Theatre is Best When it Incites and Excites
The Department of Theatre fosters a courageous, self-driven creative process working both within and outside of existing structures with a goal of using your art to create a pathway to success.
undergraduate experience
The MSU Department of Theatre offers you a personalized experience. We empower our students to think about a character from various vantage points, use technology to design and create new worlds, and examine the past in order to understand the present and influence the future.
graduate experience
Degree Areas
BACHELOR in Theatre
Bachelor of Fine Arts
The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre is designed for students wishing to prepare for a professional career in theatre and other media.
Master of Fine Arts
Masters of Fine Arts provided for in both Acting and Design. The programs aim to prepare students to be a professional design, artists and educators.
Minor In Theatre
In addition to preparing students for careers that are directly related to theatre, the minor will afford opportunities to expand creative, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills.
Minor In Musical Theatre
Students study musical theatre and its practical foundations; consisting of individually prescribed blocks of courses designed to provide a guided performance and academic experience tailored to each student’s career goals.
Minor in Dance
Students study dance and its practical applications. The minor consists of technique-based courses designed to provide a wide variety of skills in conjunction with practical leadership within the discipline.
Featured News
College of Arts & Letters Faculty Help Drive MSU’s Continued Success as a Top Producer of Fulbright Scholars
For the 11th time in the last 12 years, Michigan State University has been named a top producer of Fulbright Scholars, ranking among the colleges and universities with the highest number of faculty and administrators selected for the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Eleven scholars from MSU were selected for Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program awards for academic year 2025–2026. Three of those faulty members are in the College of Arts & Letters.
Transforming Theatre Ensemble Showcases Student Work at Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration
When first-year Michigan State University student and Detroit-based poet Charisma Holly’s words echoed through the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center banquet room during MSU’s annual Dr.
No Cookie-Cutter Performers: How MSU Shaped the Creative Careers of Two Theatre Alums
When MSU Department of Theatre alums Sarah Goeke and Travis Staton-Marrero revisited campus, they brought more than memories, returning with hard-earned experience shaped by their
Theatre Prof Serves as Assistant Fight Director for Broadway Production
Alexis Black is always up for a good fight. And since February 2022 she has been choreographing stage combat for the Tony Award-nominated production of Macbeth…
MFA Candidate Receives National Kennedy Center Award for Theatre Design
Kasee Arnett, an MFA Design Candidate from Michigan State University, earned a spot to compete in the national competition in which she received the Distinguished Achievement Award…
MSU Researches a Neurodiverse Approach to Theatre Education
One of the first of its kind in the world, the Department of Theatre has produced a play that is written specifically for a neurodiverse audience …
Stage Management Student Works with Broadway Stars in NYC
From running rehearsals to communicating technical needs, stage managers, like Katie McArthur, work out the kinks of a production before and during its big debut….