Theater Arts

BUILD YOUR CAREER IN OREGON’S CULTURAL CAPITOL

The PSU Theater Arts program goes beyond typical coursework — it is a learning community where students build tangible skills in collaborative creation. Centered around three productions per year, students develop a broad-based liberal arts education while honing workforce-ready skills in acting, design, directing, dramaturgy, playwriting, and technical production.

A young man and young woman on a stand in the act of sexual foreplay with a group of young people lined up behind them with candles singing.

Theater Arts Major & Minor

An accessible, affordable pathway – whether you’re building a profession or looking to expand your horizons.

Learn More

Cast and musicians of "As You Like It" singing.

2026-2027 PSU Theater Season

PSU Theater presents three theater productions every year alongside multiple PSU Impro Ensemble performances. Learn about our shows, get tickets, peek behind the scenes, or join in the fun!

See our productions

SCHOLARSHIPS

To be considered for Theater and Portland State University scholarships, and to apply for financial aid, you must submit the FAFSA and apply for scholarships in PSU’s Scholarship Application.

Theater Arts Faculty

Solomon Weisbard - Associate Director and Theater Program Coordinator

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 career as a designer for drama, opera, dance, and music. MFA: Yale School of Drama.

THERESA DUDECK - ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF THEATER

Theresa Robbins Dudeck is an international theatre practitioner-scholar and Fulbright Scholar with expertise in improvisation/applied improvisation. Her goal is to inspire students to apply theatre history, theory, and practice to creative work that challenges the status quo and perpetuates positive change. PhD: University of Oregon.

Cristina Miles - Assistant Professor of Acting

Cristina Miles is a performer, director and teacher based in Portland, OR, where they are a Co-Artistic Director of PETE. She is interested in making performance that creates space for possibility, encourages new ways of being together and actively investigates fear of the unknown. Brandeis University, MFA.

Theater Alumni Spotlight

Our graduates have earned national and international placements 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 NJ, and The Wooster Group.

Rebecca Tyree

“The liberal arts degree offered at PSU will do more for any theater professional than conservatory training. My liberal arts degree gave me technical skills that I used to get into rehearsal rooms and connect with other artists. In an industry built on networking, these connections have proved invaluable. I have worked as an artist more consistently than many actors I know who exclusively audition, and this consistency was earned with the skills I gained at PSU. My colleagues today are alumni from Columbia, LAMDA, and NYU.”

Rebecca Tyree is a bicoastal experimental artist and a resident company member of Stairwell Theater. New York credits include Queen Margaret in Henry VI, Part 2, Goneril in King Lear, and Joan in Far Away. Rebecca's career highlights include working with Mabou Mines, The Wooster Group, and Advanced Beginner Group.

Sam Morrison

“My theatre degree prepared me to think and behave like an artist, that hours of work on a project I love doesn’t feel like work, and the value of a dedicated teacher or mentor. PSU’s year-long acting sequence exemplified exactly these tenets for me through its peer-led collaborative work and professional stage training."

Sam earned his B.S. in Theatre Arts from PSU in 2014. After moving to Los Angeles in 2016 he joined the BGB Studio and Kalmenson & Kalmenson VO Studio for training. In 2021 Sam co-starred in What Happened In Skinner?, an award-winning true-crime-meets-horror-mystery podcast, and led the globe-spanning Augmented Reality Game that ran prior to the season premiere. In 2023 Sam pursued his Master’s degree in Immersive Media Communications, exploring a new frontier of storytelling in the world of Extended Reality.

Jonathan Hernandez

“I’ll never forget the first time I stood on the steps of Lincoln Hall. In that moment I made the decision that I was going to fully commit to myself, the craft, and this program. I knew that my instructors were experts in their field, and not only were they going to be in my corner, but they were going to get me to that next level of becoming a great actor. This program and the intensive actor training made me a disciplined artist, a collaborative creative, and an exceptional storyteller.”

Jonathan Hernandez jumped into the Portland arts community after graduating from PSU. His most notable works as an actor are; A Very Hungry Caterpillar (Oregon Children’s Theatre), The Hombres (Artist's Rep), Welcome to Arroyo's, How to Make An American Son, and Our Orange Sky (Profile Theatre).

Portland State University is accredited by The National Association of Schools of Theater (NAST).