Carthage’s award-winning Theatre Department offers challenging classes, an ambitious performance schedule, and the chance to work with top names in the field. The central campus location allows the Theatre Department to bring in prominent guest artists from Milwaukee and Chicago. Students are active in every facet of Carthage’s original and classic plays.
Best School for Drama and Theater Arts in Wisconsin
Act. Direct. Build. Design. Do it all with Carthage Theatre.
New Play Initiative
Prominent American Playwrights Working with You.
Carthage Theatre is committed to creating exciting, compelling new theatre works. Since 2008, Carthage Theatre has commissioned playwrights of prominence from around the country and the world to create original plays for our department and work closely with our students to bring them to life. These works receive their world premieres here at Carthage. This unique opportunity means that our students collaborate with playwrights currently active in the highest levels of the theatre world.
Carthage is regularly invited to perform these plays at the Kennedy Center’s regional American College Theater Festival, resulting in dozens of national awards and commendations.
Students have many opportunities to be directly engaged in their craft as Carthage produces four faculty- or guest-directed Main Stage shows each year (one of which is always a musical) and multiple student-directed productions in our studio space.
Our Dance Program features a yearly faculty-choreographed concert and a student concert. Student directors also stage 2-3 full-length productions yearly in our 80-seat studio space.
Carthage theatre students can take courses in theatre history, directing, playwriting, dance, scene design, costume design, lighting, and more. Budding performers study acting theory, voice training, dance and movement, and scene work.
Acting students receive four semesters of acting theory, voice training, body alignment, and scene work. Students are involved in every aspect of theatrical production. These duties include hanging lights, sewing costumes, stage management, and many others.
Carthage offers bachelor of arts degrees in theatre, theatre performance, technical direction, technical costume design, and technical stage management.
Carthage also offers teacher licensure, a dance minor, a costume design minor, and a degree in musical theatre. Admission to the program is contingent on an audition.
“My biggest surprise so far was getting the main role in the play ‘Antigone.’ To play the main character in my first play at Carthage was the highlight of my freshman year.”
“Carthage, unlike big universities, allowed me to work on multiple theatre events and productions my first year instead of having to wait until my junior or senior year.”
“I chose Carthage because it was important for me to be at a college with small classes where I could get to know my professors.”
“My advisors and professors have encouraged me to take risks and take advantage of opportunities that are presented to me. They have helped me grow as a student and as an artist.”
“The wonderful thing about Carthage is that there are many different types of performance opportunities, so if you don’t get cast in a show right away, there are other opportunities to audition and perform within the department.”
beyond the classroom
Visiting Professionals
In addition to commissioning guest playwrights through the New Play Initiative, Carthage regularly invites respected professional theatre practitioners to campus to work with students. Recent visiting professionals include Tony Award-winning scenic designer Todd Rosenthal, Steppenwolf casting director Erica Daniels, and Milwaukee Repertory Theater associate artistic director Sandy Ernst.
Student Organizations
Theatre majors may be interested in Neil- Futurists, a rule-breaking theatre group inspired by a Carthage class or improv group Merely Players. Alpha Psi Omega, a national honor society, honors top theatre scholars.
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