Theatre at Western
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Meet professors and students, and tour our facilities
Contact Kevin Harris, our Lead Advisor: Kevin.Harris@wwu.edu
Kevin can also arrange classroom visits and tickets to our productions for you.

Vision
To be the premiere undergraduate Theatre and Dance Department in the Pacific Northwest.

Mission
To provide a transformative liberal arts education based in the rigorous study of theatre and of dance, while developing skills leading to artistic excellence in the practice of theater and dance.
We promote an inclusive and collaborative view of performing arts education which leads to student success and future achievement, whether in the arts professions or as engaged members of a global community.

BA in Theatre at Western
The Theatre major at WWU is grounded in the liberal arts. Declared students must complete a selection of core fundamental courses for a well-rounded education. From there, students select one or more areas of specialization
Entertainment Design and Technology
For students interested in costume, lighting, or scenic design. This area also explores new technology and skills in the field.
Performance
For students who want to pursue a career in theatrical performance. Focus includes studio classes in Voice, Movement, Acting, and Musical Theatre.
Production
For students to learn dramatic writing, directing, or stage management skills.
Educational Theatre
For those interested in youth outreach, education, and applied theatre. Students can also complete the teaching certification program with Woodring College of Education.
Theatre Studies
For students interested in the general study of theatre. This concentration is also for individuals who want to blend concentrations.

Our curriculum also features devising, which is a process of collaboratively creating new work for the stage. Western has received six National Awards from the Kennedy Center for devised productions. All courses are taught by professional educators as opposed to graduate students. Most of the classes in the Department offer a low student-to-faculty ratio.
The major also includes an introduction to playwriting class that many undergraduate programs overlook. Western students have won playwriting awards, including accolades from the Kennedy Center. Many have gone on to pursue graduate degrees or professional work in playwriting.
Through both playwriting and devising, we train our students to be self-generative artists. These skills are critical for students to engage in cultural conversations and spur social change by adding their voice, their perspectives to the work and world.

Faculty
Our award-winning faculty have worked internationally, regionally and locally at:
- Oregon Shakespeare Festival
- Carnegie Hall
- Mixed Blood Theatre
- Seattle Children’s Theatre
- Colorado Shakespeare Festival
- Edinburgh Fringe Festival
- Blessed Unrest Theatre
- Seattle Opera
- Teatro Zinzanni
- Idaho Repertory Theatre
- Amphibian Stage Theatre
- Oregon Contemporary Theatre
- McCarter Theatre
- Actors Theatre of Louisville
- Berkeley Repertory Theatre
- Utah Shakespeare Festival
- Pacific Opera
- ACT
- Cleveland Play House
- Santa Fe Opera
- Shakespeare Santa Cruz
- National Theatre of
- Romania, Bucharest
- Mount Baker Theatre
- Bellingham Theatre Works
and San Jose Repertory Theatre among others.

Guest Artists
- Steven Dietz, one of America’s most produced playwrights
- Idris Goodwin, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Artistic Director
- Johamy Morales, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Associate Artistic Director
- Brian Quijada, NYC based actor and playwright
- Matt Opatrny, NYC-based playwright
- Francesca Betancourt, Seattle & DC-based, Intimacy Director/actor, WWU alumna
- Teague Parker, Founder - Improv for Wellness, WWU alum
- Jeremy Urann, LA-based actor, dancer, plus sized model, WWU alum
- Alison Luhrs, Seattle-based improviser and writer for Magic: The Gathering, WWU alumna
- David Lee Huynh, first-generation Vietnamese-American actor based in NYC. Many credits in theatre, film/tv, audio book narration, and dubbing for anime and foreign films.
- Darnell Pierre Benjamin, actor, dancer, choreographer, activist, and director based in Cincinnati
- Isaiah Reaves, award-winning playwright whose work explores a spectrum of Black and Queer experiences
- Kayla Adams, Chicago based director, WWU alumna
- C. Quintana (CQ), NYC based writer (playwright, screenwriter, creative writer), WWU alumnx
- Noni Salma. Award-winning NYC based screenwriter and filmmaker
- Jan Rosenberg, NYC based playwright
- Frank Paiva, LA base writer/performer
- Alberto Bonilla, Professional Actor (Russian Doll/Broadway: Marvin’s Room)
- Pirronne Yousefzadeh, guest director, Associate Artistic Director at Playwrights’ Center, Minneapolis
- Mark Valdez, Artistic Director of Mixed Blood Theatre, Minneapolis
- Christopher Moses, Artistic Director of The Alliance Theatre, Atlanta

