BFA in Theatre in Urbana United States | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The Department of Theatre's specialized programs offer comprehensive training to prepare students for professional careers in theater. Prospective students must demonstrate dedication and a clear grasp of the field's intellectual, artistic, and physical challenges. Admission requires auditions or interviews held annually at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and select regional sites like Chicago and New York. Acting candidates perform a three-minute selection of contrasting dramatic pieces, while design, technology, and management applicants submit portfolios. Theatre studies applicants must provide work samples and a 500-word essay outlining their academic interests in the program.

The department offers concentrations in Acting, Costume Design and Technology, Lighting Design, Scenic Design, Scenic Technology, Sound Design and Technology, Stage Management, and Theatre Studies. Students begin as general theatre majors before specializing after faculty evaluation during their first two years. The acting and design/technology tracks provide intensive professional training, while theatre studies focuses on advanced preparation in directing, dramaturgy, playwriting, arts administration, social theater, and theater scholarship.

As a resident company at Krannert Center, the department stages six to seven productions annually plus three summer shows. The center's facilities serve as training grounds where students collaborate with professional staff and visiting artists across theater, opera, and dance productions. The department also maintains an experimental theater space dedicated to student-created and student-led performances.