Build, Connect & Achieve
Whether it's on-stage, on-set, behind the scenes or behind the camera, you will have a solid foundation for a career in the entertainment industry.
If your passion is performance, design, technology or any space in between, this is your school, your theatre & your place to create!
As a Theatre Major
- You will have the freedom to pursue studies in Theatre Performance, Production, and a whole universe of other theatre related areas
- You will learn from nationally and internationally recognized faculty
- You will have opportunities to participate in our classical, contemporary and musical theatre productions in our fully equipped theatres and work on camera through our feature-length film projects
- You can try your hand in all areas of production: costume, lighting, scenic and sound design as well as technology, management, directing and film
- You will create original work through classroom laboratories, production participation, student-driven projects and senior capstone projects
- You will work with America’s newest playwrights through our National New Play Competition and the writers that we bring to campus as part of our season of plays
- You will have the opportunity to travel to conferences and workshops hosted by organizations such as American College Theatre Festival, Society of American Fight Directors, and the United States Institute for Theatre Technology
- You get Conservatory quality training at WSU’s competitive tuition rate
- You will follow in the footsteps of alumni who have worked as designers, performers and technicians with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, American Shakespeare Center, Casa Mañana, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Cirque du Soliel, Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, Goodman Theatre, Huntington Stage, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and on Unusual Suspects, Modern Family, True Blood, CSI: NY and more
Degrees & Certificate in the Theatre Program
This program will give you the flexibility to develop a curriculum that is tailored to your personal interests in theatre. It offers generalized study in Theatre Performance, Design & Technology with additional areas of study in directing, scriptwriting, stage management, and theatre history.
You choose from a broad range of courses that blend theatre studies along with interests in areas outside of theatre. This degree is perfect for students who wish to focus on multiple areas of theatre or who are pursuing a double major or a minor in another department.
This program gives you immersive study in the field of performance including acting, movement, stage combat and voice & speech preparing you to become a professional actor. You gain experience on stage, on screen and in audio media such as voice over work and audio theatre.
The program includes a professional practices course to prepare you for the business side of the profession.
This is an intensive pre-professional training program that prepares you to join the professional field or to gain admittance to graduate school.
The program offers you extensive training in every area of Design and Technology according to your selection of specialization.
You can choose any one or two of the following areas of specialization:
- Lighting Design
- Sound Design
- Costume Design
- Set Design
- Scenic Technology
You will train in excellent facilities, get hands-on experience, and work with our exceptional faculty and staff In production and applied lab settings! You will be given challenging production assignments and exciting design opportunities as a fundamental component of your training at WSU.
In this program, you will participate in a rigorous interdisciplinary curriculum that consists of a balanced combination of courses. Classes provide a range of knowledge and experience in management, sociology and theatre, as well as practical training essential to the stage management professional. You will be assigned to stage management positions on school productions that reflect increasing responsibilities throughout the 15 credit hour plan of study.
To complete the 15-credit-hour certificate, you’ll take the following courses:
- Practicum: Management
- Stage Management
- Directed Projects – Stage Management
- Practicum: Management
- Directed Study – Stage Management
- Principles of Management
- Social Interaction
To add this certificate to your plan of study:
- Log into the myWSU portal, find the Student Tools box (center of the page) and click "Change my Major/Minor."
- Click continue (this will show your current major and minor).
- Click continue, then click on "Add a certificate" and choose your certificate program. Click continue and submit request.
This program is a great addition to any performing arts degrees. It will give you a basic skills in directing for nonmusical and musical stage work as well as film.
The certificate consists of 15 credit hours. Courses include:
- Directing I
- Directing II
- Directing the Musical
- Acting for the Camera
- Stage Management
To add this certificate to your plan of study:
- Log into the myWSU portal, find the Student Tools box (center of the page) and click "Change my Major/Minor."
- Click continue (this will show your current major and minor).
- Click continue, then click on "Add a certificate" and choose your certificate program. Click continue and submit request.
The Certificate in Physical Performance Studies is designed to prepare qualified students for a career as a physical performer in the art and entertainment industry. The goal is to help you gain work in fields that demand physical prowess: physical theatre, motion capture performance for film and video gaming, theatrical stage combat and stunt work. Using the resources of WSU across several disciplines you expand your professional abilities and deepen your creative artistic experiences.
To complete the 18-credit-hour certificate, you’ll take the following courses:
- Movement for the Performer
- Modern Dance
- Anatomy OR Anatomy & Physiology OR Foundational Human Anatomy/Physiology
- Mime/Physical Theatre
- Stage Combat
- Dance Kinesiology
To add this certificate to your plan of study:
- Log into the myWSU portal, find the Student Tools box (center of the page) and click "Change my Major/Minor."
- Click continue (this will show your current major and minor).
- Click continue, then click on "Add a certificate" and choose your certificate program. Click continue and submit request.
An undergraduate certificate in voice acting from Wichita State prepares you for a career as a voice actor in the art and entertainment industry, creating characters in animation, video games, audio books, audio shows, commercials and podcasts. You’ll develop a wide range of acting and vocal skills necessary for crafting dramatic moments and characters in vocal storytelling, and gain fundamental knowledge of audio industry mechanics.
The certificate consists of 19 credit hours. Courses include:
- Improving Voice and Diction
- Script Analysis
- Acting I
- Expressive Voice for Stage
- Dialect for the Stage
- Practicum: Performance
- Voice Acting
- Audio Production
Introduction to Multimedia is a prerequisite for Audio Production.
To add this certificate to your plan of study:
- Log into the myWSU portal, find the Student Tools box (center of the page) and click "Change my Major/Minor."
- Click continue (this will show your current major and minor).
- Click continue, then click on "Add a certificate" and choose your certificate program. Click continue and submit request.