Curriculum Guide (Prior to Fall 2023 Entry) Curriculum Guide (Fall 2023 Entry+)
Minor Requirements Technology Requirements
In the Theatre concentration, students pursue a broad course of study that prepares them to be dynamic, inclusive storytellers but allows them the flexibility to discover new fields and develop new paths. We believe that a student's own interests should drive their training, and MSU provides ample opportunities for students to try their hands at all aspects of theatre making.
MSU theatre students take courses in acting, stagecraft, playwrighting, and directing, with additional opportunities for detailed coursework in your field of choice. Theatre MSU, our producing organization, stages four Mainstage productions each year, creating a wide variety of performance and production opportunities for our students. Theatre students often perform (or work backstage) on Mainstage productions in their first year. They can also participate in campus organizations including Blackfriars Drama Society, Lab Rats Comedy (MSU's own improv comedy troupe) and The Scene, a student film-making group, which allow even more opportunities for performance and production.
As an undergraduate-only training program, MSU students can build substantial performance or technical resumes before they graduate. Our students often compete for summer apprenticeships by their third year, and after graduation, students accept positions with touring or resident companies, as educators, or in graduate programs across the nation. Our broad training also prepares students for legal or business careers or in themed entertainment or film. Students who pursue an emphasis in Theatre are able to take courses throughout Communications and in the Arts and Sciences, readying them for any career opportunity while shaping them into engaged citizens.
Theatre MSU is notable in Mississippi as one of the only programs with a sustained commitment to Theatre for Young Audiences, having staged works for area youth since 1984. Our students frequently transform their work in TYA into careers in theatre education, including recent graduates who have created their own company.
Most importantly, Theatre MSU is committed to theatre for social justice and to a diverse and inclusive student body and production season. We believe fervently in lifting up the voices of underrepresented artists and students. Theatre is for everyone - and theatre training must welcome everyone.
If you have a unique experience and a unique story to tell, please consider telling it with us!
Contact Information
Tonya Hays, Concentration Coordinator
thays@comm.msstate.edu
Phone: 662.325.3203
Melanie Harris
mharris@comm.msstate.edu
Phone: 662.325.9162
Jesse Wade
jwade@comm.msstate.edu
Phone: 662.325.4034
Connect with Theatre MSU
The Theatre MSU Facebook and Instagram pages lists current auditions and productions, as well as posters and brochures dating back to 1958.