The B.A. program targets students interested in versatile careers in theatre arts, theatre creation and theatre leadership and management. Students in the program develop their skills as artist entrepreneurs. We foster bold and inventive theatre makers, leaders and managers who will shape the future. With a focus on developing knowledge, respect for and commitment to diversity, this program develops compassionate collaborators committed to imagining new theatrical and media arts paradigms for the 21st Century. The flexibility of adding additional minor and major studies encourages students to incorporate work from multiple fields as they develop their unique path as a theatre artist.

Emphasis Areas

This degree provides you with a well-rounded liberal education as well as three emphases from which to choose, each designed to provide depth in a particular area of theatrical studies.

• Theatre Arts

  Theatre Arts provides comprehensive knowledge and practical experience in theatre. Students will develop and articulate creative choices and think critically about their significance through a variety of techniques including, textual analysis, historical contextualization, an array of approaches to performance, and collaboration. The curriculum offers a broad selection from a wide variety of courses to support multi-faceted interests within the discipline, as well as available options alongside the BA in Theatre, including minoring and/or double majoring in disciplines outside the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film.

• Theatre Creation

  Theatre Creation is focused on teaching students the compositional elements of theatrical storytelling: idea conceptualization, narrative development, staging, designing, and directing. As well as working with existing texts, students learn to develop original narratives through hands-on studies in directing, playwriting, dramaturgy, devising, visual thinking and design, choreography, and interdisciplinary collaborations.

• Theatre Leadership/Management

  Theatre Leadership/Management gives students the knowledge and tools needed to present theatre in a personal voice, using both traditional and non-traditional methods. They practice skills in creative entrepreneurship, community engagement, arts management, and audience development; and explore and reflect on their power, impact, and influence.

Learning Outcomes

With the resident professional company, Nebraska Repertory Theatre, each student learns professional standards and practical methods as they participate in the program.

• Develop artist entrepreneurs with a deep understanding of a selected area in leadership/management and/or creation/production.
• Foster extensive career versatility, marketability and sustainability, which can include exploring a minor or double major in other field(s) of interest.
• Develop bold and inventive theatre makers, leaders and managers who will impact the current theatre, media and entertainment industry; and shape the future of these art forms.
• Foster knowledge, respect for and commitment to the diversity of artists, diverse art forms and artistic styles in the dramatic arts, media and entertainment industry.
• Enhance ability to employ a wide range of analytical, research, and practical methodologies in critical studies, writing, performance, design, and production.
• Establish an understanding of and appreciation for basic performance skills: use of the body and voice, text analysis for performance, and an ability to create truth in imaginary circumstances.
• Establish an understanding of and appreciation for taking source material through each step in the process of bringing it to production: selection, analysis, conceptualization, casting, staging, coaching, collaborating with designers and other members of the production team, and working through technical rehearsals to a finished performance.
• Establish proficiency in organization and time management; creating and meeting deadlines; being able to take, receive, and apply criticism; and working effectively and efficiently, both independently and with an ensemble.
• Develop compassionate and empathetic collaborators committed to imagining new theatrical and media arts paradigms for the 21st Century.