Opportunities abound for artistic development.

 

Seven Mainstage Productions.
Challenging scripts, cutting-edge playwrights, new works, Shakespeare, period pieces, and musicals provide exposure to a wide variety of styles and authors.  Mainstage directing and design opportunities are open to qualified students.

 

The Studio Series.
MFA playwriting and directing projects, covering realism, non-realism, classical theatre, and original work augment mainstage offerings.

 

Not-A-Penny Productions.
This student-run theatre produces up to eight shows a year in a variety of university and off-campus venues, featuring a season of the latest contemporary scripts, and Blank Pages, a showcase of new work by local writers.

 

New Play Development.
Students participate in classes, readings, workshops, and productions of new playscripts, serving as hands-on collaborators in the development of new works and world premieres.

 

Theatre Studies in Britain.
Students have the opportunity to travel to London for this four-week course. Outside of class, students view at least 15 professional theatre performances, tour theatres and historic theatre sites, and take master classes with actors, designers, directors, and critics from the English stage.

 

Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
Our program participates actively in KCACTF conferences, entering productions, playscripts, and student designs for adjudication, and nominating actors to perform in the Irene Ryan national scholarship competition.  In the past thirteen years, our students have won numerous awards, including a regional Director's Choice nomination and two Molly Risso Classical Acting awards.  In the Irene Ryan Acting Competition, we've had two national winners, seven national finalists, nine national alternates, and a national Best Partner. Our students have won national awards for playwriting, lighting design, and make-up design and had additional designs showcased at the national festival at the Kennedy Center. Students have also won numerous regional awards in playwriting, stage management, design, and acting.

 

USITT

The Design and Technology faculty have all been active members of USITT and have served on a number of panels at the national conference. Students have the opportunity to attend and present their work either at the "Cover the Walls" exhibit or the "Design Expo" and are encouraged to join this wonderful organization. Each year the conference is held in an exciting part of the the country.

 

Guest Artists.
Master classes and production experience with professional theatre artists enhances the program's intensive curriculum. Recent guest artists include Robert Redford, Mary Louise Parker, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, Francis Guinan (Steppenwolf), and  workshops in automated lighting effects, sound design, Commedia, Le Coq, Alexander Technique, make-up, audition preparation with professional actors and directors from New York and Los Angeles, and Shakespeare performance with The Acting Company and the Aquila Theatre Company of London.

 

Travel to Auditions and Conferences.
Each year we offer financial assistance to qualified students, enabling them to attend and participate in regional and national conferences and professional auditions.

 

Departmental Honors Program.
Undergraduate students with a minimum grade point average of 3.5 may participate in special seminars and colloquia, upper division honors classes, and independent projects and research.