new works dedicated to the challenges and vision of homelessness, healing through art, and Restorative Justice iniatives.
Artistically, during 2017-2018, Theresa will continue to workshop her one-woman performance lecture based on her most recent scholarly research and writing on cancer and healing entitled High-Risk. Additionally, she and colleagues are in the process of revitalizing the non-profit 501 (C) (3) multi-media theatre company The Artists' Collective for the 2018-2019 season with artivist new works and performance lectures, which include Homeless, Protected Class, A More Perfect Union, Enemy Of The People - Flint, Restoration, and Healing Arts.
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Contact
Professor: Theresa Larkin, Ph.D.
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours: Monday & Wedmesday: 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm (May change to weekends with Performance Salon rehearsals)
Best by appointment.
Office: Music 243
Office phone: 323-343-4103
Cell phone: 323-899-4255 (Best)
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Current Courses *
Fall Semester - 2017
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TA 3410 - 01
Acting III: Classical Acting*
TA Course - 01 - #96699 - Activity
Monday & Wednesday - 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Music 214
August 21 - December 9
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TA
Portfolio*
TA Course - TBA
Music Building 243
August 21 - December 9
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TA 4100
Performance Participation: Performance Salon*
TA Course - Production - Dramatic Readings (See List of Plays Below)
MU 129 Conference Room & MU 101 Arena Theatre
Weekends: 12:00 pm - 11:00 pm (TBA)
August 21 - December 9
Performance Salon
Dramatic Readings
Fall Semester 2017
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Saturday, September 9, 2017
Antigone*
by Sophocles
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Sunday, September 10, 2017
Antigone X
by Paul Cizmar
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Saturday, September 23, 2017
Romeo & Juliet
by William Shakespeare
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Sunday, September 24, 2017
The Rover
by Alphra Behn
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Saturday, October 21, 2017
Frankenstein
by Mary Shelly
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Sunday, October 22, 2017
In The Next Room
by Sarah Ruhl
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Orlando
by Virginia Woolf
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Sunday, October 29, 2017
The Fountainhead
by Ayn Rand
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Saturday, November 4, 2017
Toys In The Attic
by Lillian Hellman
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Sunday, November 5, 2017
Caligraphy
by Velina Hasu Houston
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Saturday, November 11, 2017Restoration
by Theresa Larkin**
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Spring Semester - 2017
TA 4100 - 01
Performance Participation: Performance Salon
TA Course - #34755
Weekends: 12:00 pm - 11:00 pm (TBA)
MU 129 Conference Room & MU 101 Arena Theatre
January 23 - May 20
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TA 4460 - 01
Advanced Directing
TA Course - 01 - #34760
Friday: 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Music Building 101
January 23 - May 20
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Fall Semester - 2016
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TA 5105 - 01
Dramatic Structure I: Theatre
TA/MFA Course - #91861
Tuesday: 4:30 am - 7:15 pm
TVFM Building 202
August 22 - December 10
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TA 5740 - 01
Theories In Performance
TA Course - 01 - #95742
Thursday: 6:00 pm - 8:45 pm
Music Building 129
August 22 – December 10
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TA 4670 - 01 & 02
Praxis: Theory And Practice
TA Section 01 / 02 - #92664 / 92666
Friday: 11:00 am - 11:50 am / 11:50 am - 3:10 pm
Music Building 112 / 101
August 22 - December 10
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TA 3900 - 01
Theatre Research And Writing
TA Course - 01 - #92600
Friday: 4:00 am - 6:45 pm
Music Building 114
August 22 – December 10
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List Of Courses Taught
Cal State LA - 1989-2017
TA 100 Play Practicum
TA 141 Acting: Games and Exercises
TA 142 Acting: Character
TA 143 Acting: Scenes
TA 149 Diction and Dialects
TA 152 Analysis of Drama and Theatre*
TA 160 Living Theatre
BCST 210 Body and Identity in Dance, Theatre and Film*
DANCE 210 Body and Identity in Dance, Theatre and Film*
LBS 234 Multicultural Arts in Los Angeles
TA 300 Play Production
TA 300 Production Support
TA 310 Play Production
TA 312 Development of World Theatre II
TA 313 Development of World Theatre III
TA 314 Staging Violence in World Theatre
TA 316 Theatre & Dance in 20th Century Urban Environments
TA 341 Advanced Acting: Improvisation
TA 3410 Acting III: Classical Acting***
TA 343 Playing a Role
TA 348 Movement for Actors
TA 348 Breath, Movement, Voice II / Viewpoints
TA 349 Voice for Stage
TAD 349 Breath, Movement, Voice III
TA 357 Creative Experiences
BCST 380 Emotion in Theatre and Film
TA 380 Emotion in Theatre and Film
TA. 3800 Emotion in Theatre and Film
TVF/T 380 Emotion in Theatre and Film
TA 3900 Theatre Research and Writing***
TA 398 Cooperative Education
TA 400 Creative Drama - Elementary
TA 4100 Performance Particpation***
TA 401 Advanced Acting - Classical Theatre
TA 439 Arts Management
TA 439 Theatre Management
