- Majors & Minors
- Study Abroad
- Academic Calendar
- Central Curriculum
- Course Catalog
- Faculty
- Blough-Weis Library
- Center for Academic Achievement
- Honors Program
- Summer Session
- Graduate Results
- Success Stories
- Career Development Center
- Centers and Lectureships
- Academic Resources
- Visit
- Apply
- Deposit
- Tuition & Financial Aid
- First-Year
- Transfer
- International
- Admission Representatives by Region
- Housing & Dining
- Student Activities & Programs
- Fun On Campus
- Title IX
- Bias Response
- Athletics
- Our Campus & Location
- Diversity Matters
- Center for Diversity & Inclusion
- Our Leadership
- History and Traditions
- In the Community
- Newsroom
- Title IX
- Staff
- Athletics
- MySU
- Event Calendar
- Sustainability

Our Theatre Performance Major
Perform stories that define human nature
Take center stage at Susquehanna and beyond in our theatre performance major.
You'll grow artistically as an actor. From critical analysis of dramatic literature, to authentic and powerful acting on stage, you'll develop in your craft beyond what you thought possible.
Explore characters that force you out of your comfort zone and learn something about yourself in the process. You'll focus on the tools you need to improve your acting. Our intensive acting classes are supported by coursework in theatre history and dramatic theory, enhancing your performances.
In ways more broad-based than fine arts degrees, you'll gain a better understanding of human communication and culture.
Opportunities abound
The department follows a professional model, preparing you for the environment you'll step into after graduation. Shows are produced by developing the strength of the ensemble, which helps you build collaboration skills with your fellow theatre practitioners.
Our students often begin performing on the main stage in their first semester.
- There are four mainstage productions each year, including a student-directed show and a major musical, and six second stage productions
- You'll collaborate with the Department of Music on their annual opera program
- We offer a second stage season-experimental, edgy and fueled by students' artistic desires
Our faculty will help you find the right internships in theatres across the country. You will develop your professional experience resume and build your network so you can pursue an advanced degree or employment opportunities in acting or related theatre fields.
Recent graduates have gone on to school at:
The Yale School of Drama
North Carolina School of the Arts
Florida State University
University of Missouri-Columbia
California Institute of the Arts
University of Arizona
Roosevelt University, Chicago College of Performing Arts
Ohio University
University of Houston
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Illinois State University
Kent State University
Bowling Green State University
Villanova University
University of Maryland at College Park
The New School, New York City
Recent graduates have gotten jobs at:
Playwrights Horizons
Arden Theatre Co.
NetWorks Productions (Broadway tours)
Portland Stage Co.
Glimmerglass Opera Company
Walnut Street Theatre
Merry-Go-Round Playhouse
Weston Playhouse Theatre Company
Berkshire Theatre Festival
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival
New Jersey Shakespeare Festival
Delaware Theatre Company
Rocky Mountain Theatre for Kids
American Family Theatre
Lexington Children's Theater
The Kitchen Theatre Company
Disney Cruise Lines
ArtsPower National Tour
Syracuse Opera
Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. Susquehanna offers a major in theatre with three emphases: performance, production and design, and theatre studies. Majors complete university Central Curriculum requirements plus 52 semester hours of courses in one of the three theatre emphases. These include introductory courses and specific emphasis requirements. A grade of C- or better is required for any course to apply to the major or minor. Courses may count toward only one emphasis or minor. The department also expects theatre majors and minors to participate each semester in department theatre productions and activities supervised by department faculty.
Theatre Major Emphases
Students fulfill the university Central Curriculum requirements, participate fully in department productions and successfully complete the following courses:
Minor in Theatre. Students are expected to participate in departmental theatre productions and complete 20 semester hours: THEA-151 Acting I: The Stanislavski System and THEA-142 Stagecraft; four semester hours chosen from THEA-252 Western Theatre History, THEA-253 Identity and Representation in Non-Western Theatre, THEA-240 Theatre and Violence or THEA-254 African-American Theatre History; and eight semester hours chosen from the following: four semester hours of production ensembles (THEA-101 The Fall Musical, THEA-102 Student-directed Production, THEA-103 Spring Production, THEA-104 Advanced Acting Workshop and THEA-105 Experimental Acting Workshop); THEA-143 Scenic Production; THEA-240 Theatre and Violence; THEA-246 Scenic Design; THEA-251 Acting II: Voice and Movement; THEA-258 From Page to Stage; THEA-340 Stage Management and Theatre Operations; THEA-341 Costume Design; THEA-342 Stage Makeup; THEA-345 Lighting Design; THEA-451 Directing; and THEA-506 Individual Investigation.
Department: Theatre
Associate Professor of Theatre
Department: Office of Event Management
Event Management Assistant
Department: Theatre
Visiting Artist of Costumes
Department: Theatre
Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre












Contact Us
Phone & Email
Erik Viker, department head
570-372-4548
viker@susqu.edu