Productions and Facilities
The Mainstage Season consists of five theatre productions and two dance concerts, allowing students opportunities in many areas including: acting, designing, tech/crew, stage managing, shop crew (costume and scenic), dramaturgy, and assistant directing. At Western, students can design, and stage manage mainstage departmental productions. This is a rare opportunity at the undergraduate level.
Mainstage
Our facilities include the Mainstage: a large proscenium stage with a full fly system, hydraulic apron lift, and professional sound, projections & lighting. It seats 1,100 with orchestra and balcony seating.
DUG Theatre
Our black box DUG Theatre can be transformed into a variety of staging configurations. It is an intimate theatre space that seats between 70 to 100 patrons (depending on the needs of each show) with professional technical equipment.

Old Main Theater
Old Main Theater is our third space which is a smaller proscenium stage and seats 200. Our Student Theatre Productions club (STP) produces a full parallel season to our mainstage productions in Old Main. This doubles the opportunities available for our students to practice their craft.
Costume and Scenic shops
We have full Costume and Scenic shops where the builds for our productions take place. Student designers work with faculty and professional staff to implement their designs. Both shops are stocked with professional equipment and tools.

Collaboration with Seattle Children's Theatre
SCT/WWU Test Kitchen – WWU Department of Theatre and Dance collaborates with Seattle Children’s Theatre (one of the premiere theatres for all ages in the country) to develop new plays each summer at WWU, which then go on to premiere on the SCT mainstage and/or tours high schools throughout the state of Washington under SCT professional contracts. Each summer numerous SCT professionals spend two weeks in Bellingham working side-by-side with our top students. This collaboration makes professional connections for our students which serve them early in their careers by providing a bridge from college to professional work.

Student Groups
In addition to our Department’s Mainstage Season there are several student groups which also provide ample opportunities for hands-on learning:
Student Theatrical Productions (STP) has their own season of shows which they fully produce on their own. Past shows include:
- Puffs
- Trail to Oregon
- Stupid F**king Bird
Plays 4 Us focuses on producing a collection of students’ original short plays each quarter.
The award-winning Improv troupe Dead Parrots Society is another way students gain skills in short and long-form improv.

course offerings
(partial list)
- Scenic Design
- Lighting Design
- Sound Design
- Props Design
- 3D Digital Modeling & Design
- Costume Design & Technology
- Makeup and Hair Styling
- Intro to Stage Tech
- Stage Management
- Acting (Michael Chekhov, Stanislavski, Uta Hagen)
- Movement (Grotowski, Suzuki, Viewpoints)
- Voice (Linklater, Knight-Thompson, Dialects)
- Play Direction
- Playwriting
- Musical Theatre
- On-Camera Acting
- Mask/Commedia
- Audition Technique & Professional Preparation
- Styles Scene Study
- Secondary Theatre
- Education
- Improv for Teaching Artists
- Theatre History
- Intro to the Cinema
- Understanding Plays
- Costume History

regional and national conferences
Each year we support students traveling to participate in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF). We have had many students win awards at our Region 7 conference in the Irene Ryan Acting Competition, Design, Journalism, Playwriting and Directing and many have been selected to attend the National Conference in Washington, D.C.
Our Design students participate in United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) where they compete and showcase their design work and network with industry professionals.

Alumni
Our Alumni have been working across the industry regionally at: Seattle Repertory Theatre, ACT, Washington Ensemble Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Arts West, as well as Amazon & Microsoft. Alumni have worked in Film/TV/Gaming: Head Writer/Show Runner of Severance on Apple+, Appearing in Film/TV shows: HBO’s South Side, NBC’s This is Us, Punky Brewster, GLOW, and many others, as well as numerous national commercials, web-series, and hit games.

Affordable Tuition
Western is nationally recognized for providing excellent education at an affordable cost, with Kiplinger’s Personal Finance ranking Western as a top value in education.
