Theatre Degree at Aquinas College
Discover Theatre at Aquinas
You’ve memorized your lines, practiced the right tones and movements, and even helped build the set. Then, opening night arrives. The lights hit your face, and the audience disappears. All that remains is the story you tell.
At Aquinas, you’ll find a well-rounded theatre education, along with the mentorship needed to help you define your own path for the future. As a program dedicated to Theatre for Social Change, we believe that theatre is a place where communities come together to embrace who they are—and that these spaces should inspire conversations that persist long after the house lights come up at the end of the show. You’ll help to produce four to five shows per year, focusing on plays and musicals that connect to larger conversations in our community.
It's Your Time to Shine
Career Preparation based on leadership
The Aquinas College Theatre Program is committed to the education of artists and community leaders through thoughtful and rigorous artistic training as well as a focus on community-engaged, issue-based theatre.
- The ability to think conceptually and critically about text, performance, and production
- An understanding of playwriting and production processes, aesthetic properties of style, and the way these shape, and are shaped, by artistic and cultural forces.
- An acquaintance with a wide selection of theatre repertory including the principal eras, genres, and cultural sources.
- The ability to develop and defend informed judgments about theatre.
- Ability in areas of performance and production or playwriting appropriate to individual needs and interests, consistent with the goals and objectives of the specific liberal arts degree program being followed.
- An understanding of procedures and approaches for realizing a variety of theatrical styles
- Intermediate to advanced competence in one or more theatre specializations in creation, performance, scholarship, or teaching.
(NAST Student Competencies)
Performing Arts Center
We have a unique collaboration with AQ Theatre, Circle Theatre and the League of Catholic High Schools. The only collaboration of its kind in the nation.
AQ Theatre Season Schedule
The 2025-26 season includes productions of "The Laramie Project" and two other performances.
Inside AQ Theatre
Read, watch, and listen to stories from the AQ Theatre Department featuring students and faculty.
ENCORE: A Student Led Theatre Group
Encore! seeks an enriching partnership with the college and the community by helping to develop the theatre program in various capacities, community outreach, and fundraising, and group enrichment through the fine arts.
Student Research
Check out the current and past research that Aquinas students do with faculty to further the world's knowledge.Read More about Student Research
IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES
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Performing
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Directing
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Behind the Scenes
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Writing
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Business
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Education
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| Quick Facts: Producers and Directors | |
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| 2023 Median Pay | $82,510 per year $39.67 per hour |
| Typical Entry-Level Education | Bachelor's degree |
| Work Experience in a Related Occupation | Less than 5 years |
| On-the-job Training | None |
| Number of Jobs, 2023 | 167,900 |
| Job Outlook, 2023-33 | 8% (faster than average) |
| Employment Change, 2023-33 | 13,500 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Internships
See where past Aquinas College Theatre students have completed internships to get their careers started.
Advantage Center
The Advantage Center is here to support you as you pursue your goals in your career and beyond. Not sure what you want to do after graduation? The Advantage Center Staff can help you discover a path that is right for you.
HEar from the theatre department
For the last 20 years, the Aquinas PAC has been home to not only productions by the Aquinas Theatre Department, but also Circle Theatre and the Catholic Secondary schools. In a collaboration unlike any in the country, these theatre organizations share space, support one another, and remind audiences...
Aquinas Performing Arts Center Celebrates 20 Years of Theatre on Campus