Department of Performing Arts

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Additional Departmental Information

Advising

Graduate students will be assigned a faculty member in the Graduate Program to serve as their advisor.

Internships

Students work in professional theatrical or education settings under the direct supervision of an approved full-time employee and an assigned faculty member. All students must participate in a mandatory internship orientation through the Career Development Center the semester before the internship.

Production Opportunities

The department’s major performance spaces include the Paramount Center, which houses a 590-seat art deco theatre, a 125-seat black box theatre, a state-of-the-art screening room, a scene shop, rehearsal studios, practice rooms, and a residence hall; the Cutler Majestic Theatre, a 1,200-seat proscenium house located in the heart of Boston’s Theatre District; and the Tufte Performance and Production Center, which encompasses the Semel and Greene theaters, a makeup studio, and costume design labs.

The Semel Theater is a 218-seat thrust, and the Greene Theater is a 108-seat end-stage theatre. Emerson Stage, the department’s production unit, presents many student-created events annually in a variety of theatrical genres and events directed by faculty, professional guest artists, and students. Through productions at the Paramount Center, Majestic, and Tufte Performance and Production Center, students are exposed to a wide range of performance and production opportunities.

During the academic year, eight major productions are fully mounted at the Paramount, Majestic, and Tufte Center. Additional workshop projects offer student actors, directors, dramaturgs, designers, and choreographers the chance to create their own work. In April, the Emerson Playwrights Festival is mounted through the generosity of Emerson alumnus Rod Parker ‘51. It includes workshop productions and staged readings of new work written by students and directed by faculty and guest professionals.

Performing Arts Faculty, Artists-in-Residence, Production Experts, and Technical Staff

For a complete listing of biographies, visit the directory. 

Programs

• Theatre Education and Applied Theatre, M.A.

• Theatre Education and Applied Theatre, M.F.A.

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