Undergraduate Program
Undergraduates at Brown make theatre, dance, and performance-based work all over campus. Plays have been written to be produced in bathtubs. Performances have been written for hallways, breezeways, walkways, as well as our proscenium stage in Stuart theatre in Faunce Hall or our flexible Isabel Russek Leeds theatre in Lyman Hall. Work as been produced without a play in mind – improvised, found, choreographed on the spot. Other work has been incubated and nurtured for years at a time. Well-known plays from the dramatic canon are produced alongside lesser-known newcomers or buried treasures rarely produced. Some work is sudden. Other work long baked. Some work is surprising. Other work seems like a long lost friend – well known and well met. Some work takes multitudes, other work flies solo. The point is that there is a lot going on in a very exciting atmosphere of creative and intellectual exchange where traditions and heritages of craft are as highly valued as the rough draft of innovation and experimentation.
The Department offers a concentration in Theatre Arts and Performance Studies. Concentrators chose a "track" to study within the concentration - a Theatre Arts track, a Performance Studies track, or a Writing for Performance track. 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.
As a student, you can be involved in the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies whether you become a concentrator or simply take a single course. Anyone who auditions – and all undergraduates can audition for our shows – can be cast. Casting is based on the best audition and the result of a director’s or choreographer’s choice. There is no preference granted for affiliation with the Department, such as status as a concentrator. All are welcome.
There are more than one million ways to become involved in dance events, theatre events, performance events. There are classes to take (see the link to our courses on left) – classes are a key way to get to know faculty and other students well. But there are also shows to help out on as running crew. There are costumes to design and build, lights to hang, lines to memorize, muscles to stretch, voices to warm, directing projects to propose. There are producing boards to sit on and there are sets to design, dances to choreograph, reviews to write, plays to write, songs to write, philosophies to write, and – always – posters to hang.
Questions are always welcome. Please feel free to come and talk to any faculty member or staff member at any time about ways to become involved. Prospective students can also feel free to contact us. The Alums page gives a sense of where people go and what they do once they graduate. When you are an alum: keep in touch!