Academics
The Department of Theater offers a major, a minor, a Multicultural Theater Certificate, and a graduate program that allows for specialization in one of five areas. Our productions are a laboratory for our students, and we welcome campus community members to be artists and audiences with us.
Our training has led alums into careers in theater, both onstage and behind the scenes; in television and film; and in a whole host of fields where collaboration, creative problem solving, and thoughtful research are valued.
Our 2023–2024 Season
Surrealism and slapstick, the beautiful and the bittersweet—the 2023–2024 UMass Theater season encompasses what's thrilling about live theater!
This Season
Join us as we explore what it means to make a family (with a little help from a magical house), and contemplate political farce with a leading lady who makes Lucy Ricardo look sedate. Take a seat in the audience as a brilliant scientist dissects the "love vs. career" dichotomy, and delight in a classic comedy of unrequited love and mistaken identity. And mark the end of the season with a festival that illuminates what the next generation of theater-makers has in store for us.
Upcoming Events
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Pillars of our Artistic Community
The link between our professional theater alums and current students is a strong, vibrant one. Our alums look out for up-and-coming artists and offer mentorship ranging from conversation to internships and collaborations.
For example, nationally known director Dawn Monique Williams '11G welcomed MFA directing student Kyle Boatwright to Oregon Shakespeare Festival this summer for a shadowing opportunity that ended up being truly inspirational.
In the News
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Please consider a gift to our general gift fund so we can continue to offer state-of-the-art theater programming and enrichment that helps our talented, dedicated theater-makers build rewarding careers and creative lives, and that best serves our community of up-and-coming theater artists.
Monumental Creativity
In 2021, when our ability to produce in-person theater was severely curtailed due to the pandemic, we presented Monuments of the Future, "a series of installations that Seven beings rise up from the earth, Seven symbols move across a campus. Seven spokes on a wheel take us through the never-ending cycle of change."
Conceived by Professor Anya Klepikov, the series drew in faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate student collaborators both on the design team and as performers. While the presentation itself was unusual, the piece serves as an excellent example of the way students at all levels have the chance to leave their creative fingerprints on events we offer to the public.