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.

Split Vision

Senior Showcase Performances
Butler Theater | Free Admission
March 26, 27, 28 at 7:00 PM

Join us for Split Vision, an evening of performance created and curated by graduating theatre seniors from Fayetteville State University. Each night features a mix of showcase scenes, shorter performances, and monologues alongside original work developed by the artists themselves.

The program highlights the voices and creative perspectives of emerging performers as they step into the next chapter of their artistic lives. Across the three evenings, audiences will encounter contemporary and classic material alongside new work that reflects on identity, pressure, resilience, and the search for wholeness in a divided world.

Featured work includes a new one-act play by Lōre, a series of short pieces by Nichelle Smith, and a short film by Daylen Clemons, along with solo and small group performances by the graduating artists who are joined by other students.

Lōre’s one-act follows four diasporic women competing for a single opportunity, a coveted position that forces them to confront how manufactured tension and limited access can fracture even the deepest sense of unity.

Nichelle’s scenes reflect a joyous and challenging tapestry of characters ranging from beset princesses to frustrated heroines.

Daylen’s film tells the story of a young man racing against the clock to reclaim his future, navigating systems and expectations that seem designed to hold him in place.

Together, these works invite the FSU community to reflect on identity, division, resilience, and the wide range of Black experience. The evening offers storytelling shaped by emerging artists whose voices are urgent, imaginative, and necessary.

Performance Schedule

March 26 – 7:00 PM ~ Nichelle Smith + Daylen Clemons

March 27 – 7:00 PM ~ Nichelle Smith + Lōre

March 28 – 7:00 PM ~ Lōre + Daylen Clemons

Artist Highlights

Nichelle Smith

Nichelle Smith is excited to serve as acting director for this year’s senior showcase. She has been part of the Gilbert Theater’s Glee acting program for more than seven years and studied theatre at Douglas Byrd High School. Nichelle has interned with Cape Fear Regional Theatre on productions of The Color Purple and Clue, assisted backstage at FTCC’s Student Showcase, and worked on Steel Magnolias. At FSU she served on run crew for Kinky Boots and appeared in the immersive production A Very Black History. Now completing her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre, Nichelle enjoys singing, dancing, acting, and writing stories. She hopes audiences can sit back, relax, laugh, and leave the evening entertained after a long day.

Lōre

Lōre is a senior Theatre major at Fayetteville State University graduating this spring. A non-traditional transfer student, U.S. military veteran, and mother, she made her collegiate debut at FSU as Salima in Ruined by Lynn Nottage. Lōre’s artistry is grounded in discipline, focus, and a commitment to storytelling shaped by lived experience. Her work centers complex human stories that highlight underrepresented voices while exploring vulnerability, perseverance, and purpose. Through this showcase, she hopes to present work that is thoughtful, humorous, and spiritually moving, offering audiences a glimpse into the stories she plans to bring to stage and screen in the next chapter of her career.

Daylen Clemons

Daylen Clemons is a senior theatre artist and filmmaker at Fayetteville State University whose work blends performance and visual storytelling. Drawn to stories about ambition, pressure, and personal transformation, Daylen’s creative work often explores the moment when someone decides whether to accept the limits placed on them or push past them. For Split Vision, he presents a short film that follows a young man navigating systems and expectations while trying to reclaim control of his future. Daylen hopes audiences leave thinking about the choices that shape a life and the courage it takes to step into the unknown.

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 prepares 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

Jeremy Fiebig
Professor of Theatre & Directing
Butler 139
910-672-2574
jfiebig@uncfsu.edu

David Griffie
Professor of Theatre, Design, & Production
Butler Building 269
910-672-1275
dgriffie@uncfsu.edu

Avis Hatcher-Puzzo
Associate Professor of Dance
Rosenthal Building
ahatche1@uncfsu.edu

FSU Box Office
910-672-1724

FSU Theatre partners with community groups on a regular basis for events, artist workshops, costume rentals, props/scenic rentals, co-production, and more. Please reach out to program faculty if you have questions.

We receive a number of requests for use of Butler Theater by campus and community groups. It is generally not available during the academic year due to production demands. Use by outside groups is governed by FSU Policy, which requires a full proposal submitted to the appropriate campus review committee. As a rule, technical equipment (lighting, sound, projection) is not included in space use.

We receive a number of requests from the campus and community for actors to be in productions, haunted houses, special initiatives, and more. You can share those opportunities with faculty, who will screen them and advance them to students if the opportunity serves student learning. For your opportunity to be shared with students, you need to list:

Name of producing artists & production company.
Details about the producing artists, production company, and project.
Rehearsal and performance dates, location, and other critical details.
Roles available.
Pay and other contract details. We generally do not forward to students unpaid opportunities.

Tickets may be purchased by visiting the FSU Box Office in Seabrook Auditorium at the main entrance to campus at Murchison Road and W.T. Brown Drive by calling (910) 672-1724 during business hours, or by purchasing online at Etix.com -- just search the title and venue of the performance, such as “Doctor Faustus Butler” or “Business of Blackness Seabrook,” if the links are not provided in event descriptions.

Ticket buyers consent to receive email and MMS/SMS messages from FSU Theatre & Dance for future events, and may opt out at any time.

FSU Students may acquire free tickets by registering at least 24 hours in advance of a performance. Registration details are available in the show descriptions above or by calling the FSU Box Office at (910) 672-1724.

The FSU campus offers limited parking. Butler Theater can be difficult to find. You are strongly encouraged to research your destination ahead of time so that you arrive before the start of the performance. FSU Theatre & Dance reserves the right to prohibit late entry of any kind.

Refunds will not be offered for any reason, including late arrival, except in cases of cancellation.

No cell phones, photography, videography, or other recording devices allowed.

FSU Theatre & Dance reserves the right to restrict ages of guests. Unless our production is specifically for children, infants and toddlers will not be admitted.

Guests who leave the performance may not be readmitted at the discretion of Front of House staff.

Butler Theater is home to FSU Theatre & Dance. Housed in the G.L. Butler Building in the heart of the Fayetteville State University campus, Butler Theatre hosts plays, musicals, and events throughout the year. To locate Butler Theatre, enter campus at the main entrance on Murchison Road and W.T. Brown Drive. Follow W.T. Brown Drive until it dead-ends at Administration Drive. Proceed ahead to the parking lot. Chesnutt Library is on the right. The Butler Building is straight ahead. Park in the lot and proceed to the left, up the brick pathway. Look for FSU Theatre signs in the breezeway to the right.

Butler Theater in Google Maps

Seabrook Auditorium is located on the South side of the main campus entrance at 1200 Murchison Road and W.T. Brown Drive, next to our beautiful campus fountain. Parking is in the rear of the auditorium.

Seabrook Auditorium in Google Maps

Bringing out the Best Character in You