Theatre Arts
This is an archived copy of the 2021-22 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.ndsu.edu.
The Department of Theatre Arts is dedicated to the highest standards of excellence in both its academic and performance/technical theatre programs. Its energies are committed to fostering student creativity in all areas of theatre—design, performance, directing and management—and to help students gain better insights into themselves and the world around them. The theatre arts program has been a vital and important part of the curriculum and student activities at North Dakota State University for more than 100 years. The program is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre.
The Curriculum
The department offers three undergraduate degree programs in theatre. Each is flexible and can be designed to fit the individual student's career goals.
The Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in theatre arts is a general baccalaureate degree built around a traditional liberal arts curriculum. Courses are required in technical theatre, performing and directing, as well as in literature, theatre history and modern language. The B.A. program requires proficiency of a foreign language at the second year level.
The Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree is an alternative to the B.A. The B.S. requires a minor in an approved field.
The Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) with an emphasis in musical theatre, performance or design technology is a professionally-oriented degree track that places primary emphasis on performance and studio activity, while also requiring a high level of involvement in the academic curriculum. It can be entered only by audition. This degree track broadens the student's exposure to his or her field, and considerable study is made of other fine arts fields as well.
Admission to the B.F.A. degree program in theatre requires consistent involvement in Theatre NDSU and LCT Productions, and demands a high level of commitment on the part of the student.
The Program
Theatre NDSU is a laboratory for learning in which imaginative play and disciplined work are fused in dramatic creations. A high degree of professionalism is consistently displayed.
(1) Main Stage Productions—four plays are produced each school year. These productions range from modern musicals such as Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson and Sweeney Todd to classic comedies such as The Comedy of Errors and Noises Off, including contemporary and ancient plays of the widest variety. Production seasons are chosen according to a four year style-rotation cycle. This ensures that during the course of his or her undergraduate career, the student will have the opportunity to acquire first-hand knowledge of all major performance styles in the Western theatrical tradition, including Devised work and TYA or Theatre for Young Audiences.
(2) The Newfangled Theatre Company is the student branch of Theatre NDSU. This student-managed company produces up to four shows in the second stage season.
Numerous dramatic activities take place on a flexible schedule in Studio Theatre Productions. There are showcase productions for B.F.A. candidates and for student acting or directing projects as well as a dance recital each semester.
The Facilities
Theatre arts students study, work and create on three stages:
(1) Askanase Auditorium (the main stage), a 380-seat theatre with continental seating,
(2) the Studio Theatre, a flexible studio-lab black box space also located in Askanase Hall, and
(3) the 1,000-seat Festival Concert Hall, in Reineke Fine Arts Center, used for major musical stage productions.
In addition, Askanase Hall contains theatre classrooms, costume, scene and property shops.
Career Opportunities
Theatre training develops and exercises the creative imagination. Our graduates have found a rich variety of professions. Former students have gone on to earn advanced degrees in theatre and related fields and now teach in colleges and universities, community colleges and high schools. Other graduates of our program work in arts management, technical theatre and technical consulting, as well as in community theatre, semi-professional repertory companies, professional theatre and commercial radio and television. Theatre NDSU is committed to helping students understand the value of entrepreneurship in the Arts, creating their own work and community outreach.
Scholarships
A number of scholarships in theatre arts are available for students both in performance and technical emphases. Several scholarships are available to incoming freshmen. Both a student's academic record and his or her level of achievement in the production program are criteria used in awarding these scholarships. Active participation in the NDSU theatre arts program is expected of all scholarship recipients. Applications can be found on the Department of Theatre Arts website.
Sample Program Guide
B.F.A. Design & Tech
Please note this is a sample program guide and not an official curriculum. Actual student schedules for each semester will vary depending on start year, education goals, applicable transfer credit, and course availability. Once admitted, students are encouraged to work with their assigned academic advisor on a regular basis to review degree progress.
