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The Acting Program At...

A vast assortment of opportunities and experiences is available to theatre majors at Furman. They are able to practice and learn theatre arts first hand by playing a role in a campus production, designing the lighting, costumes or scenery for a play, directing a one-act or full-length production, or studying the history and literature of modern and classic theatre.

One of the Furman theatre department's primary goals is to produce graduates who excel in all areas of theatre art. At Furman, theatre students are never strictly actors or technicians. Instead, they work as actors, stage managers, designers, dramaturgs, crew members, house managers or publicists with a thorough understanding of the many parts that combine to form the theatrical experience.

The department's relatively small size is also an advantage for Furman theatre students. At larger schools, students interested in the theatre often have to wait for a chance while major production responsibilities go to upper-level or graduate students; in contrast, Furman students may play major roles or take on significant backstage positions in a production as soon as they step on campus. Furthermore, they receive extensive individual attention and guidance from faculty members who work with them not just on a teacher-pupil basis, but as colleagues practicing a collaborative art form.

The curriculum of the Theatre Arts Department is designed to train students to be generalists in the theatre. Besides the basic introductory course, theatre majors at Furman complete classes in digital technology for the theatre, acting, stagecraft, scenic, lighting and costume design, costume crafts, directing, theatre history and a senior synthesis course where every major completes a significant artistic or academic project. All majors are required to participate in the production work of the department and are expected to take a non-credit course "Theatre Practicum" at least six times during their time at Furman.

Each year, Furman produces three major plays chosen primarily for their value in educating and training students. The department, mindful of its contribution to the university's educational mission, attempts to present plays that represent a wide range of periods and styles so that, over any four-year span, students may enjoy the benefits not only of participating in different types of productions, but of seeing them as well. The consistently high quality of the productions is evident from attendance figures; virtually all shows are sold out before their runs begin.

The diversity of the Furman program is apparent from some of the department's recent productions. They include Moliere's witty satire The Imaginary Invalid; Playhouse Creatures , a recent Off-Broadway success by April Deangelis ; Tom Stoppard's hilarious comedy, The Real Inspector Hound; Fortinbras, Lee Blessing's continuation of the Hamlet saga; Constance Congdon's apocalyptic look at contemporary society, Tales of the Lost Formicans; All in the Timing , six timely short plays by David Ives; The Night of the Iguana, the searing drama by Tennessee Williams; a new translation by two of Furman's Classics professors of Sophocles' Antigone; and Beth Henley's Pulitzer Prize winning, Crimes of the Heart.