Liberal Arts
& Sciences

Theatre

Emporia State University boasts one of the strongest theatre programs in the country. With 8-10 productions every year, students learn by doing as actors, designers and technicians. And our graduates are prepared to teach, act, design or pursue graduate study. At ESU, students can earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) or Bachelor of Arts (BA) in theatre, or gain certification to become a secondary teacher in our BSE program in speech and theatre. Performances are staged in several theatre spaces. The Karl C. Bruder Theatre is a 400-seat proscenium house. The Ronald Q. Frederickson Theatre is our flexible black box space. The Inez P. Friesen Studio is a dance studio that showcases classroom and studio projects. Albert Taylor Hall is a thousand seat auditorium in historic Plumb Hall. So take that desire, passion, and talent you have for the theatre and develop your skills by pursuing a degree in theatre from ESU.


Salaries

  • Median Starting Salary: Approx: $32,000*
  • After 5 Years Experience: Approx: $ 40,000

Department Homepage

Quick Facts

  • You have the opportunity to participate in as many as ten productions throughout the school year and the summer. Recent productions include: Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, All My Sons, The Tempest, Little Shop of Horrors, Shakespeare in Hollywood, Rabbit Hole, The Glass Menagerie, The Rocky Horror Show, The Diviners and Hedda Gabler.
  • ESU Theatre is an active participant of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Seniors Maria Stukey (2008), Susan Samuelson (2009) and Ben Williams (2010) all spent weeklong residencies at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC for their acting, costume and set design.

Career Opportunities

  • Education
  • Public Relations
  • Arts Administration
  • Technical Theatre

Major Requirements

  • See below for more information

Clubs

  • Educational Theatre Company
  • Summer Theatre
  • Theatre Dance
  • ZOIKS!

Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree

  • General Education Requirement
  • Theatre Requirement: 57 hours
  • Electives: 13 hours

Bachelor of Science in Education

  • General Education Requirement
  • Option A (Two Teaching Fields): 40 hours
  • Option B (One Teaching Field): 48 hours

Bachelor of Arts Degree

  • General Education Requirement
  • Theatre Requirement: 34 hours
  • Second Program of Study: 15-30 hours

Theatre Minor

  • General Education Requirement
  • Major course of study
  • 18 hours selected with advisor

Participation Requirements

  • All ESU students are eligible to audition for ESU Theatre productions
  • Students must maintain a 2.0 GPA to participate in productions

August 2008: www.payscale.com: Art Teacher: Secondary