Theatre

Degree: B.A., Performing Arts
Department of Theatre and Dance

A major in Theatre leads to a Bachelor of Arts degree in Performing Arts. The major offers students extraordinary flexibility to customize their college experience by choosing courses in the area of theatre in which they are most interested—acting, directing, costume design, scenic design, theatre history and literature, playwriting, lighting design, theatre management, arts management, theatre technology, and costume technology. Through a solid core of foundation courses and an impressive array of electives, students build a major program that allows them to pursue a professional career upon graduation.

Equally important to coursework are the many opportunities available for students to practice in our theatres what they are learning in our classrooms and studios. The Department believes that an experiential approach to theatre education offers the greatest potential of success to the emerging theatre artist. Ours is a hands-on program that emphasizes student leadership and responsibility. In addition to acting on our stages, theatre majors design, direct, build, choreograph, and manage productions in our theatres, as well as serve other leadership capacities in the Department. Beyond the main stage, students program and manage Studio 115, our flexible black box theatre, producing a season of performances that range in scope from evenings of scenes to fully-produced musicals.

The Department produces in Klein Theatre, a traditional proscenium stage, and the flexible Studio 115 in duPont Hall. Both theatres recently were transformed in extensive renovations that included the installation of state-of-the-art lighting, sound and communications systems. The Department also maintains an acting lab, design lab, rehearsal hall, craft studio, CAD lab, light lab and fully-equipped costume, lighting, and scene shops, and theatre management offices. Recent productions have included The Tempest, Harvey, Hedda Gabler, Rent, Elegies, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Noises Off, Proof, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Little Shop of Horrors, Sunday in the Park with George, Shakespeare’s R&J, Our Town, The Amish Project, The Laramie Project, Antigone, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Cabaret, Godspell, The Shape of Things, The Country Wife, Waiting for Godot, Sweeney Todd, As You Like It, Into the Woods, and The School for Wives.

The Department is devoted to preparing students to graduate into professional theatre careers. In addition to sponsoring internships, members of the faculty accompany students to a variety of events throughout the year where majors can audition and interview with producers for professional opportunities. Our majors graduate with a strong liberal-arts education in the field, as well as with solid skills for working in theatre.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Students will demonstrate a broad-based knowledge of theatre history, theory and literature.

2. Students will demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the process of creating a character.

3. Students will demonstrate a facility with the tools and the techniques of creating scenery, lighting, and props in the process of creating a theatre production. 

4. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the basic elements and principles of design and the ability to create a conceptual design by engaging those elements and principles.

5. Students will demonstrate the application of theory, technique and skills in theatre production.

6. Students will demonstrate the capacity to work independently on a creative or research project in theatre and the ability to frame and formulate an informed and articulate opinion of the process and result.

Major Requirements

Thirty-three (33) credits including:

¹

Except THEA 390 Theatre Practicum , THEA 491 Individual Study , THEA 492 Individual Study , or THEA 499 Internship .

²

All majors are required to enroll in Theatre Practicum each semester except during the semester of the Senior Project; students may count eight practicum credits toward graduation. Three of those credits count toward the major.

General Education Requirements

The general education requirements for Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degrees apply to all students who are seeking to earn an undergraduate B.A., B.S. or B.S.Ed. degree.

Students seeking a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree have a separate set of BLS general education requirements.

Electives

Elective courses are those that are not needed to fulfill a general education requirement or major program requirement but are chosen by the student to complete the 120 credits required for graduation with a B.A./B.S./B.S.Ed. degree or the BLS degree. These courses may be taken graded or pass/fail (or S/U in the case of physical education and 100-level dance). No student in a regular B.A./B.S./B.S.Ed. program may count more than 60 credits in a single discipline toward the 120 credits required for graduation.

Total Credits Required for the Degree: 120 credits

Plan of Study

This suggested plan of study should serve as a guide to assist students when planning their course selections. It is not a substitute for a student's Degree Evaluation or the Program Requirements listed for this major in the catalog. Academic planning is the student's responsibility, and course selections should be finalized only after speaking with an advisor. Students should familiarize themselves with the catalog in effect at the time they matriculated at the University of Mary Washington. Students should also familiarize themselves with general education requirements which can be fulfilled through general electives as well as major/minor course requirements. Course requirements and sequencing may vary with AP, IB, CLEP, Cambridge or previous coursework, transfer courses, or other conditions. To be considered full-time, an undergraduate student must be enrolled in 12 or more credits for the semester.

Theatre and Dance Faculty

Marc A. Williams, Chair and Career Advisor

Professor

Gregg Stull

Associate Professors

Michael G. Benson
Kevin J. McCluskey

Assistant Professors

Bridgette Dennett
Marc A. Williams