About

Theatre at Wake Forest University

Each season, Wake Forest’s University Theatre mounts a variety of subscription series productions, two dance concerts, and numerous student-directed and designed pieces. Students learn through work on productions—whether in the rehearsal hall or design labs–as well as through classwork in acting, directing, design, playwriting, voice and movement, history, dramatic literature, theatre education, and technical theatre. Whatever your passion is or becomes, you can create your own theatre adventure.

We believe that excellence in both the arts and academics is not only possible but desirable. You will work closely with a vigorous faculty on a wide variety of creative and scholarly projects. You’ll enjoy the benefits of a nationally ranked university with small classes, impressive facilities, and an active theatre program, and you’ll grow as both academics and artists. College is for learning—through books and lectures, certainly, but also through self-exploration and creative expression. You’ll find a creative home at Wake that is inspiring, friendly, and rich with possibilities. 

Mission Statement

With deep interrogation of the past and embodied exploration of the present, we inspire and educate the artists and audiences of the future. 

Through inclusive disciplinary and interdisciplinary inquiry, we embrace collaboration, unknowingness, and play, with rigor, intention, and bold experimentation.

In keeping with our liberal arts tradition, and in the spirit of Pro Humanitate, Wake Forest’s Department of Theatre and Dance is a community dedicated to expressing the breadth and depth of what it means to be human. 

Theatre Program Learning Goals

Learning Goal #1: Collaboration

Nurture skillful collaborators who are innovative creators, effective communicators, flexible thinkers, and conscientious members of a team. 

Learning Goal #2: Bravery, Confidence, Resilience

Cultivate bravery, confidence, and resilience through daring experimentation, playful exploration, and artistic risk-taking, as well as engagement with plays and productions that challenge students as people, scholars, and theatre-makers.

Learning Goal #3: Empathy and Diverse Perspectives

Expand students’ capacity for empathy by engaging with diverse texts, characters, and perspectives that promote awareness of individual and cultural differences and foster a deeper understanding of themselves and the world.  

Learning Goal #4: Curiosity and Lifelong Learning

Inspire intellectual curiosity and rigorous, critical exploration of artistic and historical contexts, supporting students as adaptable learners who embrace the interconnectedness of art and life in and beyond the theatre.