Theatre and Speech Arts
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The Theatre and Speech Arts program at The College of Idaho offers numerous opportunities for students to express their creativity and rhetorical skills. Learning about acting, directing, theatrical design, playwriting, theatre management, public speaking, speech writing, and argumentation takes place in the classroom, as well as through the College's active schedule of theatrical productions and renowned speech and debate program.
Why study Theatre and Speech Arts at The College of Idaho?
Theatre students are actively involved in making theatre at The College of Idaho by participating in Mainstage productions ranging from Shakespeare to contemporary plays to musical theatre. Scarlet Masque, a student theatre organization on campus, provides additional opportunities to hone your theatrical skills. All the while, you will receive individual mentoring from professors who work professionally as actors, directors, and theatrical designers. The College of Idaho speech and debate team has won 13 Northwest Conference Division II Championships in the past 15 years and finished in the top 10 nationally on 5 occasions.
Our comprehensive curriculum includes classes in acting, stagecraft, directing, theatre history, stage makeup, stage combat, play analysis, film studies, and applied theatre (lighting, costuming, and scenery practicum) as well as in public speaking, intercultural communication, debate and oral argumentation. Campus facilities include a versatile black box theatre that serves as the primary playing space for Mainstage productions, a 200-seat recital hall where musicals and operas are staged, an 850-seat proscenium house, a smaller student-stage, and an outdoor amphitheater.
College of Idaho theatre graduates participate annually in the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival, and our graduates have gone on to perform with the Blue Man Group, serve as stage managers on Broadway, and work as professional actors, directors, playwrights, scenic artists, and costumers in numerous theatres across the country. The College also offers a speech rhetoric minor that focuses on developing oral communication skills, with opportunities for students to apply these skills through the C of I's Speech and Debate team and Model United Nations program. Through participation with the College of Idaho's Speech and Debate team, students have the opportunity to experience travel to other colleges and universities around the country as they gain on-the-ground experience in public speaking, a skill that employers are searching for in the college graduates they hire.
Career Opportunities for C of I Theatre and Speech Arts Students
A major or minor in theatre or speech arts prepares students for graduate study, a variety of professional theatre and performing arts occupations, or work in the many other fields that use the strong communication skills developed by study in these disciplines.