Training Future Theatrical Practitioners

The Performing Arts Department draws upon practice, theory and criticism, and history as a foundation for lifelong learning and personal excellence in theatre studies. Interdisciplinary by nature, the theatre degree program has a strong communal and collaborative base and offers a well-rounded liberal arts education. Students define their place as theatre artists and producers within the greater community by producing contemporary and classic works, including canonical plays, experimental projects, and works by visiting artists and directors. The faculty's expertise includes acting, voice, directing, choreography, stage management, playwriting, storytelling, theatre history and criticism, and costume, set, and light design. Our proximity to Chicago's robust theatre and performing arts community augments teaching and learning opportunities for both students and faculty.

State-of-the-Art Facilities

Facilities include a 500-seat, state-of-the-art theatre, and a smaller flexible performance and instructional space seating up to 100. Backstage technology consists of a counterweight system that provides for five motorized positions dedicated to staging lighting and permanent running lights throughout both performance spaces and the main theater corridor. The 100-seat Black Box Studio Theatre boasts a technical mezzanine sixteen feet off the stage floor for optimal control booth operation and a suspended tension wire grid.

Additional facilities include a costume shop, prop room, dressing and green room, box office, light lab, lighting and sound booth, scene shop, access to Design Labs, and the Innovation and Production Lab.