About Us:

WMU’s nationally award-winning Department of Theatre offers extensive onstage, offstage, and behind the curtain training. The range of experiences to which you will be exposed is vast, creating the kind of well-rounded theatre artist necessary in today’s field. Opportunities for participation in the production program begin in the freshman year. The department presents nine faculty-directed productions each season in three different theatres, which feature student designs in set, costumes, lighting, and sound. Additional plays are presented in the laboratory theatre program and in the directing classes, allowing even more opportunities for onstage experience and student directing through our Footlight productions.

With BFA degrees in Performance, Design and Technical Theatre, Stage Management, Music Theatre Performance, and BA programs in Arts Management and Theater Studies, we are committed to providing a broad theatre background and the mastery of theatre fundamentals. The Western theatre experience includes master classes with nationally recognized guest artists and a low student to faculty ratio. We offer national and international travel opportunities and participation in conferences and regional competitions. All of these experiences are designed to complement the core program by taking academics far beyond the classroom.