LSUA now offers a bachelor of liberal studies degree in Speech/Theatre, a major that will give students a well-rounded education in all aspects of theatre. A secondary focus on speech communications will maximize a student’s employment opportunities.

The theatre curriculum offers students a balance of performing, book, and technical courses.

Students concentrating in performance begin their training with Movement for the Actor (THTR 1029) and Voice and Diction (SPCH 1050), followed by four levels of acting and an additional voice course (THTR 2027).

Book courses include Introduction to Theatre (THTR 1020), Introduction to Dramatic Form (THTR 2028), American Musical Theatre (THTR 3020), and three levels of Theatre History (THTR 3121, 3122, and 3123). Additional training is given in Readers Theatre (THTR 2145), Oral Performance of Literature (SPCH 2040), and Performance Composition (SPCH 3040).

Students will get practical experience through Theatre Practicum (THTR 2026) and Directing (THTR 4024), in which their production are fully staged. The Introduction to Play Production (THTR 2022) gives students an overview of production, focusing on the technical areas of theatre.

An exciting component of an LSUA theatre student’s learning comes with two Theatre Study Tours in which faculty members and students travel to New York or abroad to see theatre and visit others places of historical and cultural interest. In December 2004 we caravanned to New Orleans to see the Broadway smash-hit musical Hairspray in the historic Saenger Theatre at a discount price.

One of the greatest advantages of LSUA theatre training is that the number of majors is small, allowing more opportunity for participation in major roles and major crew assignments. By actually creating a role or building a set or sewing a costume or making a prop, students will learn even more in the application of their classroom learning.

With a season of five major productions a year, LSUA seeks to expose a major to theatre of every genre and from every historical era. Involving dozens of students, the annual Shakespeare production is presented outdoors during the Festival on the Greene. Three other types of plays are presented during the school year, and each summer is celebrated with a Summer Dinner Theatre musical in a venue in downtown Alexandria.

Four members of LSUA’s Speech/Theatre faculty are responsible for teaching the courses and producing the shows on campus. Dr. Rhonda Shook, Director of Theatre, holds a Ph.D. in Communication Studies with a concentration in Playwriting from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. She teaches a variety of writing, acting, communication, and film classes. Dr. Jim Stacy, former director of theatre, specializes in musical theatre and contemporary American drama. Dr. Stacy holds a doctorate in performance studies from New York University, and teaches a variety of communication classes, as well.  Formerly the chair of Arts, English, and Humanities faculty, Richard Gwartney now serves as director of the Alexandria Museum of Art.  He coordinates downtown classes and continues to teach (voice, movement and advanced acting among others) and to direct LSUA productions.
Mr. Tim Saucier is LSUA’s new technical director. Mr. Saucier specializes in acting, scene work, stage voice, and dialect.