Colleen Macaulay and Emily Radcliffe in Portia's Julius Caesar (2023) written by Kaitlyn Riordan. Directed by Sorouja Moll and Andy Houston. Set & Prop design by William Schmuck. Costume design by A.W. Nadine Grant. Associate Costume Designer Wanda Kidd. Lighting design by Louise Guinand.
Theatre and performance are ways of experiencing and understanding ourselves in relation to others. Our program integrates theory and practice to explore the ways in which artists, audiences, and scholars make meaning in the medium of lived experience. Theatre and Performance students engage with theatre and performance at all levels, from the practical demands of production to its ethical consequences in our communities. By learning to implement creative ideas in real-life situations and to analyze their impact in our rapidly-changing world, students thrive creatively as they develop new knowledge and skills for life and work beyond university.
The Theatre and Performance program produces an annual series of performances developed by faculty, students, and visiting artists. Students participate in productions for course credit, as well as selecting from a range of courses on performance, performance studies, theatre and new media, technical theatre, dramaturgy, design, and theatre history. We explore theatre and performance in a wide range of contexts.
In the Theatre and Performance program students focus on three primary goals:
- To examine how artists, audiences & scholars make meaning out of lived experience in the creation of theatre and performance
- To explore the relationships among embodiment, representation, reflection, agency
- To consider the implications of our actions in the interests of beauty & justice.
Each of these areas helps us to understand the ethical consequences of our work in communities, and to consider ways in which theatre and performance can contribute to beauty and justice.
The Theatre and Performance program offers five-degree plans and a minor plan. Most of our courses are also open to interested students from other departments.