Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Theatre

  • 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.

    THEATRE (BA) – SAMPLE 4-YeaR PLAN

    Study Theatre at WPU
    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

    Liberal Education Curriculum 49-50 credit hours
    Theatre Core Courses 28 credit hours
    Concentration 20 credit hours
    General Electives 23-25 credit hours
    Total credit hours for B.A. in Applied Theatre 120 credit hours

     

    Theatre Core Courses
    28 credit hours
    Acting (12 credit hours)
    THE 110: Acting I Improvisation                                           4

    THE 112: Acting II Introduction to Acting

    4
    THE 212: Acting III Voice and Movement 4
    Literature/Theatre History (8 credit hours)
    THE 490: Theatre History 4
    THE 491: Contemporary Theatre 4
    Production (8 credit hours)
    THE 101: Main Stage Production/THE 102: Production            4

    THE 148: Introduction to Technical Theatre                           4

    Choose One (1) Concentration Below

    Concentration in Performance                      20 credit hours

    Acting                                                                                8

    THE 312: Acting IV Acting Methods                                   4

    THE 415: Acting V Audition Techniques

    Production                                                                      4

    4
    THE 338: Costume and Makeup or THE 345: Stage Combat
    Choose 7-8 additional credit hours in THE No more than 2 credits as THE 151: Applied Voice
    No more than 2 credits as THE 171: Applied Piano
    No additional hours permitted as THE 101: Production

    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
    Matt Hodge
    Associate Professor of Musical Theatre and Theatre
    Program Director of Theatre; Professor of English; Department Chair of Humanities
  • 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
  • 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)

    Buy WPU Theatre Tickets

    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
Former Student Josh Walker made the national tour of RENT
Former Student Josh Walker made the national tour of RENT
#PrepareAtPeace

“I think a huge reason that I got this job [on tour with RENT] was because Peace showed me how to be an individual.”

Josh Walker Enjoys Lead Role In ‘RENT’ 20th Anniversary Tour
Former WPU Theatre Student
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