About the Department of Theater
The Department of Theater at Indiana State University is a vibrant community of artists, storytellers, performers, designers, technicians, producers, and creators. Whether your passion is theater, media production, dance, live entertainment, or digital storytelling, you'll find countless opportunities to develop your craft through hands-on learning and real-world experience.
At ISU, learning happens through doing. Students are active participants in every aspect of production, from the first rehearsal and design meeting to opening night and beyond. Our faculty believe that the best preparation for a career in the creative industries comes from meaningful experience, mentorship, and collaboration.
Education at the award-winning ISU Department of Theater provides our students with a philosophy that encourages initiative, collaboration, and experimentation, and small class sizes with an energetic and accessible professional faculty.
A Season Full of Opportunity
The Department of Theater produces 5-7 productions each year, giving students numerous opportunities to gain experience both onstage and behind the scenes. A typical season includes a variety of theatrical styles and experiences, such as:
- Comedies and dramas
- Classical and contemporary plays
- Musicals
- Dance concerts and choreography showcases
- Children's theater productions
- Holiday performances
- Devised and original theater projects
- Student-directed productions
- The 24-Hour Play Festival
- Dance festivals and special events
Because of our undergraduate focus, students are encouraged to play meaningful roles in productions from their very first semester. Whether performing, directing, choreographing, stage managing, designing, building scenery, producing content, or running technical elements, students learn by taking on real responsibilities.
Exceptional Spaces for Creativity
Students learn and create in a variety of performance, production, and rehearsal spaces designed to support multiple artistic disciplines.
Our facilities include:
- A proscenium theater for large-scale productions
- A flexible thrust theater that encourages audience engagement
- A black box theater for experimental and intimate performance work
- Two dedicated dance studios
- Performance laboratory spaces for rehearsals, workshops, and devised work
- Scenic and prop shops where students build productions from the ground up
- A costume shop where students learn construction, crafts, wardrobe, and costume technologies
These spaces allow students to explore every stage of the creative process while gaining practical experience with the tools, technologies, and workflows used throughout the entertainment industry.
Learn from Working Professionals
Our faculty are active theater and media professionals who bring current industry experience directly into the classroom and rehearsal hall. As working practitioners, they understand today's evolving entertainment, performance, and media industries and help students develop the professional skills employers expect.
Students benefit from faculty expertise in areas such as:
- Performance and acting
- Directing and choreography
- Design and production
- Technical theater
- Arts administration
- Media production and storytelling
- Stage management and production management
- Community engagement and creative entrepreneurship
Faculty members serve not only as teachers, but as mentors who help students build portfolios, make professional connections, prepare for auditions and interviews, and navigate career pathways after graduation.
More Than a Classroom
The Department of Theater offers an environment where students are encouraged to experiment, collaborate, and discover their unique artistic voice. Through productions, festivals, leadership opportunities, student organizations, community partnerships, and international experiences, students build the confidence and professional experience needed for success in today's creative economy.
Whether you see yourself on stage, behind the camera, in a design studio, managing productions, producing events, or creating digital media, the Department of Theater provides the opportunities, mentorship, and experiences to help turn your passion into a profession.
Media Production: Create Content. Tell Stories. Build Your Future.
The Department of Theater is also home to a dynamic Media Production program where students gain real-world experience creating content across multiple platforms and mediums. From day one, students work with professional equipment, collaborate with experienced faculty and staff, and build portfolios that showcase their creativity and technical skills.
Media Production students don't just learn about the industry—they actively participate in it.
Hands-On Experience from Day One
Whether you're interested in broadcasting, sports media, digital storytelling, podcasting, video production, journalism, or content creation, you'll have opportunities to learn by doing. Students work in professional environments that mirror today's media workplaces while receiving mentorship from faculty and staff who have worked throughout the industry.
Our approach combines two critical elements: professional-quality technology and experienced mentors who understand how the industry is evolving. Students graduate with both technical expertise and the adaptability employers are looking for.
Award-Winning Student Media
Students can become involved with nationally recognized student media organizations that provide extensive hands-on experience and leadership opportunities.
Radio
Our award-winning radio station gives students opportunities to host shows, produce content, manage programming, create promotional campaigns, and develop on-air skills. Whether you hope to work in broadcasting professionally or simply have a passion for music, sports, entertainment, or storytelling, you'll find a community where you can explore your interests and build lifelong connections.
Students learn:
- Audio production
- On-air performance
- Podcasting
- Sound editing
- Programming and promotion
- Live event broadcasting
Many students discover that the skills they develop through radio—communication, creativity, teamwork, leadership, and project management—are valuable in virtually any profession.
Television Production
Students gain experience producing original television programming in our television studio and production facilities. Opportunities include creating scripted and unscripted content, producing live and recorded programs, participating in student productions, and showcasing work through events such as short film festivals.
