Our students are able to study a core curriculum and then move off into focus areas – the
areas of specialization that they’re particularly interested in: acting, directing, dramaturgy,
design, history, literature, and criticism.
We have excellent faculty covering all of those areas, so it really offers students
a wide range of possibilities.
We like to think of our students a cross-trained artists, and by that, what we mean is that
they’re really capable of going off into a wide variety of different directions as
they move into their careers.
And that includes a career in theatre, but it also could include a career in some other
field that really relies on a skill that we develop.
There’s all sorts of things besides getting up and doing a play or doing a film that you
discover when you learn the craft.
It builds empathy and it builds connections in places that you may not look for it, so
thinking outside of the box and creativity all come from a lot of the skills that we
use in theatre.
We are very committed to the bachelor degree in theatre education here because we believe
so profoundly in the role of theatre as part of secondary education.
We know that doing theatre, practicing theatre, learning about the various skill sets that
go into making theatre is an incredibly helpful way for a young brain to develop.
What I love about UNC Charlotte is they’re so many instructors and professors here that
still work in the business.
The expertise on the faculty is incredible.
We have a really robust theatre faculty that are all working professionals, and I think
one of the things that our design and tech students get is the opportunity to see working
professionals bring their work into the classroom and it also gives our students the chance
to work with our faculty when they’re outside in the profession working on shows.
One of the joys is to be able to share my professional work with my students.
I always have at least an assistant, if not a co-director, if not two co-directors with
me, and it’s not always the case in an undergraduate setting.
But that’s what’s unique about us.
I’ve been here three years now and every single semester I’ve gotten to direct something,
which has given me the opportunity to explore the different types of theatre we do here
and really just the different types of theatre that are out there.
We’re pushing the boundaries of different types of performance.
We’re doing physical theatre and commedia work and devised theatre and traditional classic
plays.
There’s a big focus in the theatre department on theatre for social change and theatre for
social justice.
We don’t approach the plays as if they are simply remnants of the past.
We’re very interested in what we can make Shakespeare do in the present…make it speak
to our concerns and our interests.
The most tool for the actor is the body.
In my beginning class I incorporate a level of acrobatics, from floor tumbling to partner
acrobatics to hand-balancing.
You are an actor that is fully aware physically, and that makes it marketable.
They’re really learning a slightly different mode of being, certainly of being on stage.
Sammy and myself were cast in Romeo and Juliet, which we performed in the Knight Theater in
uptown Charlotte.
It was a collaboration with the Charlotte Symphony, Opera Carolina, and Charlotte Ballet.
Walking out on stage, knowing that you are that main act, with this huge incredible orchestra
behind you and about 1000 people in the audience, it was mind-blowing, and it was surreal for
me, to be honest.
This is the best decision I’ve ever made, coming here, and I’m very thankful for all
this department has given me.