WELCOME TO THE SCHOOL OF THEATRE AND THEATREOCU!

Over the past three years, the School of Theatre has undergone an EXTREME MAKEOVER! We have launched new professional BFA degrees with the clear objective of producing working graduates. We have more than quadrupled the number of our theatre majors, doubled the size of our full time faculty and we have created TheatreOCU, the performance and production arm of the School.

The new degree programs combine the best elements of conservatory training with the breadth of the liberal arts general education curriculum that has made Oklahoma City University one the nation's best small universities. Our BFA graduates will be ready to face any of the challenges facing theatre artists in the exciting job market of the 21st Century.

The School of Theatre is part of the Margaret E. Petree College of Performing Arts. The School has ten full-time faculty members, as well as a handful of adjunct faculty members. The School also operates a scene shop and costume shop with professional support staff.

TheatreOCU is unique and special, serving as the public laboratory and showcase for the School of Theatre's professional training programs. The company is modeled after the classical repertory theatres in the USA, Canada, England, and Europe. Students function as young professionals in a setting where the rules and discipline of the contemporary theatre are observed. Professional attitudes and work practices are expected of our entire production team; faculty, staff and students at all times. Operating rules are modeled after those of the professional theatrical unions (AEA, USA and IATSE). Productions at TheatreOCU will mirror much of what is produced by prominent regional theatres around the country and balance selections from the classical repertoire with significant contemporary works. It is designed to serve as an integral extension of the student's classroom study and studio training.

Performance opportunities are designed to provide our students with a mentored experience in a professional theatre production. Acting process skills such as voice, movement, and style techniques will be reinforced and applied in the rehearsal environment. The production season offers the students a chance to experience a wide range of forms and styles. The training program uses a traditional professional theatre model so that students will be better prepared to enter the profession.

Design and production opportunities are structured to give the students practical, realized projects where they are expected to synthesize and apply skills gained in the classroom and from previous experiences. The projects will regularly stretch and challenge the students, continually expanding their capabilities as they develop in a mentored environment.

TheatreOCU is dedicated to exploring universal themes through its productions, and strives to educate and enlighten the University community, the greater Oklahoma City community, and the larger communities of the state and nation.

TheatreOCU offers a six to seven show main stage season, and a collaboration with the other schools in the Margaret E. Petree College of Performing Arts (Music and Dance & Arts Management) in an additional seven productions. Our performance facilities include the Kirkpatrick Auditorium (1,100 seat proscenium), the Burg Theater (274 seat, 3/4 thrust), and the Petree Recital Hall (500 seats). We also produce shows in the new Black Box Theater (flexible 50-100 seats) in the new Wanda L. Bass Music Center. The $31.5 million, 112,000-square-foot addition, which opened in 2006, has more than doubled the rehearsal and classroom space.