Why Earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Theater at Indiana State?

A well-rounded creative education in theater arts begins at Indiana State. We encourage you to experiment, collaborate, and take creative risks as you learn to express and interpret artistic works for audiences. Our theater program features small class sizes and one-to-one mentoring, along with master classes, workshops, and lectures by visiting theater professionals from all over the world.

Collaborate to Create Artistic Visions

As a theater major, you will complete a practicum in your chosen specialty: Scenic, Costume, or Production. You will also participate in an active production schedule, with opportunities to act, direct, design, write original plays, and assume technical responsibilities for productions.

Previous productions include Ride the Cyclone, Pride & Prejudice, Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, Small Mouth Sounds, A Year With Frog and Toad, Deathtrap, The Tempest, Detroit '67, among others.

Learn from Our Excellent Faculty

Indiana State's instructors nurture a positive learning and working environment. They encourage you to broaden your talents in acting, directing, designing, writing, and other technical work.

You will also have the opportunity to audition for and complete internships with outside productions, including at the Crossroad Repertory Theatre, an in-residence professional summer theater company in Terre Haute. There, you can perform and design with theater professionals from throughout the United States. Past seasons have featured performances of Rent, Clue, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, Noises Off, Steel Magnolias, Hairspray, Young Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Avenue Q, A Wrinkle in Time, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, among others.

Perform and Create in Our Spaces

Indiana State features three performance spaces: Dreiser Theater, a 150-seat proscenium theater; the Seventh Street Theater, a 150-seat thrust theater, and the Dreiser Black Box, a flexible black-box theater. In addition, you will have access to laboratory rehearsal space, a design and technology laboratory, scenic and costume studios, and a design classroom.

What You'll Learn in the Theater Program

The Bachelor of Arts in Theater provides a broad foundation in artistic and practical aspects of theater arts, preparing you for a career as an actor, director, playwright, or designer. You can complete our theater degree in four years of full-time study.

Many theater majors will select a minor to specialize in their area of interest.

Concentrations

Gaining confidence while speaking in front of people can benefit every major! Acting is public speaking and engaged listening, and these skills need to be practiced to be perfected. Acting Minors learn acting fundamentals, work with prominent techniques, and expand their understanding of the art form. Students have the opportunity as an undergraduate to perform on stage, on camera, and even as voice actors. This minor is ideal for students interested in pursuing an acting as a career or hobby.

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Gain discipline-specific business acumen and practical skills needed to succeed as arts leaders, in either commercial or non-profit settings. The Arts Administration Minor takes a hands-on approach to the business side of the arts. From starting non-profit visual art, performing art, or cultural organization, to creating LLCs for freelance arts practitioners, this minor will expose students to producing, marketing, fundraising/budgeting, event planning, and more.

The Dance Minor offers instruction on more than just dance. The curriculum creates a well-rounded dancer with a focus on technical skills and creative ability. The goal is to foster the love of artistic expression and better well-being through dance. This minor is for dancers, actors, performers, and beginners with a passion.

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Explore multiple areas of design and technology in theater and live entertainment. The Entertainment Design and Technology Minor prepares students for backstage work in theater and live entertainment including design (scenic, costume, lighting, sound, projection), stage management, and technical theater work, such as stage and wardrobe crew, fly rail operation, board programming, scenic carpentry/painting, and more. Students can work backstage during Department of Theater productions.

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Transfer Credit

Indiana State University accepts credit from regionally accredited colleges and universities within the United States, and from selected schools located outside the United States. Credit also may be granted for military training and experience. Previously earned college credit can be applied toward completion of the program per Indiana State's transfer guidelines.

Transfer Guidelines

Career Possibilities for Theater Majors

A bachelor’s degree in theater from Indiana State prepares you for a career in professional theater or live entertainment as an actor, director, designer, technician, stage manager, or arts administrator. Many of our graduates also pursue careers in film, television, cultural institutions, theme parks, cruise lines, theater education, or pursue graduate studies in theater.

Study Abroad and Experience Other Cultures

Expand your cultural horizons by experiencing other nations and places in the world. Our Education Abroad Office will assist you in planning and preparing for an amazing study-abroad opportunity – whether that’s a weeklong, faculty-led tour, a month-long summer excursion, or a full semester of overseas study. Choose from more than 350 study-abroad programs in 60 countries.

Visit our Education Abroad Office