Carthage students are involved in every aspect of production for five main stage shows a year.

Students meet and work with an array of respected professional theatre practitioners, such as Oscar-winning filmmaker Eric Simonson.

Carthage hosted the world premiere of Mr. Simonson's play "Honest" in Spring 2009.

Acting students receive four semesters of acting theory, voice training, body alignment and scene work. ("Lysistrata," November 2009)

Students take classes in scenic, lighting and costume design, and can major in technical theatre production and design.

During J-Term, faculty and students have traveled to Greece, Ireland and Berlin to study theatre abroad.

Students and faculty travel to Ontario every fall for the acclaimed Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

A 1,500-square foot costume shop includes drafting, set design and costume design equipment.

Carthage players staged "The Last Mass at St. Casimir’s" in 2008.

Students staged "Postmortem" by Ken Ludwig during the 2007-2008 season.

Theatre

Carthage Theatre: Passion in Performance

Current Season • Get Tickets

Theatre at Carthage has a rich tradition, and never has the Theatre Department been better positioned to cultivate and empower ambitious students of the theatre arts than today.

The Serpent

A newly expanded curriculum has made it possible to offer majors in Theatre, Theatre Performance, and Technical Theatre Production and Design, and a minor in Dance — in addition to supporting a multidisciplinary major in Music Theatre.

Carthage theatre students are always directly engaged in their craft, as the College produces five faculty- or guest-directed main stage shows each season, multiple student-directed productions, and an annual dance concert.

Carthage's proximity to both Chicago and Milwaukee gives students access to some of America's best regional theatre. College-sponsored trips — such as Carthage's annual trip to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, and J-Term trips to Ireland, Greece and Berlin — expose students to great theatre beyond the Midwest.

The Department of Theatre, its courses, and its season are central to Carthage's liberal arts curriculum. Auditions are open to all majors, and the program helps students from all disciplines become sophisticated audiences members and skillful communicators. Students who study performance receive a new lens through which to examine all areas of human behavior — including religion, politics, history, psychology and art.

Carthage Theatre

News

Award-winning playwright comes to Carthage

Carthage students will work with Wasserstein Prize-winner Laura Jacqmin on Ghost Bike. She is one of many award-winning artists who have come to Carthage through the Theatre Department's visiting artist program. more...

Carthage production earns national theatre honor

The Carthage Theatre Department earned a national award through the famed Kennedy Center’s college theater festival for its production of The Rail Splitter. more...

J-Term 2011: Ensemble and Experimental Acting

Students in the J-Term course Ensemble and Experimental Acting brought a month of weird and wild work to the stage. Read more.