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.

Be A Wolf | A Story About What We Are and What We Are Becoming

Kinky Boots Poster

The night could be filled with wonderful things. Why let fear stop you?

This is my story of the ones who run, the ones who stay, and the moment they realize it was never me they feared.

Be A Wolf is a darkly comedic, unsettlingly playful exploration of the stories we tell ourselves to feel safe—and what happens when we stop believing them.

Presented by Fayetteville State University Theatre, this pop-up performance is one of three special previews before the production travels to Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025.

Your pay-what-you-wish cash donation helps bring this original play to an international stage.

Performance Dates & Locations:

  • 4/24 - Butler Theater, 7PM
  • 4/25 - Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 7PM (1601 Raeford Road)
  • 4/26 - The Capitol Encore Academy High School, 7PM (200 Mason Street)

Pay what you wish (CASH donations only). All proceeds support the trip to Fringe.

Come early. Stay close. Step inside.

 

 

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