Theater
Staging the stories that express our world.
If We Don’t See It, We Make It
Pre-Professional Training
Our faculty are working professionals with close ties to national and international theatrical communities. Through internships and study away programs, as well as a new concentration in Arts Administration, our students extend their arts training beyond our campus and into the world.
Faculty-Student Mentorship
Balancing rigorous instruction with supportive mentorship, our faculty work one-on-one with students to help them find and explore their creative voices while honing their technical craft.
Featured Courses
Lighting Technology and Design
An introduction to lighting technology, terminology and technique. Lectures cover lighting history, equipment, manual and computer controlled lighting systems, distribution systems, electricity, lamps, reflectors, lenses, projection equipment and moving lights. Beginning design processes will also be covered. Students hang and focus lights for actual shows and participate in a crew for a theater, dance or opera production during the semester.
- Taught by
- Jeremy Benjamin
Arts Management
Students will be introduced to and develop an understanding of the critical areas that comprise Arts Management, including Organization Structure, Management Theory, Budgeting and Fiscal Theories, Marketing and Audience Development. They will also begin to develop the ability to understand and navigate the challenges of competing priorities in today’s world, specifically, reconciling aesthetic, managerial and economic considerations.
- Taught by
- Eric Steggall
African American Drama
This class surveys plays written by Black Americans from the post-slavery period through the late 20th century. An overview of the history of African-American performance is followed by reading and discussion of current criticism and a wide selection of plays by writers such as James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Adrienne Kennedy, Langston Hughes, Ntozake Shange, August Wilson, and George Wolfe. Requirements include papers, journals and scene work.
- Taught by
- Caroline Jackson Smith
Advanced Acting: Heightened Movement, Heightened Text
A good actor must know how to effectively engage in heightened verbal and non-verbal conversations on stage. This course goes in depth to perfect a student’s ability to fully engage and use their voice and body as a tool for creative expression of character, emotion, and relationship onstage. Students will use unique exercises to increase balance, strength, confidence, and range of motion while also learning advanced techniques in stillness, gesture, rhythm, and movement that will inspire creative delivery of emotionally charged and/or poetic texts.
- Taught by
- Justin Emeka ’95
Student Profiles
Arts Leadership with a Purpose
At Oberlin, Henrietta Key ’18 majored in theater with a concentration in arts administration and a minor in computer science. She currently serves as the Development Coordinator at the Tony-winning Williamstown Theatre Festival, where she played an integral role in executing a successful $4 million crisis fundraising campaign in the wake of the global pandemic.
From Oberlin to an MFA in Acting
At Oberlin, Amara Granderson ’17 practiced her craft as an actor with numerous roles including Lady in Red in for colored girls… and Angie in What We Look Like. She is now pursuing an MFA in acting at UC San Diego.
A Career in Theater
Arif Silverman ’15, was a theater major at Oberlin who took plenty of courses in English, French and classics. He is now a New York-based actor and writer with credits in theater, film, and radio, as well as a children’s musical and three solo shows.
What does Theater at Oberlin Look like?
Yue Zhao ’20 performs in the original play SuperheroMan, produced for the Lab Series – 2016.
Alums John Kander ’51 and Ian Axness ’09 (at the piano) coach the student Ensemble of The Landing in a reading of this original musical by John and fellow Alum Greg Pierce ’00 – 2015.
The Movement for Ensemble class works in the new Welch Studio – 2019.
Nani Borges ’19 rhapsodizes for Jad Kaiss ’19 in Angels in America: Perestroika – 2018.
Beautifully expressive storytelling dramatizes Tolstoy’s Family Happiness – 2016.
The brilliant-hued Ladies move to the rhythms of Ntozake Shange’s classic choreopoem for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf – 2017.
Casey McKinney ’19 and Paige Baskin ’19 play a musical scene from Flora, the Red Menace in a Tribute to John Kander for the dedication of our Theater in his name – 2018.
“We Are Descended”—The Ensemble narrates in song at the opening of Dessa Rose – 2015.
