Theatre is a collaborative art form. To perform is to step into the shoes of a character, to let go of inhibitions, and to dwell in a cooperative space.

Why study theatre at Sewanee?

Majoring in theatre at Sewanee will give you a strong foundation in all areas of study: acting, directing, design, history, and theory. You’ll expand your knowledge and experience by actively participating in full-production programs. You’ll also be encouraged to supplement your learning with complementary courses in other departments like English and psychology.

Competence on stage and behind the scenes and collaboration with your cast and crew exhibit more than just an understanding of theatre—they demonstrate the mastery of skills needed to live well in community with others. Here at Sewanee, theatre can help you be successful in life both on and off the stage.

FIRST DESTINATIONS: Theatre MAJORS

Sewanee graduates secure positions in a variety of fields. Some you would expect, others, are a bit of a surprise. Sewanee prepares you for your profession and your passion. Below is a sampling of recent graduates' first jobs.

  • Actor, Tennessee Shakespeare Company, Germantown, Tennessee.
  • Brand planning intern, The Richards Group, Dallas, Texas.
  • Choreographer and head of movement/fight, Merrie Woode, Sapphire, North Carolina.
FELLOWSHIP IN THE ARTS

Students with exceptional promise in performing or studio arts can apply for a Fellowship in the Arts. These fellowships range in value and are renewable for four years.

Recent Productions

Sense & Sensibility
by Kate Hamill
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The Revolutionists
by Lauren Gunderson
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Much Ado About Nothing
by William Shakespeare
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Eurydice
by Sarah Ruhl
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Hamlet
By William Shakespeare
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Men on Boats
by Jaclyn Backhaus
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
by Mark Haddon
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Ugly Lies the Bone
by Lindsey Ferrentino
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Our Country's Good
by Timberlake Wertenbaker
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The Taming of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
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Cabaret
by Kander, Ebb, & Masteroff
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The Crucible
by Arthur Miller
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Scapin
by Molière
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Good Kids
by Naomi Iizuka
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The Threepenny Opera
by Bertolt Brecht
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Dancing at Lughnasa
by Brian Friel
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The Good Doctor
by Neil Simon
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Metamorphoses
by Mary Zimmerman
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Antigone
by Sophocles
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Anton in Show Business
by Jane Martin
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22-23Theatre

Let the Dream Begin

Sewanee theatre grad Jordan Craig, C’11, was on the verge of giving up acting. Then the Phantom called.

Jordan Craig, C’11, was on his way to a job interview when he got the phone call of a lifetime. At the time, he was working two jobs and was on a crowded bus in New York City en route to an interview for a third job when he answered a call from his agent. 

“My agent calls and asks what I’m doing,” Jordan says. “I’m a little discouraged at this point—almost ready to give up theatre altogether. Then my agent asks, ‘Would you rather not be going to that interview? How would you like to be in The Phantom of the Opera instead?’ I can’t remember exactly what happened in that moment, but I remember screaming in excitement and jumping off the bus at the next stop. Needless to say, I didn’t make it to that interview.”

Read More

A Sampling of Courses

Fundamentals of Theatre Production
Theatre

An examination of the collaborative contributions costumes, scenery, lighting, and property technicians make to the art of theatre. An introduction to the materials, technologies, equipment, structures, and best practices used in contemporary theatre production.

THTR 111
Shakespeare and the Actor
Theatre

Intensive rehearsal of selected monologues and scenes. Exercises in this course help students develop vocal and physical expressiveness and skill in speaking heightened language.

THTR 232
Computer Aided Design for Performance
Theatre

An opportunity for advanced students to explore drafting, drawing, rendering, and modeling software used for scenery, lighting, and costume design. Designers work together on various advanced projects and have the opportunity to experiment in each area of design using the related software.

THTR 360
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Theatre

Requirements & Related Programs

Requirements for the Major & Minor in Theatre

Requirements for the Minor in Dance | Website

Meet Some Professors

Dan Backlund
dbacklun@sewanee.edu

Dan Backlund teaches classes in scenic design, lighting design, scene painting, computer aided drafting and design, as well as Asian Theatre. He has worked professionally as a designer and scenic artist for more than 400 shows creating scenery, lighting, and environmental designs for theatre, dance, opera, television, special events, and live concerts.

Professor of Theatre and Director of the Sewanee Summer Seminar
James Crawford
jscrawfo@sewanee.edu

James Crawford teaches acting classes in contemporary and classical acting, as well as Queer America on Stage and Screen. At Sewanee he has directed productions of Hamlet, Cabaret, Our Country's Good, The Crucible, Good Kids, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, and upcoming Urinetown: The Musical. A graduate of Brown University, James received his MFA at UC San Diego. An award-winning actor who's worked at theatres across the country, James is the co-director of the Sewanee-in-England program.

Professor & Chair of Theatre Department
Jennifer Matthews
jmatthew@sewanee.edu

Jennifer Matthews' specialty is costume design and technology, and she teaches a full range of courses in those areas as well as make-up design and application. Matthews has studied wig making in New York with Bob Kelly and scenography with Tony Award-winning designer Desmond Heeley.

Professor of Theatre
Elyzabeth Wilder
egwilder@sewanee.edu

Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder’s plays include Gee's Bend, Fresh Kills, Provenance, The Flagmaker of Market Street, The Furniture of Home, White Lightning and Everything That’s Beautiful. Her plays have been produced at the Royal Court (London) and throughout the United States. She was the recipient of the Osborn Award given by the American Theatre Critics Association. Elyzabeth is a graduate of the dramatic writing program at New York University, where she was a Tisch Dramatic Writing Fellow.

