The School of Theatre & Dance at the University of Houston offers high-energy programs and direct connections to the profession, allowing our students to develop their network while getting world-class training. We offer programs in Acting, Dance, Playwriting/Dramaturgy, Production, Stage Management and Theatre Education. Our goal is to prepare all students for success on stage, on screen, in arts education or behind the scenes.

The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Playwriting/Dramaturgy gives students extensive practical experience in both playwriting and dramaturgy.

The primary mission of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts is to provide students with aesthetically enriched academic experiences in art and theatre. These two disciplines are taught and applied independently, meaning that students in either area receive the total attention and art direction they want and deserve. Specific courses for the B.A. in Theatre, as well as the two minors offered through this unit, are listed in the degree plan links on our website.

A 10 Minute Play Competition, launching April 4, 2020, with the deadline April 30, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Earth Month ®. Citizens' Climate Lobby is calling forth and fostering new dramatic works that respond to the ecological crisis caused by climate change. We are searching for new plays that focus on current and historic environmental issues, and new plays that enliven and transform our global experiences and plays that inspire us to listen better and instill a deeper or more complex sense of our ecological communities.

The New American Voices Playwriting Festival has been an annual Houston theatre event since 2012. Winning Playwrights will be notified in mid-February if their script is selected for the 2020 Spring Festival. Selected playwrights must attend the readings. A stipend of $100 will be awarded to each winning playwright. Playwrights must cover their own travel expenses.

The New American Voices Playwriting Festival is now in partnership with Monologue Bank, a non-profit online organization seeking high caliber monologues from original plays.

Established in 1982 at Stages Repertory Theatre by Stages' founder, Ted Swindley.

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, established in 1978, is given annually to recognize women who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre. The Prize is administered in Houston, London and New York by a board of directors who choose six Judges each year, three from each side of the Atlantic. The Prize currently awards $70,000 annually to the Finalists:Winner- $25,000, Special Commendation-$10,000, and other Finalists- $5,000. Finalists are the top ten plays. In addition, the Winner receives a signed and numbered Willem de Kooning print made especially for the...

We're a Houston-based playwright’s theater dedicated to the development of new theatrical works from formative stages through full production.

Theatre Southwest of Houston, Texas has extended their submissions deadline to April 5th, 2018 for the Annual Theatre Southwest Festival of Originals! The TSW-FOO is FREE to enter and will once again be calling for short one act (20 minute) plays in any and all genres from all over the country and the world.

Fade To Black is Houston's first national play festival to showcase the new works of African American playwrights! Each year we select The plays of ten finalists from around the U.S. and produced them before a live audience. On the last day of the festival, a grand prize winning playwright (chosen by audience votes) will be announced. The winner receives a cash prize!

The Charles Gilpin Players (CGP or “Gilpins”) are a performance organization. Founded in 1929, CGP has a unique legacy as the oldest, consistently-performing theatre company in Texas to feature African American artists and has been producing plays annually since 1930. Since inception, the Gilpins have provided the Prairie View A&M campus and surrounding communities with vibrant arts and cultural programming previously non-existent in the area. CGP produces 2 main stage productions during the school year and several smaller productions including PVAMU’s popular Student Orientation show...