The MU Department of Theatre has a distinguished history that began shortly after 1900 when a small group of aspiring thespians resolved to enhance the cultural life of the campus by producing plays in an abandoned dining room in Lathrop Hall. In 1925, Professor Donovan Rhynsburger joined the MU faculty and established the Missouri Workshop Theatre. For over 85 years, the department has sustained a national and international reputation as a major center for theatre and performance scholarship and dramatic art production.

Theatre-related careers include box office manager, theatre manager, publicist, costume designer, arts promoter, teacher, acting coach, set/light/sound designer, technician and stage manager.

Webster University's Bachelor of Music in Music Direction for Musical Theatre is a pre-professional degree, designed for students who wish to pursue a career as a professional music director for musical theatre. Extensive applied instruction and classes on technique, coaching, and musical theatre performance styles, as well as ensemble experience, constitute the core of the curriculum.

Opera Theatre’s mission is to shape the future of opera and to connect diverse audiences through its power and beauty. To accomplish our mission, we produce a world-class opera festival, we champion new works, we build new audiences, we educate and engage our community, and we nurture the finest opera artists, artisans, and administrators of each generation. By doing so, we strengthen the cultural and economic vitality of the St. Louis community.

Students graduating from this program will show mastery of playwriting craft through the creation of a full-length manuscript of plays: a) is structurally sound; b) is polished and complete; c) has a distinct voice and/or vision.

The University of Kansas' MFA is a three-year program with tracks in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and playwriting. Typically, students in the program take course work for the first two years of the program and then take the third year to write their thesis. Students may take up to 15 credit hours to complete the thesis, and by the time they graduate they will have produced a book-length manuscript of poetry or prose.

The MFA in playwriting is a three-year sequence that includes courses in playwriting, theater history, performance theory, dramatic literature, and script analysis, as well as a variety of electives. By the end of the three years, playwrights will have written three full-length plays, scores of short plays, and a critical thesis demonstrating knowledge of relevant theatrical frames. They will have also developed the necessary business acumen and skills to navigate a playwriting career.

The MFA in Theatre Arts with a focus in Playwriting is awarded by the Graduate College. Instruction is offered through the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

If you want to experience theatre and dance from several different perspectives — by performing, directing, designing sets, creating your own performances, and critically reading and interpreting performance texts—you’ll have plenty of opportunities. You’ll learn to apply theory to performance and expand your creative and critical skills. With three on-campus theatres, several main-stage productions, well-supported student performances, and a lively community that embraces difference, you’ll be able to ground theory in practice. Working with expert faculty who are themselves actors, dancers,...