Our Theatre Studies Major

Education and innovation take the stage together

If you want theatre as the cornerstone of your undergrad experience, this academically rigorous, broad-based course of study is for you!

Connect fresh audiences to the power of theatre and re-invigorate seasoned participants with new works and exciting approaches to well-known plays.

Learn about theatrical theories, best practices, historical challenges, and the great artists and thinkers of yesterday who make today's performances meaningful.

Classes range from acting to production and design courses. Combined with history and dramaturgical work, you'll have a better understanding of human communication, culture and the place theatre has in the world.

Follow your own path

Combining general theatre studies with your focused area of interest will help you prepare for graduate school or jobs in theatre outreach, education, and audience development. Adding one of our interdisciplinary minors, like women and gender studies and arts administration, help you gain a better understanding of important topics in today’s world.

Our students intern around the country in preparation for their professional careers-careers that have included work with The Blue Man Group, Playwrights Horizons, the Utah Opera Festival and Walnut Street Theatre.

With more flexibility than the performance and production majors, theatre studies students take acting classes and perform, help manage the nuts-and-bolts of production, and publicize exciting new plays to the greater community, while digging deep into the stories that make theatre important. Careers in dramaturgy, literary management, casting, patron services, or education await the student who chooses theatre studies.

Recent graduates have gone on to school at:

Bowling Green State University
California Institute of the Arts
Florida State University
Kent State University
Illinois State University
The New School, New York City
Ohio University
Roosevelt University, Chicago College of Performing Arts
University of Arizona
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Houston
University of Maryland at College Park
University of Missouri-Columbia
University of Pittsburgh
University of Texas – Austin
University of South Carolina
Villanova University
The Yale School of Drama

Recent graduates have gotten jobs at:

Arden Theatre Co.
ArtsPower National Tour
Berkshire Theatre Festival
Cirque du Soleil
Delaware Theatre Company
Disney Cruise Lines
Glimmerglass Festival
Merry-Go-Round Playhouse
NetWorks Productions (Broadway tours)
New Jersey Shakespeare Festival
Playwrights Horizons
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival
Portland Stage Co.
Syracuse Opera
Walnut Street Theatre
Weston Playhouse Theatre Company

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:

Semester Hours	View Full Course Catalog >>
24 Department Requirements
4 THEA-151 Acting I: The Stanislavski System
4 THEA-252 Western Theatre History
4 THEA-253 Identity and Representation in Non-Western Theatre
4 THEA-258 From Page to Stage
4 THEA-340 Stage Management and Theatre Operations
4 THEA-453 Dramatic Theory and Criticism
Students also choose one of the following options: 28 Option One: Performance Emphasis
4 THEA-251 Acting II: Voice and Movement
4 THEA-351 Acting III: Period Styles
4 THEA-451 Directing
4 Four semester hours chosen from 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. 4 Four semester hours chosen from THEA-142 Stagecraft, THEA-143 Scenic Production, and THEA-144 Costume Technology 8 Choose 8 semester hours from the following:
1 THEA-101 The Fall Musical
1 THEA-102 Student-directed Production
1 THEA-103 Spring Production
1 THEA-104 Advanced Acting Workshop
1 THEA-105 Experimental Acting Workshop
4 THEA-240 Theatre and Violence
4 THEA-246 Scenic Design
4 THEA-254 African-American Theatre History
4 THEA-341 Costume Design
4 THEA-342 Stage Makeup
4 THEA-345 Lighting Design
4 THEA-452 Seminar in Theatre
28 Option Two: Production and Design Emphasis
4 THEA-142 Stagecraft
4 THEA-143 Scenic Production
4 THEA-501 Production Lab
8 Choose 8 semester hours chosen from:
4 THEA-341 Costume Design
4 THEA-342 Stage Makeup
4 THEA-345 Lighting Design
8 Choose 8 semester hours from the following:
4 THEA-144 Costume Technology 4 THEA-452 Seminar in Theatre (repeatable with topic change) 4 THEA-455 Computer Applications for Theatrical Design 4 THEA-254 African-American Theatre History or THEA-240 Theatre and Violence
28 Option Three: Theatre Studies Emphasis
4 THEA-254 African-American Theatre History 2 THEA-502 Dramaturgy 4 4 semester hours chosen from THEA-246 Scenic Design, THEA-341 Costume Design, or THEA-345 Lighting Design 4 THEA-200 Introduction to Dramatic Literature or THEA-240 Theatre and Violence The remaining 14 semester hours may be chosen from the courses below:
4 THEA-142 Stagecraft
or THEA-143 Scenic Production
or THEA-144 Costume Technology
4 THEA-251 Acting II: Voice and Movement
4 THEA-260 The Choreopoem
4 THEA-342 Stage Makeup
4 THEA-451 Directing
4 THEA-452 Seminar in Theatre (repeatable once with department head approval) 1 THEA-502 Dramaturgy (repeatable once) 1 THEA-501 Production Lab (repeatable once) No more than 4 semester hours from the following may be included:
1 THEA-101 The Fall Musical
1 THEA-102 Student-directed Production
1 THEA-103 Spring Production
1 THEA-104 Advanced Acting Workshop
1 THEA-105 Experimental Acting Workshop

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-144 Costume Technology; THEA-240 Theatre and Violence; THEA-246 Scenic Design; THEA-251 Acting II: Voice and Movement; THEA-258 From Page to Stage; THEA-260 The Choreopoem, 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.