Theatre Program

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We believe theatre has the power to wake us up, open our hearts, and inspire us to take action.

Students in our program are passionate theatre-makers and collaborative problem-solvers, in touch with the critical issues of our society.

In our program, you’ll cultivate your skill and artistry in a supportive environment, guided by our accomplished, approachable faculty. You’ll receive plenty of personalized attention as you engage with theatre from all angles—creatively, historically, theoretically, and professionally. No audition is required to major to minor in theatre. Our noncompetitive atmosphere gives all students the opportunity to participate in a production, even in their first year.

"Theatre can help us build our future, rather than just waiting for it." --Augusto Boal

 

Our Partnerships with Professional Theatres

The San Francisco Bay Area is the third largest theatre market in the country, home to  innovative artists and companies all committed to making theatre that makes a difference. Saint Mary’s Theatre Program enjoys a special connection to this vibrant and diverse theatre community, and our partnerships with professional companies are central to the training we provide.   

Our majors and minors regularly attend professional productions as part of their coursework - placing them in conversation with American theatre’s cutting edge. And we bring local professionals to campus, as guest designers, teachers, directors. These professional exchanges create opportunities for networking and professional mentoring, for auditioning and acting, and for paid positions as assistant directors, literary staff, stage managers, backstage crew, and more. Click here to read more...

 

"A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM"

White rose with a dark foreboding sky in the background

Adapted and directed by M. Graham Smith

FALL THEATRE PRODUCTION NOV. 2-5

About the Play:

Shakespeare’s comedy about Love and Faeries is a lot more dangerous than the usual green-tight treatment reveals. It’s a play about the oppositional forces of the State and Wildness, Conscious and Unconscious desires, Order and Chaos, Reason and Passion, and how we balance these forces in our lives.

In Athens Theseus is about to wed Hippolyta the Queen of the Amazons whose people they have just conquered and colonized, marrying them as a symbolic prize for their conquest. Four young lovers are called before Duke Theseus to be reprimanded for letting their messy love triangle evolve against the wishes of one of the Lovers’ father (the patriarchy!). When all four of the Lovers flee into the woods outside Athens to live for their passions, chaos ensues.

Meanwhile an amateur troupe of actors rehearse a play for the Duke’s wedding day that goes from bad to terrible and out the other side of terrible to hilarious in spite of itself. And finally the King and Queen of the Faeries (Oberon and Titania) are locked in a cruel game of jealous rivalry and humiliations that is causing the Earth’s environmental well-being to collapse. All the paths intersect in the woods and powerful and sometimes painful revelations spin out of control.

When the sun rises and the Duke’s wedding occurs, what choices have been made? Who has compromised? At the end of the play Puck insists that “all is mended” but is it? Can we ever unsee the truths that our dreams show us? How do we reconcile our waking lives with our fantasies? 

FOR MORE INFO

Program & School Information

CONTACT US:
Deanna Zibello, Theatre Program Director
Tara Sundy, Performing Arts Coordinator & Events Manager/Box Office Manager