Theatre | Media Performance & Production | Costuming & Cosplay | Theatre Education

FSU Theatre is home to a BA in Theatre with concentrations available in Media Performance, Media Production, Costuming & Cosplay, and Education (non-licensure), or students may pursue general theatre studies instead of a specific focus. We offer minors in Theatre, Dance, and Costuming & Cosplay. We produce an annual season of mainstage shows, including children's drama, musical theatre, African American drama, Shakespeare and other classics, Play in a Day, and screen performances. Our program is led by world-class faculty with strong ties to the professional field. With deep ties to the professional theatre community in and around Fayetteville, our program maximizes student potential.

Why Choose Theatre?

Our academic program includes an internship and other professional development so students may anticipate working in the field upon graduation. Graduates of our program have gone on to graduate school, teaching or professional work in the field.

Where Will You Learn?

Most FSU Theatre productions take place in our 200-seat Butler Theater in the heart of the east FSU campus. Equipped with state of the art lighting and sound technology and a fully furnished scene shop, Butler Theater is home to most of our mainstage shows and many of our classes. We occasionally produce shows in FSU's 1100-seat Seabrook Auditorium, including our children's production and special classics and musicals.

Titus Emmanuel Ferrell

Titus Emmanuel Ferrell (class of 2011) was recently hired as a resident company member with Atlanta's Kaiser Permanente children's theatre touring company.

SPRING 2024

Upcoming Events at FSU Theatre & Dance

Pull Up Poet

🎙️ Spoken Word Poetry Event

Hosted by: Fayetteville State University Theatre & Dance and the FSU Department of Performing and Fine Arts. Supported by The Arts Council of Fayetteville & Cumberland County.

🗓️ Date: January 27, 2024
🕢 Time: Doors open 7pm
📍 Venue: Butler Theater, FSU Campus, Fayetteville, NC

Join us for an unforgettable night of lyrical magic and powerful storytelling. Be mesmerized by the talents of acclaimed spoken word artists:

- 🎤 Suave the Poet
- 🎤 Nick Courmon
- 🎤 Megan Rickman
- 🎤 Sh8kes
- 🎤 Poetic Zae
- 🎤 Tamia King

Their words will evoke emotions, ignite imagination, and take you on a journey through the human experience.

🎟️ Tickets: $10 for the general public - [Purchase Here] 
🆓 FREE for FSU students with ID

Everybody

🎭 Modern Morality Play

Presented by: Fayetteville State University Theatre & Dance and Sweet Tea Shakespeare

About the Play:
"Everybody" by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Drama. This inventive play offers a modern twist on the classic fifteenth-century morality play "Everyman," exploring life, death, and human connection.

Performance Details: 
- FSU (outdoors): April 25-28, 2024 | 7:30 PM (6:45 PM live music preshow)
- Location: Outdoor Courtyard at Broadwell College of Business & Economics/Butler Building
- Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex (outdoors): May 2-5, 2025 | 7:30 PM (6:45 PM live music preshow)
- Location: Rear of the 1897 Poe House
- Rain location: Butler Theater, Fayetteville State University (both weekends)

Creative Team: Directed by Sweet Tea Shakespeare and FSU, featuring a mix of FSU students, faculty, staff, and community actors.

Additional Features: Live house band providing pre-show entertainment, intermission music, and internal musical elements.

Tickets: Available online and at the door (subject to availability). Ticket links coming soon!

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Venue Information:

Butler Theater is located in the G.L. Butler Building on the FSU campus. For directions, enter the campus at Murchison Road and W.T. Brown Drive. Follow W.T. Brown Drive until it dead-ends at Administration Drive. Proceed to the parking lot, with Chesnutt Library on the right and the Butler Building straight ahead. Follow the brick pathway and look for FSU Theatre signs in the breezeway to the right.

