Theater

PSU Theater Admission Process

Learn how to visit the PSU Theater program, observe classes and rehearsals, meet faculty, apply, and get support with scholarships and financial aid.

learn how to visit and apply

Actress one holding a yellow lawn chair. Actress two with her hand up like she is trying to hush actress one. From PSU Theater's "Frontieres sans Frontieres"

The Bachelor of Arts/Science in Theater Arts

The Bachelor of Arts/Science in Theater Arts provides students with a broad foundation in acting, directing, scholarship, or design and technical production to prepare you for graduate study, or to pursue a career as a working professional in theater arts.

More about this degree

Audience members looking at a stage with purple lighting and musicians, and lighting hung in rafters overhead.

Design and Technical Production

Unleash your imagination in the world of scenery, lighting, costumes, props, paint, sound, and projections. Join a vibrant community where innovation meets collaboration. Whether you’re considering a career in design and tech or just want to get your hands dirty, there are many opportunities to explore.

The Acting Program

Taught by working theater professionals, our Acting Program offers classes in Voice, Movement, Improvisation, Acting for the Camera, Devising, and Beginning and Advanced Acting. Our highly skilled, in-depth actor training coupled with liberal arts studies forges actors who know how to interpret and develop a role, who are bold and rigorous in practice and who know history, philosophy, and literature.

Learn from the Pros

Taught by working theater professionals, our Acting Program offers classes in Voice, Movement, Improvisation, Acting for the Camera, Devising, and Beginning and Advanced Acting. Our highly-skilled, in-depth actor training coupled with liberal arts studies forges actors who know how to interpret and develop a role, who are bold and rigorous in practice and who know history, philosophy, and literature. Our actors are ready to respond to and reflect the world in which we live.

A Practical Approach

Rooted in Stanislavsky and Uta Hagen's actor philosophy, our actor training provides a smorgasbord table of experiences, from the improvisation work of Keith Johnstone to Catherine Fitzmaurice Voicework to the moment-to-moment work of Meisner.

Intensive Training

Unique to our School is an Advanced Acting Sequence. Students are admitted by audition only. Taught over the course of an entire school year by a master teacher of acting, students dive deeper into process, interpretation, classical, audition, and style work. Production work puts it all into practice and students have many opportunities at PSU and in Portland to hone their craft.

Our Alumni

Our graduates have earned placement at Bristol Old Vic, The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Harvard/ART, American Conservatory Theater, The National Theater Institute/O'Neill Center, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, The Mabou Mines, The Wooster Group, and man

Our alumni are living and working in Chicago, Seattle, New York City, Los Angeles, Flagstaff, Portland, and London, pursuing their dreams and goals as actors. Come and explore what we have to offer as you step into the thrilling craft and art of acting.

KARIN MAGALDI - THEATER PROGRAM HEAD

Karin Magaldi holds an MFA in Playwriting from UCLA and is a member of Playwrights West and the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. Her writing credits include The Spectacles, Wilde Tales, Verge Warnings, Jack and the Bones, Consider the Ant, and Air.

SOLOMON WEISBARD, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF SCENIC/LIGHTING DESIGN

Solomon Weisbard is dedicated to diverse, surprising, and resonant theatrical creation. He seeks to empower students across disciplines, connecting classroom study to practical experience. He maintains an active international design career in drama, opera, dance, and music. MFA: Yale School of Drama.

DEVON ALLEN - ACTING PROGRAM HEAD

Devon Allen holds an MFA from University of California at San Diego, and a Certificate in Acting from Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (London). She has an extensive career as a professional actor, director, and university instructor and is an NEA recipient among many other accomplishments.

PSU Theater Productions 2023-2024

The PSU Theater program mounts three productions per year on the stages of two unique theaters in our home, Lincoln Hall. Directed by our world-class faculty, these shows provide hands-on experience for students of every focus within the program, from acting to dramaturgy to technical theater.

In the selection of dramatic and other works, the school seeks to reflect vital contemporary issues, personal and public, in varied and challenging forms, both new and classic, thereby creating a forum for cultural and social concerns. The program actively pursues the development of new works, collaborations with urban arts and educational institutions, and the expansion of cultural exchange.

Below are the plays that will be performed during the 2023-2024 school year (pending performance rights for "The Wolves"). Check back for ticket purchase links in the near future.

Performed Nov. - Dec. 2023

Opens Feb. 29, Get Tickets

Opens May 23, Get Tickets

Prior PSU Theater Productions

Fall 2022 - Frontieres sans Frontieres, by Phillip Howze

Winter 2023 - Oh, the Humanity, and other good intentions, by Will Eno

Spring 2023 - A Dream Play, by August Strindberg, adapted by Caryl Churchill

Fall 2023 - y/ours: the work of mutual aid in a (lonely) democracy, devised, performed, and designed by PSU students

PSU Partners with Shakespeare's First Folio Project

Shakespeare's First Folio features an exhibition, a speaker series, and performances of Shakespearean drama, opera, music, and film, with programming running from August 2023 to May 2024.

Learn more - see all events

Scene from the play "Dead Man's Cell Phone"

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