Program type:

Major
Format:

On Campus
Est. time to complete:

4 years
Credit Hours:

120
Hone your design and tech skills and learn how to craft the behind-the-scenes magic that makes theatre and film possible.
The emphasis on design & technology prepares students to work professionally in the areas of scenic, lighting, sound, props and costume design, stage management, scenic construction, and other areas of theatre production.

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Why Earn a Theatre Design/Tech Degree?

The Department of Dance & Theatre is part of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at UNT. The diverse curriculum offers breadth and depth in academics and performance.

The theatre program offers a selection of core theatre courses, encompassing various aspects of theatre. After completing the core in each concentration, the student's subsequent coursework is customized. The student can continue to study a broad general degree, or to choose to specialize in performance, design/tech, or theatre education.

Through our rigorous curriculum, you'll:

  • Gain practical experience in costuming, stagecraft, stage lighting, stage management and theatrical makeup through laboratory work
  • Have opportunities to perform lead roles, direct, design and stage manage
  • Learn how to use your voice and body during performance
  • Learn how to prepare plays for performance
  • Study actors, plays and playwrights from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America
  • Work with faculty members, guest and student directors, and choreographers on productions

Our faculty members are outstanding teachers as well as active professionals and renowned researchers. They include an Emmy nominee, a noted Edward Albee scholar and a recipient of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for costume design. We sponsor two student organizations — the Drama Lab and the Alpha Psi Omega national honor society — that provide performance and networking opportunities. Our facilities include:

  • Acting and directing studios
  • Rehearsal rooms
  • Shops devoted to costume, set and prop design and construction
  • Two full-size performance venues (University Theatre and Studio Theatre)

Department alumni work with professional dance and theatre companies as dancers, choreographers, actors and artistic directors. Others are educators or administrators in universities, public schools, and private and professional studios. Still others have pursued careers in areas such as dance therapy, movement analysis, the dance fitness industry, radio, television, and film.

Marketable Skills
  1. Analytical knowledge of historical/social context
  2. Teamwork
  3. Oral and written communication
  4. Multi-cultural/diversity competencies
  5. Workplace resourcefulness/innovation

Theatre Design/Tech Degree Highlights

The Department of Dance and Theatre maintains the University Theater (409-seat proscenium theatre) and the Studio Theater (160-seat black box), and the technical facilities to support the annual season, including a well-equipped costume and scenic shop, and adequate storage.
Unique among theatre programs, qualified undergraduate students perform lead roles, direct public productions, stage-manage, and design scenery, costumes, lights, make-up and wigs.
Through studying theatre, you can acquire a diverse range of communication and organizational skills that are applicable to many careers. For example, combining your degree with studies in journalism or a law degree could lead to a career as a theatre critic or an entertainment lawyer.
Students are often offered performance and design opportunities as part of outside professional projects of the faculty and are able to audition for local theatre groups.
UNT has several student organizations for students to network and further hone their skills and craft.
Scholarships are available based on merit and talent.

What Can You Do With a Theatre Design/Tech Degree?

Career paths include:

  • Acting (both stage and film)
  • Acting coach
  • Artist-in-residence
  • Box office manager
  • Directing
  • Drama education and criticism
  • Lighting, costume, makeup, props, scenery or sound design
  • Marketing director
  • Producing
  • Stage crew member
  • Stage managing
  • Theatrical photographer
  • Theatre teacher at an elementary or secondary school

Theatre Design/Tech Degree Courses You Could Take

Rehearsal and Performance for the Stage (1-3 hrs)
Focuses on the process of preparation for performance in a produced play. Includes attention to the audition process, script and character analysis, daily rehearsals, technical theatrical preparations including technical and dress rehearsals for public performances.
Advanced Scenic Painting for the Theatre (3 hrs)
Advanced techniques in scenic painting, various 3D finishing techniques including lectures and sculpture as well as charge shine painter responsibilities of leadership, estimation and budgeting.
Scenic Design (3 hrs)
Exploration of theatrical scenic design techniques, genres, styles, venues and historical contexts. 2D, 3D and CAD visual communication techniques will be used in a variety of hands-on portfolio building projects.
Costume I (3 hrs)
Principles and practices governing the preparation of costumes for theatrical productions. Costume construction, basic materials, pattern making, work with special fabrics; introduction to design techniques. Practical application in laboratory and on crew assignments for theatrical productions.
Theatrical Makeup (3 hrs)
Principles and practices governing the use of theatrical makeup in the performance of a play or in a film or television production. Practical application in laboratory and on crew assignments for theatrical productions.
Design/Tech and The Profession (3 hrs)
Culminating Capstone covering historic and current trends in the entertainment industry, entrepreneurial best practices, portfolio development and digital networking.

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