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Theatre Profile

Academic College: Fine Arts and Communication

Program: Theatre

Emphases

  • Acting
  • Design
  • Directing

Program Overview

The Department of Theatre and Dance offers a program of graduate study leading to the Master of Fine Arts degree in the following areas of concentration: acting, directing, and design (costume, lighting, and scenic). The MFA is a 62 semester hour program that takes three years to complete. A professionally oriented, terminal degree, it is designed to be a transition between collegiate training and the professional theatre and related careers. The program integrates the theoretical with the practical by combining technical preparation and intellectual endeavor with intensive application in designing, directing, and performing in theatre productions in the academic year, in professional Summer Music Theatre, and for the Regional Touring Theatre Company.

Why Theatre at WIU?

  • The graduate curriculum requirements offer both depth and breadth in areas of specialty and additional opportunities for electives in theatre and the arts.
  • Students receive intensive application in the dynamic production program and are mentored on auditions and portfolio preparation.
  • There is a strong program of Stage Combat at Western. Students can take numerous courses in combat and earn certification in armed and unarmed combat. We have one of the best theatre armories in the country.
  • Bard at the Barn showcases “unrehearsed Shakespeare” performance techniques during Macomb’s Barnacopia Festival in the fall and at other events during the year.
  • The department has gained national recognition for its students’ performance and presentations at the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival and the American College Dance Festival.

Other Information

Former Western students have appeared in Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, major motion pictures, television series, commercials, outdoor dramas, and regional theatre, and have designed sets for local, regional, and network television shows; and worked as technical directors, designers, dressers, technicians, and stage managers around the world. Our alumni have worked at Paramount Pictures; Walt Disney Productions; the Goodman and Steppenwolf Theatres in Chicago; the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis; the Folger Theatre in the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC; the Public Theater in New York; the Alabama, Wisconsin, and Georgia Shakespeare Festivals; Spielberg Productions; and NBC, Nickelodeon, CBS, Showtime, HBO, PBS, WGN, and ABC television networks.

Quick View

  • Degrees Available:
    • M.F.A.
  • Locations:
    • Macomb
  • Required GPA:
    • Cumulative: 2.75 or
    • Last 2 years: 3.0
  • Admission Requirements:
    • Three Letters of Recommendation
    • Goals Statement
    • Transcripts
    • Interview/Audition
  • Interesting Facts: Fall 2011
    • Currently enrolled: 30
    • International: 1
    • Minority: 4
    • Male: 14
    • Female: 16
    • Students with Assistantships: 26

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