The theatre program at Wichita State University offers broad academic training to build skills and knowledge, balanced with applied learning in the extensive production schedule of the university's live performance season and film making program.
The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in theatre is offered as one of two concentrations in either performance or design and technical theatre.
The performance concentration includes studies in acting, voice, specialized movement, improvisation, stage combat, film and audio performance.
The design and technical theatre concentration includes studies in costume, lighting and scenic design and many of the technologies that bring those designs to life.
The Bachelor of Arts (BA) in theatre is offered as a broader theatre studies program that can be tailored to fit a student's interests and curiosities by adding a secondary area of study chosen from the University's 62 undergraduate programs in consultation with the student's academic advisor. These may include fields such as stage management, business, music, entrepreneurship, exercise science, management, women's studies or other areas of interest.
The BA in theatre includes studies in directing, theatre history, script writing, dramatic theory and criticism, theatre as a mirror of contemporary culture, invention, innovation and intellectual creativity.
The theatre program works closely with the media arts program at Shocker Studios as well as local/regional companies and professionals to provide opportunities for students to gain hands-on training in the entertainment arts and industries.
Students who intend to pursue theatre as a major must contact the academic coordinator for theatre upon admission for assignment to a faculty advisor. Students pursuing a minor in theatre are encouraged to consult with the director of theatre for assistance with a course of study and assignment to a minor advisor.