Don't miss these captivating events that promise to engage, inspire, and entertain! 🎭📖✨

Stage & Screen, Costume/Cosplay/Fashion, Dance, and Education Programs in Theatre

Hamlet

We offer several exciting programs for students interested in stage and screen performance, design, production, directing, musical theatre, playwriting, and much more. Programs include:

  • BA in Theatre

  • BA in Theatre with a concentration in Media Performance

  • BA in Theatre with a concentration in Media Production

  • BA in Theatre with a concentration in Costuming/Cosplay

  • BA in Theatre with a concentration in Education (non-licensure)

  • Minor in Theatre

  • Minor in Dance

  • Minor in Costuming, Cosplay, & Fashion

You can find our curriculum plans, course descriptions, and more in the University's online catalog.

What Will You Learn in Our Programs?

Students majoring in Theatre with a concentration in Media Performance will complete intensive course work focused on performance for the screen including film, television, and social media, consisting of acting and voice work, characterization, camera studio work, and short films. ​Part of a general program collaboration between the Theatre and Communications areas​, new approaches seek to update courses using experiences with film, television and stage, to fill the need to expand professional practices in both areas and prepare students for lifelong careers in stage and screen ​performance.

Students majoring in Theatre with a concentration in Media Production will focus on audio, video, lighting, and stage production for film, television, and new media. The concentration looks intently at the crossover in production between theatre, television/film, and social media​, developing skills in a multidisciplinary platform that will broaden training and skill sets in various disciplines preparing them for lifelong careers in stage and screen ​production. 

Both concentrations are collaborations with FSU's Department of Communications and World Languages. 

Students may major in Theatre with a concentration in Costuming and Cosplay, ​developing studio, technical production, and artistic skills necessary to work in a variety of disciplines from traditional stage and screen costuming and props work to fantasy cons, Live Action Role Play, and much more. With classes in makeup, costuming, sculpture, mold making, and opportunities for props and mask work, this concentration will provide students an exciting set of in-demand skills and experiences ​that prepare​s them for worthwhile careers in the field. ​While this concentration is a collaboration with FSU's ​Visual Art program​, it may also be taken independently as a Minor. 

Students majoring in Theatre with a concentration in Education (non-licensure) will blend studies in traditional areas of theatre with ​required courses from FSU's College of Education ​that prepare them for lifelong work with students. Students will have both in-class and out-of-class opportunities to gain practical experience and technical proficiency, including those gained through campus-based theatrical productions and internships with local employers. The program takes a holistic approach toward the study of theatre that embraces relevant areas of review and practice within the disciplines of English, Communications, Education, as well as Theatre. This is a non-licensure concentration, though students will find themselves well prepared for teaching positions via lateral entry, working as Directors of Education for regional theatres and arts organizations, or ​establishing their own studios.

Alternatively, students may pursue general studies in Theatre without one of these concentrations.

Together, these concentrations and studies the FSU Theatre program position students for quality work in their chosen field. Each new offering blends with FSU's strong core of theatre classes and production experiences, ​providing students a broad practical and theoretical background in the theatre. FSU Theatre is proud to have developed students who've gone on to work as professional actors, production professionals, ​writers, and educators. 

What Will You Do with What You Learn in Our Theatre & Media Programs?

With drive, initiative, and ability, a degree, minnor or certificate in our programs prepares you for numerous career choices and possibilities. Practical skills in performance, communication, education, management, design, and production prepare you for careers in:

  • Actor Stand-in (film work)
  • Theme Park Entertainment
  • Comedian/Impersonator
  • Stunt Coordinator
  • Technical Director
  • Scenic Painter
  • Costumer/Draper/Dresser
  • Sound Board Operator
  • Light Board Operator
  • Master Electrician
  • Master Carpenter
  • Production Coordinator
  • Producer
  • Stage Management
  • Arts Marketing
  • Stage Hand
  • Properties Coordinator
  • Choreographer
  • Artistic Director
  • Arts Entrepreneur
  • Dramaturge
  • Playwright
  • Screenwriter
  • Direction
  • Conference Production & Management
  • Design
  • Props production
  • Arts Administration
  • Politics
  • Law
  • Technical Theatre & Production Management
  • Acting Education & Instruction
  • Theatre History
  • Theatre/Film Criticism
  • Writing Criticism
  • Talent Representation (i.e., agents)
  • Labor Relations
  • Producing Advertising/Marketing
  • Radio/TV Voice Work
  • Training & Development
  • Public Affairs
  • Box Office
  • Public Relations