As a touring production stage manager, it is imperative to quickly foster a sense of community between the creative and design team, performers, musicians and technicians in order to set up the theater production process for success as we travel through different states and countries. Goshen College’s encouragement in community outreach, both globally and locally, has assisted in my ability to communicate and work with people from all areas and bring them together to make memorable performances. I’m grateful for my opportunities to travel around the world, meet new people, and share important stories.
Bachelor of Arts
Theater
Major & Minor
Create performances with purpose
Theater matters here, and you make it happen.
Goshen College’s theater program trains you in acting, directing, design, stage management and dramaturgy through full-scale productions. You gain hands-on experience from your very first semester.
The work centers on stories that tackle questions of justice, identity and community. Through main stage productions, student-directed shows and interdisciplinary projects, you will build artistic and leadership skills that serve you on stage and beyond.
What you’ll study
The theater program follows a flexible curriculum built around developing your specialty and expanding your range. Core courses include Acting, Design, Stagecraft, Directing and Theater History. You”ll work closely with faculty mentors and finish with a senior project shaped to your own interests and goals.
Our theater curriculum pairs well with minors and second majors in many disciplines, tailoring the degree to your goals. Recent graduates have added business, communication, English, music and history to their studies.
View the complete program requirements in our catalog.
A place where you can fully belong
You can belong here as your whole self. Theater at Goshen College is a collaborative community where your faith, your identity and your voice come with you into the rehearsal room rather than getting left at the door. Students who arrive from across the country and around the world find their people fast, whether in casts, crews or the scene shop.
The work continues after commencement. Every theater graduate since 2022 is working in live performance, on stages in major cities and smaller towns, at universities and on national tours. Our graduates build careers as directors, freelance professional actors, technicians and theater educators, putting the craft they honed at Goshen to work in real productions and classrooms.
Theater beyond the stage
Each January, Goshen College theater students travel to the , a multi-day gathering of undergraduate theater programs where students share their work, compete, network and learn alongside working professionals.
Beyond that, you’ll have the opportunity to participate in interdisciplinary and global experiences such as the Arts in London course. You’ll travel to London for this immersive class, where your group will explore contemporary British literature, engage with diverse diaspora communities and complete experiential assignments in renowned settings like the British Museum and Globe Theatre.
Gloria Bontrager-Thomas '22
Production Stage Manager at THE WIZ North American Tour
Paying for Goshen College
Talented students involved in theater can earn performance-based theater scholarships at Goshen College, awarded by audition or portfolio submission and open to you regardless of your major. Those stack with academic scholarships and need-based aid.
To see your own price after aid, run the net price calculator or explore your options at the financial aid and scholarships pages.
Common questions about the theater major
Theater graduates work in acting, arts administration, directing, dramaturgy, scenic or costume design, stage management, theater education and community arts. At Goshen College, 100% of theater graduates since 2022 are working in live performance. Alumni work in professional theater companies, public schools, graduate programs and arts nonprofits across the country.
Core theater courses include all areas of performance, design, production and history, building capacity to succeed in a variety of professional environments. You”ll be able to tailor advanced theater courses and a senior project to your own interests. Thanks to Goshen’s full BA curriculum, theater students finish ready to pursue their careers with intention and adapt to a fast-changing world. You can even add a minor or second major to pursue your own goals.
Yes. Theater at Goshen is collaborative from your first semester, with mainstage productions, student-directed shows and the Arts in London course that takes you out into the world. On a small, values-centered campus in Goshen, Indiana, students who arrive from across the globe find people quickly all across campus, whether in the rehearsal room, scene shop or dining hall.
You train and perform in the Umble Center, a 350+ seat auditorium with a proscenium/thrust hybrid stage, a full lighting and sound system, a scene shop and a costume shop.
Start your application at the Goshen College apply page, or request information first if you’d like to talk through fit, the facilities, or careers in theater before committing. You can also schedule a visit to meet the faculty.
Amy Budd
Associate Professor of Theater
Matthew Hill
Professor of Music
