Dear Prospective Students,

Congratulations on your early admission to Georgetown University. It would be a pleasure to have you with us—and to involve you in the cultural transformation we are creating for students interested in performance and for the extended campus community through our new majors in Theater and Performing Studies as well as in American Musical Culture. We are fortunate to house the Theater Program’s home season in the new Davis Performing Arts Center, as well as special events in theater, music and dance throughout the year.

Theater and Performance Studies is a fast-growing discipline within Georgetown College, and we specialize in the integration of critical and creative learning. We have a talented cadre of nationally-recognized scholars and professional artists on our faculty; meantime, we draw more than 250 students in our classes and Theater Program Season each year. (Students with majors from across the university may audition for our Theater Season.) We currently mentor over 40 minors and students may declare a major in Theater and Performance Studies for the first time as of this spring. As you can imagine, with a state-of-the-art performance lab in the Davis Center, and a growing faculty and student community, this is a time of tremendous vitality in the performing arts at Georgetown.

Each year, our Theater Program produces a creative season of plays in the Davis Center, typically organized around a theme. (Last year’s opening season in the Davis Center was our Season of Transformation; this year’s season focuses on Classics Re-Visioned.) Two hallmarks of our program include an interest in the development of new work and a concern with social justice as engaged through theater and community. While we are a liberal arts program interested in the exploration of culture/s, identity, and the world through performance, we also emphasize artistic excellence, as demonstrated by our special relationship with Arena Stage, with whom we annually host guest artists and student apprenticeships. The Theater Program also hosts special events open to the campus community, ranging from master-classes to simple touring productions, panel discussions to festivals.  Some of our signature classes include Adaptation and Performance of Literature, Ensemble Theater Workshop, World Theater History, Improv for Social Change, Performance Art and Acting Shakespeare as well as exceptional versions of more familiar offerings such as Acting, Directing, New Play Development, Design, Technical Production Methods, Dramaturgy, and Modern Drama.

Ours is an integrative discipline, involving the intellect, heart, body, and spirit in education. In this way, theater seems a wonderful way to honor the Jesuit principle of cura personalis, care for the whole person. The performing arts, and theater more specifically, also distinctively emphasize collaboration—working with others across differences on shared projects—thereby deepening one’s sense of community, as well as your ability to work in varied endeavors in the world. Many students who participate in our classes also participate in the lively student theatre clubs on campus (Mask and Bauble Dramatic Society, Nomadic Theatre, Black Theatre Ensemble, and Georgetown Players), each of which boasts a distinctive mission and annual production seasons.

We so hope you will join us in the fall! It’s an exhilarating time to do theater at Georgetown.

Sincerely,

Maya E. Roth, Ph.D.
Director of Theater Program
Artistic Director, Davis Performing Arts Center