• The theatre major is a highly integrated academic program, providing students with curricular and co-curricular opportunities in the cultural contexts and collaborative practices of theatrical art. The theatre department teaches acting, directing, playwriting, design, literature, theory, and history, and all aspects of technical and production work. Majors complete nine required courses, and must also contribute to department productions in a variety of ways. Students have the opportunity to study the theory as well as the practice of theatre, and to examine western and non-western theatrical traditions.
  • Though the program is demanding, its majors are also ambitious. In a typical class of six to ten majors, it is not unusual to find some students carrying double majors in everything from physics to religion to political science. Theatre students have studied abroad in Oxford, earned fellowships for post-graduate study, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. Williams is also affiliated with the National Theatre Institute for intensive theatre study off-campus.
  • The Department of Theatre is committed to the merging of embodied practice and scholarship in the fields of theatre and performance studies. The curriculum is dedicated to the study, practice, appreciation, and interpretation of theatre, performance, and other time-based arts. The major in Theatre emphasizes the collaborative nature of the theatre and performance making by drawing upon courses offered by faculty of the Language, Literature, Music, and Art Departments. Although students will be equipped to proceed to graduate and professional schools in theatre, the major is primarily directed toward those interested in studying theatre and performance as an artistic phenomenon and as interpretive tools. Because a deep understanding of theatre requires training and experience with the synthesis on stage, the major includes the curricular study of production and performance, as well as continued participation in a departmental stage production.