The artist-scholar. That is the animating principle behind Middlebury Theatre, where students immerse themselves in all aspects of theatre making and in the rigorous study of theatre’s many histories, theories, practices, and literatures.

Through a process that is both creative and collaborative, students delve into the latest movements in theatre design, acting, stage management, playwriting, and directing. 

At its core, the department aims to be an artistic home where students reimagine traditional distinctions and strive to become innovators and collaborators, capable of shaping our culture.

 

Interdisciplinary Curriculum

The Theatre Department offers a diversity of courses designed to provide a balance between the study of history, literature, and theory, and the making of theatre.   

Theatre itself is inherently interdisciplinary, and our students enjoy exploring connections between classes offered in dramatic literature, visual creativity, the creative process, playwriting, acting (improvisation, scene study, acting styles), directing, set design, lighting design, and costume design. As a program in a liberal arts setting, students also reference classes taken outside the discipline in order to provide depth and context.

Neon lit Auditions Sign

April 21, 6 to 9 pm, Mahaney Arts Center, Room 232

The Theatre Department invites ALL STUDENTS to Audition for the Fall 2023 faculty directed productions of Greek Tragedy by Lia Romeo and Polaroid Stories by Naomi Lizuka

Find more details here

The Seeler Studio Theatre in the Mahaney Arts Center.

Our Facilities

The performing arts are central to Middlebury’s life and culture. Students have a multitude of facilities available for their use, including a design lab with plotters, drafting, and rendering stations, two scene and costume shops, a lighting lab equipped with a grid and an ETC Ion console, and acting labs. Venues include Wright Memorial Theatre, Seeler Studio Theatre, and Hepburn Zoo Theatre. 

 

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Seeler Studio Theatre

The Seeler Studio Theatre is a modern black-box theatre with flexible seating for up to 165 audience members, a full catwalk system, and a fully-equipped shop adjacent to it. 

Wright Memorial Theatre

Wright Memorial Theatre is a 350-seat proscenium theatre with a full fly system, lighting grid, and removable fore stage. It is adjacent to a fully equipped scene shop. 

Learning Spaces

- Rehearsal Studios
- Design Studios
- Lighting Lab
- Scene Shops
- Costume Shops
- Hepburn Zoo Theatre

Featured Events

More Events
  • Image of a woman wearing a pink shirt

    Howard E. Woodin Environmental Studies Colloquium Series

    “Climate Theatre: Stories of Kinship, Community, and Climate Justice” by Theresa May, Faculty of Theatre, Environment and Indigenous Studies at the University of Oregon, and Artistic Director of the EMOS Ecodrama Playwrights Festival.

    Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103

    Open to the Public
  • Yellow sky with clouds. A barn. 2 people on bikes and 3 people standing in tall grass.

    Somewhere

    A play by Marisela Treviño Orta directed by Olga Sanchez Saltveit.
    Almost all the insects are gone, but Cassandra and her brother Alexander are tracking the world’s last monarch butterflies heading to the west coast instead of south. Their path intersects with an Oregon truffle farm where a small group of people are hunkering down to wait out the apocalypse. Will their encounter provoke the collapse of humanity or a new beginning?

    Performances: April 6th – 8th, 7:30 pm each evening and 2 pm on Saturday.

    Mahaney Arts Center Seeler Studio Theatre

    Open to the Public
  • Yellow sky with clouds. A barn. 2 people on bikes and 3 people standing in tall grass.

    Somewhere

    A play by Marisela Treviño Orta directed by Olga Sanchez Saltveit.
    Almost all the insects are gone, but Cassandra and her brother Alexander are tracking the world’s last monarch butterflies heading to the west coast instead of south. Their path intersects with an Oregon truffle farm where a small group of people are hunkering down to wait out the apocalypse. Will their encounter provoke the collapse of humanity or a new beginning?

    Performances: April 6th – 8th, 7:30 pm each evening and 2 pm on Saturday.

    Mahaney Arts Center Seeler Studio Theatre

    Open to the Public
  • Yellow sky with clouds. A barn. 2 people on bikes and 3 people standing in tall grass.