Visiting Assistant Professor & Tennessee Williams Playwright in Residence
Courtney World
coworld@sewanee.edu

Courtney directs the dance program at the University of the South. In her professional performing career, she danced for eight years simultaneously with Bill Evans Dance Company/Bill Evans Rhythm Tap Ensemble, and BIODANCE.  She currently performs tap and modern dance with companies and independent artists on a project basis. As a choreographer, her work has been performed nationally at theaters, festivals, and universities.  She has taught dance in higher education at The College at Brockport, The University of Rochester, Nazareth College, and Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Since arriving at Sewanee, Courtney has developed the dance minor curriculum and was named the 2015-2017 recipient of the James D. Kennedy III Endowed Faculty Fellowship.

Associate Professor of Dance
Sarah Lacy Hamilton
slhamilt@sewanee.edu

Sarah Lacy Hamilton (she/her) is a director specializing in actor-driven productions of new and contemporary plays that foreground the human condition and highlight the experiences of underrepresented communities. Past directing credits include In the Next Room or the vibrator play by Sarah Ruhl, Dry Land by Ruby Rae Spiegel, Sweat by Lynn Nottage, and HIR by Taylor Mac. Hamilton has also directed a variety of new plays by members of the prestigious Iowa Playwrights Workshop, including C. Meaker’s Nothing But Days, Eric Marlin’s Blackberry: A Burial, and S.P. O’Brien’s PALANQUIN. Hamilton has trained in intimacy choreography and consent-based practices with Intimacy Directors International and Theatrical Intimacy Education. Prior to joining the faculty at Sewanee, Hamilton served as a Visiting Guest Faculty member at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities and an Adjunct Faculty member at Pellissippi State Community College. MFA, University of Iowa. BFA, Southern Methodist University. Associate Member, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre
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Contact

James crawford
Professor and chair of Theatre

jscrawfo@sewanee.edu

Tennessee Williams Center 111, Ext. 1303

Meet Cameron Noel, C'21

Theatre major, dance minor, second-year MFA student in playwriting at Southern Illinois University and winner of the Christian H. Moe Playwriting Award for Best Short Play

When it comes to playwriting, my mind is like a locomotive going off the tracks. I'm constantly coming up with new ideas or writing down lines in the Notes app on my phone. I'll be at the grocery store picking up a package of ground beef and suddenly be like, "I know how to end this scene!"; One lesson from Professor Elyzabeth Wilder's advanced playwriting class at Sewanee has always stayed with me-when you're writing a play or you're coming up with a concept for a play, you have to ask, "Why tell this story now?" It makes sure your play has a point of view.

Hearing actors read one of my plays is both nerve-wracking and my favorite part. If there's a typo anywhere in there, they'll find it. But the really scary part is that you never know if what is in your mind is translating to the page. I've never thought of myself as a comedic writer, so it's surprising and rewarding whenever I write a joke on the page, an actor reads it, and the people in the room actually laugh. I also love it when I have a talkback after a performance or workshop and someone says, "I noticed you did this deeply symbolic thing or made this historical reference."  And I'll just sit back and say, "I had no idea. That was not on purpose, but yes, absolutely. You saw something in it, so I'm going to claim it. Thank you so much."

As artists, we always bring a part of ourselves to the work. I am interested in telling authentic Black and queer stories-I'm a gay Black man, so those stories are very important to me. I would often look at so many plays and movies and find myself complaining, "Where are the characters who look like me?"  And I thought, "Well, if you don't like what you're seeing, then go write what you do want to see." People of color and members of marginalized communities are so multifaceted, and there's so much room for creativity and so many untapped narrative possibilities. I want to take what I've learned and write those stories for my community.

Cameron Noel
Theatre Major, Dance Minor C'21

Performances

Sense & Sensibility

Kate Hamill's mischievous stage adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel Sense & Sensibility is directed by Sarah Hamilton, and runs October 26-30 at the Tennessee Williams Center.

Reserve your free tickets

Cameron Noel, C'21

Recent graduate, Cameron Noel, puts lessons learned at Sewanee as a Theatre major and dance minor to use as a playwright.  Read more to find out how.

Read more

Dr. Matthews Wins Sewanee Faculty Award

Congratulations to the winners of Sewanee’s 2022 Faculty Awards, including (from left to right): Ben Mangrum, Liesl Allingham, Jennifer Matthews, and Julian Ledford. Dr. Matthews was recognized for Excellence in Service to the Institution.  The awards were handed out during a reception in Guerry Garth April 14.
 

 

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Connecting the Dots

Tennessee Williams Center
Legacy of the south's favorite playwright

The Tennessee Williams Center provides unique, state-of-the-art facilities for students and faculty. Created with funds from the estate of Tennessee Williams himself, the Center houses a fully-equipped 175-seat theatre, a 60-seat studio theatre, a drafting and design studio, a dance studio, costume and scenery studios, and dressing rooms.

On with the show!
American Shakespeare Center
an academic leadership consortium

The University of the South has become a charter member of American Shakespeare Center’s academic leadership consortium. The partnership will bring the company’s national tour to the university each year, and ASC will host Sewanee students and scholars at its home theater, Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton, Virginia. On-campus workshops, covering topics from stage combat to unraveling Shakespeare’s text, will also be offered by ASC actors in residency.

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Study Abroad
Engaged citizens solving global problems

At Sewanee, we pledge to offer each student an opportunity to study abroad. And at Sewanee, we keep our promises. Travel, learn, and cultivate your knowledge by communicating across cultures and acquiring a sensitivity to other ways of life. Apply social scientific methodologies to various frameworks. Learn to formulate solutions to global problems and apply those theories at home in a local context.

More about Study Abroad