TA 441 Acting Studio I
TA 442 Acting Studio II*
TA 442 Acting Studio III
TA 445 Principles of Directing I
TA 446 Principles of Directing II
TA 4460 Advanced Directing***
TA 447 Acting for Musical Theatre
TA 449 Undergraduate Directed Study
TA 450 Principles of Directing III
TA 454 – L Special Topics – Lecture
TA 454 – P Special Topics – Performance
TA 4540 - P Special Topics - Performance Salon***
TA 454 – L Special Topics: Women’s Studies*
TA 457 Emotion in Theatre and Film
TA 459 Hispanic Play Production
SPAN 459 Hispanic Play Production
TA 463 Shakespeare as Living Theatre
TA 4630 Shakespearean Performance***
TAD 467 Theory and Method in Performance
COMM 467 Theory and Method in Performance
TAD 467 Praxis: Theory and Practice in Performance
TA 4670 Praxis: Theory and Practice***
COMM 468 Performance and Social Change
TAD 468 Performance and Social Change
TA 471 Theatre of the Avant-Garde
TA 472 Historical Analysis of Lyric Theatre
TAD 486 Cross-Cultural Approaches to Social Performance
TA 498 Advanced Cooperative Education
TA 499 Undergraduate Directed Study
TVFT 5105 Dramatic Structure I: Theatre***
TVFT 517 Acting for the Stage
TA 511 Special Studies in Theatre History
TA 541 Seminar: Theories of Acting
TVFT 542 Acting Studio*
TVFT 543 Voice for Performers I
COMM 567 Theories of Oral Interpretation
TA 5740 Theories In Performance***
TA 595 Graduate Performance
TA 598 Graduate Directed Study
TA 599 Graduate Project
TA 599 Graduate Thesis
TA 900 Graduate Studies
*** New Semester 2016-2018 Courses
* Syllabi Prepared
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CSLA Campus Productions, Programs & Research Activities - 2017 - 1989
CURRENT: 2017-2018
Cancer and the Healing Arts - 2018 - (EGS Ph.D. Dissertation - ABD)
High Risk - 2015-2018
Homeless - 2016-2018
Performance Salon - Dramatic Readings
Spring Semester 2017
Portfolio Professional Showcase - May 14, 2017
A More Perfect Union - May 13, 2017
An Enemy Of The People - Flint - May 12, 2017
The Exonerated - April 30, 2017
Living Out - April 29, 2017
Summerfolk - April 23, 2017
Misalliance - April 22, 2017
An Enemy of the People - April 21, 2017
Pride and Prejudice - April 9, 2017
Protected Class - March 25, 2017
Macbeth - March 4 & 5, 2017
As You Like It - February 19, 2017
Medea - February 18, 2017
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Performance Salon - New Program - Dramatic Readings
Fall Semester 2016
Much Ado About Nothing - October 30, 2016
Three Sisters - November 6, 2016
Death Of A Salesman - November 29 & 30, 2016
The Persians - December 2, 2016
Homeless - December 3, 2016
Greenland LA - December 4, 2016
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Clybourne Park - 2015
High-Risk - 2015
The Culture of Cancer - 2014
The Winter's Tale - 2013
VISMS - 2012
Arcadia - 2011
The Vismistic Triadic - 2011 - (CGU Ph.D. Dissertation)
Maritare - 2010
Cultural Documentary - 2009 - (CGU - MA)
Bless Me, Ultima - 2008
Faust, Parts 1 & 2 - 2007
Mine: A Name For Herself - 2007-2003
Dracula - 2005
A Midsummer Night's Dream - 2004
ThreePenny Opera - 2003
Caregiving - 2002
A Map Of The World - 2001
All's Well That Ends Well - 2000
Antony & Cleopatra - 1999
Finian's Rainbow - 1998 - (CSLA 50th Anniversary Celebration - With Josh Groban)
The Tempest - 1997
In A Woman's Voice - 1996 - 1994
Don Juan: El burlador de sevilla / The Trickster of Seville - 1996
Los Enemigos - 1995
Ahakhav Tribal Preserve - 1994
Black and White and Somewhere in the Shade of Grey - 1994-1992
Latino Classical Repertory - 1994 - 1992 - (On Campus Professional Company)
Measure For Measure - 1993
Othello - 1992
Curse - 1991
Carnival - 1991
Quilters - 1990
Theatre For The 21st Century - 1994 - 1989 - (On Campus Professional Company)
TheatreLife - 1989 - 1986 - (Presenter's Theatre Ensemble)
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Grants - Representative List
2016 - 1989
California Arts Council
City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department
City of Riverside
City of Ventura
County of Riverside
Diane Middleton Foundation
International Longshore and Warehouse Labor Union
IRA - Latino Classical Repertory
IRA - Performance Salon
IRA - Theatre For The 21st Century
Lottery
National Endowment for the Arts
Riverside Community College
Riverside Cultural Affairs
Ventura Arts Council
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Committees - Representative List
2017 - 1989
University
Committees On Committees
Faculty Policy
Faculty Senate
Fiscal Police
IRA
IRB
Professional Ethics and Academic Freedom
Strategic Planning
Transportation
College of Arts and Letters
ARTP - A & B
Dean Search Committee
Grievance
Risk Management and Safety
Strategic Planning
WASC Educational Effectiveness
WPE
Music, Theatre and Dance
Advisor
Chair Evaluation Committee
Chair Search Committee
Curriculum
Faculty Search Committee
Graduate Admissions
Grievance Committee
Mentor
MTD Mission Statement
MFA
MFA Policy and Curriculum
NAST Accreditation
Part-Time (Adjunct)
Policies and Procedures
Production Supervision
Program Review
Program Review Edit Subcommittee
Public Relations
Scholarship Committee
Season Committ
Theatre For The 21st Century
TVFT Program Curriculum
TVFT MFA / MFA Acting Application Review
RTP A
RTP B
Semester Conversion
Web Design: Aesthetics and Branding
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Course & Production Custom Websites - Short List
http://www.theresalarkin.com
http://www.theartistscollective.org
http://www.high-risk.org
http://www.performancesalon.org
http://www.maritare.org
http://wwwthewinterstale.org
http://www.actorsblog.org
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