Welcome

The theatre program at Willamette University offers a Theatre major with emphases in acting, performance, and design, or the option to craft and propose to the department faculty an individual emphasis. A faculty and guest artists with extensive academic and professional experience teach a wide-ranging curriculum, providing the student with a rich variety of perspectives from which to learn. Theatre is a vital part of the liberal arts experience at the University through the public performances of four plays and a dance concert per year, as well as student-created projects and the wide array of classes available to majors and non-majors alike.

Students majoring in Theatre are provided with a range of experiences within all areas of the theatre: acting, directing, stagecraft, costume construction, design, dramaturgy, lighting, voice, movement, theatre history, and dramatic literature. It is the department’s intent to train Theatre majors in all aspects of the discipline during their four years at Willamette, thereby creating a well-rounded theatre artist. Just as the liberal arts environment provides the student with insight into and an understanding of a variety of subjects, the Theatre Department strives to create an environment conducive to the individual growth of the student within the context of the most collaborative and versatile of the arts disciplines.

In addition to the permanent faculty, there is a guest artist program, providing students the opportunity to learn from and work closely with theatre artists currently working in the profession. Two or three guest artists each year, in the capacity of actors, directors, designers or choreographers, are invited to take up residency for the duration of a production. During that residency, the guest artists are also involved in the teaching of classes and workshops. Members of the Theatre faculty approach their work with a high level of professionalism and the expectation that the type of student Willamette University attracts will embrace the demanding yet rewarding opportunities that lie ahead, and rise to meet and learn from those myriad challenges.

The Willamette Playhouse is the home of Willamette Theatre classes, workshops and productions. The building includes a dance studio, acting studio, costume shop, prop storage, makeup room, scene shop, film studies room, light and sound production facilities, dressing rooms, classrooms, and faculty offices. There are two performance areas: the 250-seat thrust configuration Kresge Theatre and the Arena Theatre, which features flexible seating of up to 125.