Theatre Department

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Associate Professors: E. Guay, S. Mefferd Kelty 
Technical Support: B. Wright

Contact Us
Chairperson: Shawna Mefferd Kelty, Associate Professor
Phone: 518-564-2480
Email: smeff001@plattsburgh.edu

The Theatre program is student-centered, with many opportunities for our students to experiment in the creative and collaborative process of theatre as actors, designers, technicians, directors, stage managers, puppeteers, dramaturgs, and more. We invite and welcome students to be a part of our creative processes such as play selection, production meetings, and to provide input on theatre classes. 

As a department, we are committed to creating a collaborative, inclusive program and processes for making and teaching theatre in the classroom and in production for our students, our faculty and staff, and our larger campus and local communities. Our creative processes and our classes are rooted in consent-based and anti-racist practices. Our goal is to create brave spaces for our students; seeing our students as whole people not simply learners. Our program offers students direct one-on-one time with faculty. We get to know you, who you are, your challenges, and help you find opportunities to grow and thrive while you’re here and after you graduate. 

We recognize the importance of diversity of thought within classrooms and creative spaces and are fully committed to embracing and maximizing the talents of autistic people and those with dyslexia, ADHD and other forms of neurocognitive variation. We will always seek to make appropriate adjustments to our classes, work spaces, and creative processes to be fully inclusive to people with different needs, learning styles and working styles. If you need us to make any reasonable adjustments for you, please contact Student Support Services so together we can make sure your access needs are met.

Our department offers a B.A. in theatre and a theatre minor, and certificate in theatrical production and technology. The theatre major (43 credits), as an interdisciplinary art, allows students to combine theatre studies with other disciplines on campus. Theatre majors can expect a rich curriculum that examines all aspects of the art of theatre: performance, directing, design, technical production, dramatic literature, dramaturgy, and theatre history and criticism. The purpose is to explore a comprehensive view of theatre, its evolutions and intersections of how we think about and practice theatre that engage students in practical experiential applications and creative problem solving.

Our department produces four fully-staged productions every year as well as a series of staged-reading opportunities. The Theatre department also offers a fall study-away course (THE 480 ) on the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada. Plattsburgh is in proximity to a wide variety of professional theatres in the New York North Country, Vermont, Montreal, and Ottawa as well as several local community theatre and arts organizations.

Programs

• Theatre, B.A.

• Theatre Minor

• Theatrical Production and Technology Certificate

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