Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Theatre
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Overview
As a Theatre major, you will develop the tools, skills and connections you need to succeed in graduate school or to hit the ground running with a career in any facet of the industry
A BA in Theatre from WPU will open doors for you in the world of professional theatre. One of only a handful of degree programs of its kind in the area, WPU’s core curriculum is focused on acting, history and technical theatre. Electives will allow you to pursue specific interests in more depth. For example, B.A. Theatre students may take musical theatre courses by permission of the instructor. All theatre majors will learn the inner workings of a theatre company first-hand through planning and working backstage; BFA majors will also be required to perform onstage. Theatre majors gain valuable “real-world” experience through theatre internships, and our senior trip to New York will allow you to take part in professional auditions. In addition to graduate study or a career in the arts, the skills you will develop through a WPU Theatre degree translate very well to industries such as media, law, education, government and business and nonprofit management.
Become a confident, marketable, self-assessing creative artist -
Courses
The courses listed below are for the Academic Catalog and are subject to change. Please reference the Academic Catalog for further information and course descriptions. If you are a current student, please reference the catalog in which you come under.
Bachelor of Arts in Applied Theatre
Concentration in Education 20 credit hours
Literature/Theatre History
THE 315: Classics 4
Theatre Core Electives 8
THE 320: Theatre for Young Audiences 4
THE 425: Directing 4
Electives 8
EDU 201: Early Experiences for Prospective Teachers 3
EDU 250: Exceptionalities in Education 3
PSY 310: Child and Adolescent Development 3
PSY 382: Learning 3
ENG 478: Children’s Literature 3
THE 225: Arts in Society -
Faculty
Associate Professor of Musical Theatre and Theatre
Program Director of Theatre; Professor of English -
Careers
William Peace Theatre’s innovative classes train students in the wide array of collaborative skills and knowledge which make up the work of theatre through performances of new works, including adaptations of literature, both by professional playwrights and student writers. Students learn to perform, travel, create works, network and receive technical theatre experience.
WPU graduates go on to various careers in areas such as costume design, directing, set design, producing, acting and teaching.
Recent Peace internships include:
- North Carolina Theatre
- Theatre in the Park
- Opera House of Wilmington
- Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre
- Hot Summer Nights at the Kennedy
- Raleigh’s Village Idiots
Recent employment:
- Last Comic Standing
- Chelsea Lately
- North Carolina Theatre
- Theatre in the Park
- Groundlings
Recent graduate school acceptances:
- Harvard University
- The Juilliard School
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- AMDA
- UCLA
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Performances
2021-2022
Main Stage Productions
- The Wolves
- Working
- The Red Badge of Courage
- Zombie Prom
2020-2021
Main Stage Productions
- Productions Canceled Due to COVID
2019-2020
Main Stage Productions
- Dracula
- Meet Me in St Louis
- The Spitfire Grill
- Charlotte’s Web
2018-2019 Season
Main Stage Productions
- Speech and Debate
- Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
- Julius Caesar
- Hair
- WPU Dance Concert
SECOND STAGE PRODUCTIONs
- 24-Hour Playfest
- Senior Recitals
- One Night Only (Student-Directed Cabaret Evenings)
2017-2018 Season
Main Stage Productions
- An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe
- The Wild Party
- Five Women Wearing the Same Dress
- Assassins
- King Lear (Partnership with Honest Pint Theatre Company)
- WPU Dance Concert
SECOND STAGE PRODUCTIONs
- 24-Hour Playfest
- WPU Singers Choral Concerts
- Senior Recitals
- One Night Only (Student-Directed Cabaret Evenings)
2016-2017 Season
MAIN STAGE PRODUCTIONS
- Kiss Me, Kate
- The Laramie Project
- Noises Off
- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
- WPU Dance Concert
SECOND STAGE PRODUCTIONS
- The Pillowman (Student-Directed Production)
- Finding Clara (Student-Directed Staged Reading)
- One Night Only (Student-Directed Cabaret Evenings)
- 24-Hour Playfest
- WPU Singers Choral Concerts
- Senior Recitals
2015-2016 Season
MAIN STAGE PRODUCTIONS
- The Music Man
- The Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom
- Twelfth Night
- American Idiot
- WPU Dance Concert
SECOND STAGE PRODUCTIONS
- Macbeth (Staged Reading for Shakespeare Marathon in partnership with NC Museum of History and Burning Coal Theatre)
- One Night Only (Student-Directed Cabaret Evenings)
- 24-Hour Playfest
- WPU Singers Choral Concerts
- Senior Recitals
“I think a huge reason that I got this job [on tour with RENT] was because Peace showed me how to be an individual.”
