The experience and knowledge students achieve allow them to embark on careers as actors, directors, stage managers, administrators, teachers, playwrights, and dramaturgs.

The Master of Arts degree offered by the Villanova University Department of Theatre is one of only a handful of M.A. theatre programs in the U.S. Villanova’s M.A. degree provides students with a broad view of the diverse components of theatre, including acting, directing, playwriting, scenography, dramaturgy, and technical theatre. Students enrolled in the program undergo a two-pronged course of study that combines scholarly and practical approaches to theatre. The program is designed for students who are ready to explore the scope and content of drama, from East to West and from classic to contemporary. The M.A. degree provides crucial tools for the developing theatre practitioner, educator, or scholar.

The M.A. degree centers on a series of core courses in script analysis, dramaturgy, and dramatic vision and form. These key courses are supported by a range of elective studies in acting, directing, playwriting, voice and diction, and design. The program provides experience in the fundamentals of research, culminating in the final semester in a specialized study in a selected artistic and research area. Students actively participate in the department’s theatre season, gaining crucial knowledge in the areas of technical theatre, stage management, and acting.

The department also offers a Graduate Certificate in Practical Theatre that gives a broad background in practical theatre to the student who may not wish to pursue the M.A. degree but would like to acquire the skills, vocabulary, and methodology fundamental to the practice of theatre. Students take five performance or production-related courses and participate in the theatre season.