The Theatre Program delivers rigorous training in the performing arts within the liberal arts setting of Seaver College. With high production values onstage and frequent master classes taught by professional guest artists, our students experience firsthand the excitement of becoming theatre professionals.
Our theatre arts majors become intellectually and artistically prepared for careers in acting, directing, screen arts, musical theatre, and production design by teaching students the professional skills needed for real-world application. Our students help enrich the cultural environment at Seaver College by participating in University productions in our state-of-the-art facilities.
Our core curriculum is guided by the reasoning that, before theatre students are actors, designers, directors, singers, or dancers, they are theatre artists who will benefit from developing their appreciation and understanding of the art form. Through core classes in design, dramaturgy, stagecraft, history, and art as social justice, our theatre students learn about fundamental principles that will become a bedrock of understanding whether they intend to stay in theatre or to navigate to other fields within the entertainment arts such as film or television. At Pepperdine, we believe that a strong theatre core builds grit within our theatre students and prepares them to become well-rounded, resilient theatre makers once they graduate from our program.
Our directing students take select courses in all areas within the major, including acting and voice, design and technology, stage management, and art history. The centerpiece of the directing training is the year-long directing course, during which student directors direct monologues, scenes and a workshop production of a one-act play. Directing majors take the assistant directing practicum, where they work alongside a faculty director on a mainstage production, at least once during their time at Pepperdine. Finally, the directing course of study culminates in a directing thesis, which is a workshop production of a fully staged full-length play in our studio theatre.
