The Ash Girl, March 2008

The Department of Theatre is committed to integrating theatre, art, and craft with scholarship and pedagogy, utilizing an approach informed by the past yet looking forward towards the future. We seek to enrich the educational experience of all our students, promote the professional development of our faculty and staff, cultivate effective working relationships with the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and the College of Arts and Humanities, and identify and capitalize on new opportunities made possible by our unique location.

The Department of Theatre is located in the heart of the fastest growing theatre market in the nation. Over eighty professional theatres are within 25 miles of our campus, including such nationally known institutions as The Kennedy Center , Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, The Studio Theatre, Signature Theatre, Round House Theatre, and Center Stage. We are linked by Metrorail to many of our country's most distinguished research institutions, including the Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, National Archives, Folger Shakespeare Library, The Center for Hellenic Studies, and The Smithsonian Institution, among others. The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is one of the largest, most advanced performing arts complexes in the United States. In addition to the Departments of Theatre, Dance and Music, the Center houses a fully equipped Performing Arts Library. The College of Arts and Humanities is known internationally for its strengths in gender studies and technology for use in the humanities, and is home to the Center for Renaissance and Baroque Studies. In light of our shared commitment to cultivating new theatre artists and ensuring a vibrant future for the American theatre, the Department has partnerships with the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and the African Continuum Theatre Company to give students the opportunity to create direct relationships with seasoned professionals through master classes and through mentoring relationships with professional cast members and other affiliated artists.

Our award winning faculty includes three Helen Hayes Award winners, a regional Emmy winner, and a winner of the Barnard Hewitt Award for an outstanding theatre history book. We have a significant international presence with Study Abroad programs, participation in conferences, designing shows, and research in countries from Ireland to Senegal.