Freshman | |||
---|---|---|---|
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
THEA 150 | 1 | THEA 210 | 1 |
THEA 180 | 3 | THEA 220 or 221 | 1 |
THEA 210 | 1 | THEA 270 or 271 | 3 |
THEA 270 or 271 | 3 | THEA 373 | 3 |
THEA 220 or 221 | 1 | THEA 272 | 3 |
THEA 230 or 279 | 3 | ENGL 120 | 3 |
ENGL 110 | 3 | Quantitative Reasoning Gen Ed | 3 |
15 | 17 | ||
Sophomore | |||
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
THEA 161 | 3 | THEA 210 or 211 | 2 |
THEA 210 or 211 | 2 | THEA 280 | 3 |
THEA 371 or 375 | 3 | THEA 370 | 3 |
THEA 230 or 279 | 3 | THEA 376 or 377 | 3 |
THEA 275 ( or science gen ed) | 3 | Science & Technology Gen Ed w/lab | 4 |
14 | 15 | ||
Junior | |||
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
THEA 210 or 211 | 2 | THEA 210 or 211 | 2 |
THEA 275 (or science gen ed) | 3 | THEA 376 or 377 | 3 |
THEA 370 | 3 | THEA 486 or 487 | 3 |
THEA 371 or 375 | 3 | ENGL 380 | 3 |
COMM 110 | 3 | Upper Level Writing Gen Ed | 3 |
Social & Behavioral Science Gen ED | 3 | ||
17 | 14 | ||
Senior | |||
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
THEA 365 | 3 | THEA 210 or 211 | 2 |
THEA 450 | 3 | THEA 486 or 487 | 3 |
THEA 480 | 3 | ART 111 | 3 |
MUSC 100 or 111 | 3 | Social & Behavioral Science/Cultural Diversity Gen Ed | 3 |
Science & Technology Gen Ed | 3 | Wellness Gen Ed | 2 |
15 | 13 | ||
Total Credits: 120 |
Sample Program Guide
Please note this is a sample program guide and not an official curriculum. Actual student schedules for each semester will vary depending on start year, education goals, applicable transfer credit, and course availability. Once admitted, students are encouraged to work with their assigned academic advisor on a regular basis to review degree progress.
B.F.A. Musical Theatre
Freshman | |||
---|---|---|---|
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
THEA 161 | 3 | THEA 266 | 3 |
THEA 150 | 1 | THEA 210 | 1 |
THEA 180 | 3 | THEA 263 | 1 |
THEA 210 | 2 | THEA 270 or 271 | 3 |
MUSC 167 | 1 | THEA 220 or 221 | 1 |
MUSC 130 | 3 | ENGL 120 | 3 |
MUSC 132 | 1 | MUSC 160 | 1 |
ENGL 110 | 3 | MUSC 167 | 1 |
Quantitative Reasoning Gen Ed | 3 | ||
17 | 17 | ||
Sophomore | |||
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
THEA 210 | 1 | THEA 210, 223, or 224 | 2 |
THEA 362 | 2 | THEA Design Elective taken fall or spring | |
THEA 364 | 3 | THEA 228 or 368 | 3 |
THEA 270 or 271 | 3 | THEA 263 | 1 |
THEA 220 or 221 | 1 | THEA 280 | 3 |
MUSC 267 | 1 | COMM 110 | 3 |
THEA Design Elective taken fall or spring | 3 | MUSC 267 | 1 |
THEA 367 (Or Gen Ed) | 3 | Social & Behavioral Science Gen ED | 3 |
17 | 16 | ||
Junior | |||
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
THEA 210 | 2 | THEA 210 | 2 |
THEA 362 | 2 | THEA 228 or 368 | 3 |
THEA 365 | 3 | THEA 466 or 368 | 3 |
THEA 467 (course offered every other fall) | 3 | MUSC 367 | 1 |
THEA 275 ( or science gen ed) | 3 | THEA 263 | 1 |
MUSC 367 | 1 | Science & Technology Gen Ed wlab | 4 |
THEA 367 or 463 | 3 | Wellness Gen Ed | 2 |
17 | 16 | ||
Senior | |||
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
THEA 450 | 3 | THEA 210 | 2 |
THEA 467 if not taken Junior year | ART 111 | 3 | |
THEA 463 if not taken Junior year | THEA 466 or 368 | 3 | |
THEA 480 | 3 | Social & Behavioral Science/Global Perspectives Gen Ed | 3 |
MUSC 100 or 111 | 3 | Science & Technology Gen Ed | 3 |
MUSC 467 | 1 | ||
THEA 275 (or science gen ed) | 3 | ||
Upper Level Writing Gen Ed | 3 | ||
16 | 14 | ||
Total Credits: 130 |
Sample Program Guide
Please note this is a sample program guide and not an official curriculum. Actual student schedules for each semester will vary depending on start year, education goals, applicable transfer credit, and course availability. Once admitted, students are encouraged to work with their assigned academic advisor on a regular basis to review degree progress.
