Theatre Arts
Minor in Theatre Arts
This is your cue: If you love theatre — watching it, performing in it, or even reading it — then you should consider a minor in Theatre Arts. A Theatre Arts minor helps increase understanding and enjoyment of performance and develop skills in acting, directing, teamwork, interpretation, and critical reading. Plus, it's a fun, creative outlet to complement your other studies.
Why study Theatre Arts?
Here’s what makes the Mount’s Theatre Arts minor unique:
- Actor-audience relationship: Our Theatre professor takes pride in finding unique plays that offer intimate settings for actor-audience relationships. Being part of productions will help you learn more about the world and others’ experiences, flex your creativity and ingenuity, and start conversations on campus.
- Branch out: Want to write, direct, or produce performances? Many of our students will take on independent studies that allow them to do all three. One recent alumna, a Nursing major with a minor in Theatre Arts, decided to focus her Honors research project on the production of a 10-minute play, which was then featured at the Orange County Arts Council Ten Minute Play Festival.
- Theatre family: You’ll find your friends...no, your family...here, for long after these four years are over. Some alumni continue to work with Professor Phillips on productions at local theaters. Others come back to perform as alumni. Two of our theatre students even got engaged during their last performance at the college.
James Phillips Associate Professor of Theatre"We know our students as people, and we encourage them to discuss the highs and lows of their lives. When we say we care, it’s because we know our students and want them to succeed personally as well as academically."
James Phillips
Associate Professor of Theatre
What to expect as a Theatre Arts minor
18 credits
Learn about Theatre Arts academic requirements and courses here.
The Theatre Arts minor can be declared by any major. The six required courses fit easily into most programs’ elective credits. You’ll start out with Introduction to Theatre and then either Acting or Directing. After that, the choice is yours! You can choose from a number of theatre and dramatic literature courses to complete the minor.
Another aspect that is emphasized is the service of providing entertainment and commentary on real life issues through plays. For example, students in the Theater for School class will often put together performances or dramatic readings for students at Bishop Dunn Memorial School as part of their classwork, which are used to edify the elementary school students’ learning.
Of course, our Theatre Arts minors are highly encouraged to participate in the college productions each semester, but Theatre Arts minors can also practice their skills through the college’s improv club or through independent studies or research involving theater.
Be prepared for your future
The transferable skills offered by studying Theatre Arts are beneficial for any field. Theatre Arts students are used to working under tight deadlines, have excellent oral communication and memory skills, and know how to take direction and work collaboratively with others — skills that any employer will appreciate.
The minor also helps to prepare students who are interested in theatre-based careers such as playwriting, acting, production, performance, and more, especially when paired with a major like English or Production.
James Phillips
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