As a theatre student, you’ll gain experience in all aspects of theatre—producing, directing, acting, lighting, sound design, scenery and costuming. Each year, our department presents:

• 3 to 4 mainstage productions per year
• An annual children’s show performed for thousands of area schoolchildren each fall
• RUSH, featuring dances ranging from ballet to hip hop choreographed and performed by Northwestern students
• Student-directed plays that showcase the work of Northwestern playwrighting classes
• The Drama Ministries Ensemble (DME), a theatre troupe that performs in churches and during annual tours in the U.S. and abroad
• Black V, a student improv team that gives regular performances across campus and in the community

Current season

If you plan to be involved in theatre at Northwestern, you may qualify for a Theatre Production Scholarship—even if you’re not a theatre major. More information and the application are available here.

Northwestern regularly offers a summer study abroad course in England, where for three weeks, students attend plays and take part in a theatre workshop at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

On the West Coast, the Los Angeles Film Studies Center, located in one of the top film and television production centers in L.A., will teach you how to take your faith to the work of mainstream Hollywood entertainment. 

Northwestern’s arts administration minor will prepare you to become a key player in an arts organization’s day-to-day operations. With a foundation of business and communications courses, you’ll gain skills in marketing, budgeting, staff management and fundraising. 

Every January, Northwestern theatre students attend the regional Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF), a gathering of students from undergraduate and graduate theatre programs in an eight-state region. Northwestern students regularly earn recognition in acting, design and playwriting competitions. Regional winners travel to the national festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Northwestern’s theatre professors and students host a summer theatre camp for high school students in June. Not only will you have the opportunity to hone your skills through workshops and hands-on training, but you’ll get a great sense of what it will be like to be part of NWC’s theatre program. Learn more.

The excellence of Northwestern’s theatre program is matched by excellent facilities. The DeWitt Theatre Arts Center has been described as the best college theatre facility in Iowa by a visiting executive director of the Iowa High School Speech Association. It contains two performance areas:

• Theora England Willcox Theatre (proscenium-style, seats 196)
• R. Keith Allen Theatre (black box, seats up to 250)

Both theatres are equipped with high-tech acoustical, lighting and mechanical systems. The center also includes a scenery studio, costume studio, makeup and dressing rooms, a green room, faculty and staff offices, classrooms, a design studio, a box office, and a spacious lobby that is also used for other arts events, as well as studying and socializing. 

If the idea of combining theatre with your faith appeals to you, you may want to audition for Northwestern's Drama Ministries Ensemble (DME). DME is a select group of student actors who use their talents to join in God's redeeming work in the world. With Scripture as dialogue, you'll collaborate with your director to create an annual production. Then you'll take that production on the road, providing audiences with a fresh perspective of God's word as you perform in local churches, Christian schools, nursing and retirement homes, and Northwestern's chapel. Past tours have taken DME around the region, across the U.S., and abroad. If you're interested in learning more, email Molly Wiebe Faber at  molly.wiebefaber@nwciowa.edu.