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

Graduate Degree programs in the Department of Theatre are designed to prepare you for a career as a professor or administrator at major colleges and universities throughout the United States or for a career in professional theatre.

Degree Areas

BA in Theatre

The Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre is designed for students wishing to gain experience in all areas of theatre and the broader cultural sector.

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

Michigan Performing Arts College Fair Comes to MSU Campus October 7th

The Michigan State University College of Music in partnership with the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, Wayne State University College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, will host the Michigan Performing Arts College Fair on Saturday, October 7, 2023 at the MSU College of Music’s new Billman Pavilion from 2:00 to 4:00 PM, with an Admissions panel at […]

MSU Theatre and UCLA Partner on World Premiere of Golden Age Latin American Play

Michigan State University’s Department of Theatre will present the world premiere of the English translation of Love is the Greater Labyrinth by 16th-century Mexican playwright/poet/philosopher Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Sept. 28 through Oct. 1, at the Arena Theatre in the MSU Auditorium. Director Oscar Quiroz, an Artist-Educator and MFA Acting Candidate in the […]

College Celebrates Accomplishments of 2023 Promoted Faculty

This year, 20 faculty members within the College of Arts & Letters have received promotions. The success of these individuals was celebrated during the 2023 Faculty and Staff Welcome Reception on Sept. 18 at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center. The College has adopted an approach to promotion that empowers colleagues to Chart Their Pathway of Intellectual Leadership by […]

Ask the Expert: How can the arts help us feel more connected to a place?

As the university announces a unified approach to the arts with Arts MSU, Judith Stoddart, Vice Provost for University Arts and Collections at Michigan State University and an Associate Professor in the Department of English, explains how the arts can help us feel more connected to the places we inhabit by looking at how the arts are interconnected and contextualized by MSU’s campus.

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….