The Theatre Arts program emphasizes creative, analytical, communication and critical thinking skills as well as collaboration and teamwork – skills that also prepare students for the demands of the workplace in today's global economy.

UMass Lowell students perform the play Bottoms on First.

UMass Lowell offers a Major in Theatre Arts within the English Department and the Bachelor of Liberal Arts (BLA) program, as well as a Minor in Theatre Arts open to students in any of the university's colleges. The program boasts an outstanding faculty of theatre artists and scholars offering coursework in:

  • Acting
  • Directing
  • Design
  • Technical Theatre
  • Playwriting
  • Dramatic Literature
  • Theatre History
UMass Lowell students perform Dancing at Lughnasa in the Spring of 2017.

With several full-scale productions each year, the Theatre Arts Program offers rich opportunities for students to perform as well as to work behind the scenes in theatre production and management, including theatrical design, stage management, and technical production. For information on auditions, contact Shelley Barish

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UMass Lowell students perform A Midsummer Night's Dream, the comedy written by William Shakespeare in 1595/96.

Internships

Internships are available both on campus and at professional theatres in the area. In addition, our partnership with the acclaimed Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Lowell provides students with exciting opportunities to work alongside professional theatre artists on the development of world-premiere theatre works. Watch for these and other upcoming special events.

Photo Galleries

  • Donahue Professor for the Arts for 2024 Shelley Barish

    UMass Lowell, Partners Launch Theater Events for Youth

    Young people throughout the region will experience the wonder of live performance through a new UMass Lowell program that draws on the creative strengths of the university, Middlesex Community College and Merrimack Repertory Theatre.
    Press Release
  • A woman poses for a photo holding a book while standing in front of a river

    Useful Theater Lessons – for Any Stage of Life

    Rae Mansfield, associate director for honors scholarship and curriculum, recently co-authored “Theatre for Lifelong Learning,” a guide for teaching and creating theater with older adults.
    Department News
  • Chancellor Jacquie Moloney holds the hand of theatre arts student Lucas Bermudez, as philanthropist Nancy L. Donahue and theatre arts students Raphaela Pereira and Cristian Ramos Delgado look on

    Nancy L. Donahue Celebrates the Arts with $2 Million Gift

    This year, the Nancy L. Donahue Celebration of the Arts celebrated the Lowell philanthropist’s $2 million donation to renovate Durgin Concert Hall. It is only her latest gift to the university.