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Kathleen Sills
Chair, Visual and Performing Arts
Associate Professor, Theater
978-837-3439
email
As a theatre arts major, you’ll study performance, directing, playwriting and technical production.
Based on a liberal arts foundation, the theatre arts major at Merrimack College will provide you with a variety of core courses in the theatrical arts including history and criticism, literature, performance, directing, design, management dramaturgy, and technical production. You will gain a well-rounded and broad understanding of the field of theatre studies.
In the theatre arts program, you will:
Stage time, either in the front or back of the house, is a must. Chances are, you’ll find yourself participating in departmental productions as well as those put on by the student-run OnStagers Dramatic Society.
You’ll have the opportunity to learn by doing. Work at the Rogers Center for the Arts, Merrimack’s own modern theater that brings some of the country’s best productions, musicians and films to campus.
Recent theatre arts internships include work in the Stoneham Theatre marketing department and the Merrimack Repertory Theatre’s box office.
Our major will help prepare you for a career in live theater production, arts management and/or performance. You will be well-equipped to pursue a range of opportunities, such as actor, director, writer, technician, and designer, in a number of arts-related fields including theatre, television, film, corporate communications, advertising and more. The degree also provides you with the necessary foundation for further graduate school training.
A theatre arts degree is also valuable in other careers that require collaborative skills, creative imagination, and discipline, such as education/training, management, public relations and the law. If you are an entrepreneur you can sharpen your creative abilities, especially when paired with a co-major or minor in business.
Recent graduates are now working in Merrimack Repertory Theatre: Box Office and Group Sales Dept. New England Center for Homeless Veterans: Counselor, Disney World: Costume Designer, Company Manager: Geva Theatre, Rochester NY,
Some of our graduates have worked in the following positions:
The theatre arts major requires the completion of a minimum of 12 courses, as specified below.
Required Courses (6)
FAA 1510 | Acting I |
FAA 1515 | Theatre Practicum: Rehearsal and Performance |
FAA 2520 | Theatre History I: Origins to the Renaissance |
FAA 2530 | Theatre History II: Restoration to the Present |
FAA 2570 | Technical Production for Theatre |
FAA 3550 | Theatre Arts Capstone Seminar |
Elective Courses (choose 6)
FAA 1520 | Voice for the Stage |
FAA 2500 | Women in Theatre |
FAA 2505 | The Politics of Performance: Theatre, Government, and Social Change |
FAA 2510 | Acting II |
FAA 2540 | Introduction to Playwriting |
FAA 2550 | American Musical Theatre |
FAA 2560 | London Theatre |
FAA 2580 | Design for the Theatre |
FAA 2585 | Improvisation |
FAA 2586 | Script Analysis |
FAA 2590 | Arts Management |
FAA 3510 | Directing I |
FAA 3520 | Acting III: Special Topics in Acting |
One elective may be fulfilled by one of the following English courses:
ENG 3250 |
Shakespearean Drama |
ENG 3820 | Twentieth-Century Drama and Performance by Women |
ENG 3680 | World Drama: The Theatrical Impulse Then and Now |
ENG 3820 | Twentieth-Century Drama and Performance by Women |
Kathleen Sills
Chair, Visual and Performing Arts
Associate Professor, Theater
978-837-3439
email