B.F.A. Performance
Freshman | |||
---|---|---|---|
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
THEA 161 | 3 | THEA 210 | 1 |
THEA 210 | 1 | THEA 270 or 271 | 3 |
THEA 150 | 1 | THEA 220 or 221 | 1 |
THEA 270 or 271 | 3 | THEA 266 | 3 |
THEA 220 or 221 | 1 | THEA 262 | 1 |
ENGL 110 | 3 | ENGL 120 | 3 |
THEA 180 | 3 | Social and Behavioral Science/Global Perspectives Gen Ed | 3 |
15 | 15 | ||
Sophomore | |||
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
THEA 210 | 2 | THEA 210 | 2 |
THEA 275 (Or Gen Ed) | 3 | THEA 280 | 3 |
THEA 364 | 3 | THEA 361 or 466 | 3 |
MUSC 100 or 111 | 3 | THEA Design Elective taken fall or spring | 3 |
THEA Design Elective taken fall or spring | COMM 110 | 3 | |
Science & Technology w/Lab Gen Ed | 4 | Quantitative Reasoning Requirement | 3 |
15 | 17 | ||
Junior | |||
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
THEA 210 | 2 | THEA 210 | 2 |
THEA 365 | 3 | Performance Elective: 160/228/345 | 3 |
Performance Elective: 160/228/345 | 3 | THEA 361 or 466 | 3 |
THEA 462 or 467 | 3 | THEA 263 | 1 |
MUSC 162 or 167 | 1 | THEA 461 or 368 | 3 |
Social & Behavioral Science Gen ED or THEA 275 | 3 | ENGL 380 | 3 |
15 | 15 | ||
Senior | |||
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
THEA 450 | 3 | THEA 210 | 2 |
THEA 480 | 3 | THEA 263 | 1 |
THEA 462 or 467 | 3 | THEA 461 or 368 | 3 |
Upper level Writing | 3 | ART 111 | 3 |
Science & Technology Gen Ed | 3 | Science & Technology Gen Ed | 3 |
Wellness Gen Ed | 2 | ||
15 | 14 | ||
Total Credits: 121 |
Sample Program Guide
Please note this is a sample program guide and not an official curriculum. Actual student schedules for each semester will vary depending on start year, education goals, applicable transfer credit, and course availability. Once admitted, students are encouraged to work with their assigned academic advisor on a regular basis to review degree progress.
B.A./B.S.
Freshman | |||
---|---|---|---|
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
THEA 161 | 3 | THEA 270 or 271 | 3 |
THEA 150 | 1 | THEA 220 or 221 | 1 |
THEA 180 | 3 | ENGL 120 | 3 |
THEA 270 or 271 | 3 | COMM 110 | 3 |
THEA 220 or 221 | 1 | THEA 210 | 1 |
ENGL 110 | 3 | Quantitative Reasoning Requirement | 3 |
THEA 210 | 1 | ||
15 | 14 | ||
Sophomore | |||
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
THEA 210 | 2 | THEA 210 | 2 |
Theatre Elective | 6 | THEA Design Elective take fall or spring | 3 |
THEA Design Elective Take Fall or Spring | Theatre Elective | 6 | |
Humanities and fine Arts Requirement | 3 | Minor Requirement for BS(Foreign Language for BA) | 3 |
Minor Requirement for BS(Foreign Language for BA) | 3 | Science & Technology Requirement | 3 |
14 | 17 | ||
Junior | |||
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
THEA 210 | 2 | THEA 210 | 2 |
THEA 365 | 3 | THEA 280 | 3 |
Humanities and fine Arts Requirement | 3 | Theatre Elective | 6 |
Social & Behavioral Science Gen ED | 3 | Minor Requirement for BS(AHSS Elective for BA) | 3 |
Science & Technology Gen Ed w/lab | 4 | Science & Technology Gen Ed | 3 |
15 | 17 | ||
Senior | |||
Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
THEA 450 | 3 | THEA 210 | 2 |
THEA 480 | 3 | Theatre Elective | 3 |
Upper level Writing | 3 | Social & Behavioral Science Gen ED | 3 |
Minor Requirement for BS | 6 | Minor Requirement for BS | 3 |
Wellness Gen Ed | 2 | ||
15 | 13 | ||
Total Credits: 120 |