Spring 2025 Final Showings
The end of the semester means opportunities for our students to put into practice what they have been learning in class.
About the Department
About the Department
In the Performing Arts Department, rigorous instruction in theater, dance, and performance enriches our students creatively and intellectually. We showcase the artistic and scholarly achievement of our faculty and students, and give students the opportunities for personal growth that only a performing arts education can provide.
Our dance and drama events put students center stage, enhancing the cultural life of the Washington University community with vibrant productions and scholarly events that reach thousands of audience members each year.
Our Community
Our faculty are award-winning artists, scholars, and educators widely recognized for excellence in their fields. We offer rigorous instruction in modern and classical traditions of dance, and in every major discipline of theatrical art. With our accomplished faculty, students can take multiple levels of classes in acting, directing, playwriting, scenic design, costume design, and theatrical lighting. Our scholars bring expertise in the literature, history, and theory of performance from Antiquity to the twenty-first century. Across all these diverse specialties, we are unified by a commitment to fostering independent creative thought, and to equipping students with what they need to thrive artistically and intellectually after graduation.
The Performing Arts Department at WashU
We showcase the artistic and scholarly achievement of our faculty and students and give students the opportunities for personal growth that only a performing arts education can provide.
Joanna Dee Das in The Conversation: "The problem with Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center isn’t the possibility of ‘Cats’"
When President Donald Trump announced that he was assuming control of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, he described the move as a triumph over “wokey” programming. He subsequently fired the 17 board members appointed by President Joe Biden and installed himself as chairman. Some critics have reacted to the move by suggesting Trump doesn’t understand art.
‘What’s gonna happen…’: Taylor Mac gives annual Helen Clanton Morrin Lecture
“What’s gonna happen…” Audience members sat patiently, holding their breath, eyes fixed, as with three words Taylor Mac called the room to action in the Clark-Fox Forum at Hillman Hall. The biennial Helen Clanton Morrin Lecture Series invites renowned artists and colloquium speakers to discuss the power of theater beyond entertainment. The event was sponsored by many departments across the College of Arts and Sciences, including Film and Media Studies, History, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and American Culture Studies (AMCS).
2024 - 2025
Production Season
We have a great lineup of shows that you don't want to miss!
Click here to see our full 2024-2025 Season
