The Program in Theatre Arts
The Department offers a concentration in Theatre Arts and Performance Studies. Concentrators chose a "track" to study within the concentration-- a Theatre Arts track or a Performance Studies track. The track in Theatre Arts combines the study of dramatic literature, theatre history, and dramatic and theatrical theory with the opportunity to take practicum courses in various theatre arts, including playwriting, acting and directing, design, dance, and film and video making. As essential aspect of Brown¹s theatre program is the engagement of the student in theatrical performance in order to help him or her to arrive at a fuller understanding of the relationships between drama as literature and theatre as enactment.
The theatre arts program at Brown forms part of a stimulating creative community at the nation's seventh oldest University.
The undergraduate academic and production programs at Brown combine to offer each student a vital and well-integrated theatre experience. For the Theatre Arts concentration track a total of ten courses are required in theatre history, dramatic literature and theory, and studio and technical production. Along with courses stressing scholarship and research, sequential practicum courses are available beginning in the Freshman year in acting and directing, playwriting, dance, and technical direction and design.
The Theatre Arts concentration track draws heavily from course offerings throughout the University and interdisciplinary work is stressed. In addition to an excellent faculty in Theatre, students have access to distinguished faculty members from such Departments and Programs as English, Classics, Comparative Literature, Africana Studies, Anthropology, Music, Modern Culture and Media, Religious Studies, and American Civilization, and Literary Arts. Students can also take courses at the Rhode Island School for Design. Participation in exchange programs in the United States and abroad is possible and Double Concentration and Honors programs are also available.
See the concentration track described in more detail in the Courses link on the left.
Classes are open to everyone, not just concentrators, and we often draw widely from interested students across the university. That said, more advanced classes do have entry requirements, so plan your course of study carefully. You do not have to be a concentrator to audition for shows and concentrators are not privileged in casting.
Graduates in Theatre Arts from Brown are currently attending many of the finest graduate and professional theatre programs throughout the world and have attained a high degree of success in academic and professional theatre.