Theatre (BA)
Discover your artistic voice on stage and behind the scenes.
At the intersection of creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration, this interdisciplinary major
prepares students to make innovative theatre with entrepreneurial acumen. With a range of courses in acting, dance, and music ensemble, students acquire skills for making their own professional theatre that breaks with tradition. They learn to choose and explicate diverse scripts, source materials to build
sustainable shows, collaborate with faculty to build inclusive seasons, and make bold decisions that benefit their creative teams and projects.
- FormatOn Campus
- Degree(s)Bachelor of Arts
- TracksActing, Directing, Production, Dramaturgy
- MinorTheatre
- NeighborhoodCreativity & Culture
Next steps
Why study theatre at Mary Baldwin?
With our “build your own theatre” method of learning, we empower you to affect change in established theatrical institutions or to start your own theatrical enterprise after graduation.
The skills you learn in critical and creative thinking, problem-solving, archive management, leadership, teamwork, and community-conscious decision that will prepare you for:
- Arts management
- DEI communications
- Education
- Graduate school
- Non-profit and start-up organizations.
Features and Benefits
Collaborative Season Selection
At Mary Baldwin, we put on four shows a year, including the Senior Thesis Festival. We have a one-of-a-kind collaborative and student-driven process for season selection. As part of THEA 116: For All Seasons, students work together to decide which plays the department will produce!
Senior Thesis Festival
We offer significant opportunities for research, providing students with the ability to investigate archives, navigate critical history, and analyze plays. With these skills, juniors and seniors design their own senior research projects, presented at the Senior Thesis Festival and MBU Capstone Event. Our faculty scholars welcome the opportunity to collaborate with students on research projects.
Next steps
Accelerated Pathways
Mary Baldwin offers a dual-degree Accelerated Pathway program for this major. Earn your bachelor’s and an advanced degree faster. This is a great way to jump-start your dream career and save money in the process!
Courses & Curriculum
Our program offers a diverse range of courses, covering technical aspects of theatre, acting, directing, stage management, theatre history, and literature.
Through these courses, students gain a deep understanding of the intricacies of theatre production and develop essential skills in their chosen areas of interest. Our faculty, who are industry professionals, provide expert guidance and mentorship, ensuring that students receive a high-quality education.
Sample Courses
This class confronts myths of authorship that pervade critical and dramatic analyses of plays. Using Shakespeare as a case study, it asks students to consider traditions of imitation, sourcing, collaboration, and adaptation to deconstruct the idea of “authorial genius.”
Students focus on plays written by women and nonbinary playwrights, studying the works using a number of feminist theories and histories.
Students trace the history of Black theatre in America in the 20th and 21st centuries by focusing on how playwrights have evolved the dramatic form and claimed control of their identities to speak to Black lives, cultures, and histories.
I loved collaborating with the actors to find a deeper backstory for their characters. Together we gave deeper meanings to the characters and their actions. I love seeing all of our creativity come to life on stage.
Ki’Jah Wilburn ’23Theatre major and student director
Faculty & Teaching Style
With several full-time faculty in the undergraduate theatre program plus professors and graduate students from the master’s program in Shakespeare and Performance, you’ll benefit from the expertise of a robust and dynamic cast of characters as you prepare for your time in the spotlight. Our small student-faculty ratio provides you with personalized and collaborative experiences in the classroom, at rehearsals, and on stage.
Explore the Neighborhood
This major is part of the Creativity & Culture Neighborhood. Neighbors live together their first year, study and take classes together, and enjoy special curated activities.
Facilities & Resources
MBU theatre students have the chance to make theatre at a variety of performing arts venues on campus including the Deming Fine Arts Center Blackbox Theatre and the outdoor Rose Theatre.
You can also be part of the cultural scene in downtown Staunton at MBU at the Wharf and the Blackfriars Playhouse at the American Shakespeare Center.
Outstanding outcomes & opportunities
As an MBU theatre graduate, you’ll develop critical analysis, creative literacy, innovative thinking, and a desire to effect change. The combination of leadership skills and collaborative strengths you’ll gain in the theatre program provides a solid foundation for careers in:
- Acting
- Directing
- Stage Management
- Lighting Design
- Sound Design
- Set Design
- Costume Design
- Arts Management
- Communications
- Education
- and More!
Next steps
Cost & Financial Aid
A great education is worth it. Mary Baldwin offers generous financial aid packages and a broad range of scholarships to help you level up and bring your aspirations to life.
MBU also helps you fast-track your path to a theatre degree with the opportunity to transfer up to 18 credits (6 courses) through direct course equivalents from the Virginia Community Colleges System.
A bachelor’s degree requires 120 credit hours of study.