Students are encouraged to take creative risks, experiment with new ideas, and build professional portfolios that demonstrate their abilities to future employers and graduate programs.
Students develop skills in:
- Producing and directing
- Camera operation
- Studio production
- Live broadcasting
- Video editing
- Motion graphics
- On-camera performance and hosting
Digital Newsroom
Today's media professionals need versatility, and our digital newsroom helps students develop a broad range of skills across multiple platforms. Students learn how to:
- Research and write stories
- Interview sources
- Capture photography and video
- Copy edit and publish digital content
- Produce podcasts
- Edit audio and video
- Create social media content
- Adapt stories for different audiences and platforms
This cross-training prepares students for an evolving media landscape where employers increasingly seek professionals who can work across multiple formats and technologies.
ESPN Sports Production Opportunities
Students interested in sports media gain valuable experience through sports broadcasting and content creation opportunities. Working on live productions as a part of the ESPN Sports Network provides hands-on training in fast-paced environments while helping students develop the technical, communication, and teamwork skills required within sports media and live event production.
Technology and Creative Spaces
Media Production students have access to professional facilities that support every stage of the content creation process, including:
- Television production studios
- Digital newsroom facilities
- Professional editing suites
- Audio recording spaces
- Radio station facilities
- Mac labs equipped with industry-standard software
- Production equipment used throughout contemporary media industries
Cross-Trained for Career Flexibility
One of the greatest strengths of our Media Production program is that students are not limited to a single specialty area. Instead, they develop a broad and adaptable skill set that prepares them for a wide range of career opportunities.
Students gain experience in:
- Pre-production planning
- Project management
- Scriptwriting and storytelling
- Videography and cinematography
- Lighting design
- Audio production and sound engineering
- Video editing
- Live production
- Digital publishing
- Podcast creation
- Social media content development
- On-camera performance and presentation
Graduates leave with a deep toolbox of creative and technical skills that can be applied across media, entertainment, communications, marketing, sports, nonprofit organizations, and entrepreneurial ventures.
A Place for Everyone
The Department of Theater and both of its programs are built on the belief that creativity grows through opportunity. Whether you arrive with years of production experience or have never stepped into a studio or on a stage, you'll find a welcoming environment where you can explore new interests, discover hidden talents, and gain confidence in your abilities.
Some students arrive knowing exactly what they want to do. Others discover a passion they didn't know they had. Either way, you'll be supported by faculty, staff, and fellow students who are invested in your success.
We believe that students should have theater experience from their first day in the program--no waiting until junior or senior year to be considered for opportunities. First-year students are often cast in shows and work technical positions.
We are a small department, which means individualized attention for all students. With around 50 student, there is plenty of opportunity for students to be cast in shows as well as gain experience backstage. We have a 6-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio. This means that the faculty know every student. Most theater classes have less than ten students in them.
At least every four years (but often every other year) the Department of Theater takes a show on international tour. Recent trips include Hungary, England, Croatia, Ireland, Vietnam, and China. Students expierence touring a show internationally, are immersed in a different culture, and--the best part--pay little to nothing for the trip thanks to the Indiana State University Academic Advantage. First-time, full-time students and full-time, transfer students entering ISU in Spring 2023 may receive an Experience Grant. The value of the grant ranges from $1,000 to $3,000 for internships and other work-based experiences, study abroad, education abroad, research and creative activity, or a service trip. The experience is a one-time opportunity and will be available beginning the second year at Indiana State.
The Department of Theater has four dedicated theater spaces: a proscenium theater (Dreiser Theater), a thrust stage (Seventh Street Theater), a Blackbox theater, and the Performance/Tech Lab. In 2023, Dreiser Hall, home to Dreiser Theater and the Blackbox, reopened after a $18 million renovation. All new lighting, sound, and projection equipment means students learn on the best and newest equipment. The building is also home to the costume shop, which is filled with domestic and industrial machines, as well as new tools for costume construction and crafts.
Theater students have unique opportunities for significant participation in the innovative and exciting productions mounted by the department, beginning in their first semester on campus. Within the undergraduate-only curriculum, students are encouraged to collaborate, experiment, and take initiative - inside and outside of the classroom, onstage and off.
The Department of Theater is invested in producing new plays, by current and former students, as well as world premiere productions by established professional playwrights. Additionally, the department produces experimental and devised theatre work on a regular basis.
The Department is unique in its approach to and application of the latest entertainment industry technologies including digital lighting, sound and video equipment and techniques. Recent technology acquisitions include LED lighting, projection playback hardware and software (media servers) and digital sound mixing and editing equipment. These technologies and ideas are applied regularly in our produced work, preparing our students to enter the contemporary entertainment industry.
We are a small department, which means individualized attention for all students. With around 40 majors, there is plenty of opportunities for students to be cast in shows as well as gain experience backstage.