    Somewhere: Post-Play Discussion

    Meet members of the “Somewhere” cast and crew, and special guests including playwright Marisela Treviño Orta and Dr. Theresa May, to talk about the show, its themes and questions.

    Sponsored by the Theatre Department, the Climate Action Capacity Program, and the Middlebury Performing Arts Council.

    Mahaney Arts Center Seeler Studio Theatre

    Open to the Public
  • Somewhere Reception

    Enjoy light snacks and dessert following the evening’s performance of Somewhere and post-play discussion.

    Also sponsored by the Climate Action Capacity Project.

    Mahaney Arts Center Lower Lobby

    Open to the Public
  • headshot photo of the artist

    Art vs. the Apocalypse Movement Workshop "Embodying Stories"

    This movement workshop led by Theresa May combines embodied practice with questions about how our bodies serve as sources for creativity. The body has knowledge; the body contains memory; the body is a source of stories. How is your body a gateway to creativity, imagination, memory, and freedom of expression? How are imagination, voice, emotion and physicality connected? How can you be present and empowered in and through your body? How is language embodied? What might it mean to have a physical “practice” that opens your heart and creative imagination?

    Mahaney Arts Center 232

    Closed to the Public
  • Yellow sky with clouds. A barn. 2 people on bikes and 3 people standing in tall grass.

    Somewhere

    A play by Marisela Treviño Orta directed by Olga Sanchez Saltveit.
    Almost all the insects are gone, but Cassandra and her brother Alexander are tracking the world’s last monarch butterflies heading to the west coast instead of south. Their path intersects with an Oregon truffle farm where a small group of people are hunkering down to wait out the apocalypse. Will their encounter provoke the collapse of humanity or a new beginning?

    Performances: April 6th – 8th, 7:30 pm each evening and 2 pm on Saturday.

    Mahaney Arts Center Seeler Studio Theatre

    Open to the Public
  • Yellow sky with clouds. A barn. 2 people on bikes and 3 people standing in tall grass.

    Somewhere

    A play by Marisela Treviño Orta directed by Olga Sanchez Saltveit.
    Almost all the insects are gone, but Cassandra and her brother Alexander are tracking the world’s last monarch butterflies heading to the west coast instead of south. Their path intersects with an Oregon truffle farm where a small group of people are hunkering down to wait out the apocalypse. Will their encounter provoke the collapse of humanity or a new beginning?

    Performances: April 6th – 8th, 7:30 pm each evening and 2 pm on Saturday.

    Mahaney Arts Center Seeler Studio Theatre

    Open to the Public
  • Flyer for 'A Woman Left Lonely'

    A Woman Left Lonely

    Find a glimmer of hope even in the loneliest of lives. Join three of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tennessee Williams’ iconic heroines as they grapple with isolation, embrace desire, and chase after dreams. This night of short plays and scenes includes the explosive classic, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen; and This Property Is Condemned. Senior thesis work of Victoria Keith ‘23. Directed by Bri Beach ‘23.5 and Sophie Butler-Rahman ‘25. Grab your tickets at go/lonely… and keep us company!

    Hepburn Zoo

    Open to the Public
  • Flyer for 'A Woman Left Lonely'

    A Woman Left Lonely

    Find a glimmer of hope even in the loneliest of lives. Join three of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tennessee Williams’ iconic heroines as they grapple with isolation, embrace desire, and chase after dreams. This night of short plays and scenes includes the explosive classic, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen; and This Property Is Condemned. Senior thesis work of Victoria Keith ‘23. Directed by Bri Beach ‘23.5 and Sophie Butler-Rahman ‘25. Grab your tickets at go/lonely… and keep us company!

    Hepburn Zoo

    Open to the Public
  • Flyer for 'A Woman Left Lonely'

    A Woman Left Lonely

    Find a glimmer of hope even in the loneliest of lives. Join three of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tennessee Williams’ iconic heroines as they grapple with isolation, embrace desire, and chase after dreams. This night of short plays and scenes includes the explosive classic, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen; and This Property Is Condemned. Senior thesis work of Victoria Keith ‘23. Directed by Bri Beach ‘23.5 and Sophie Butler-Rahman ‘25. Grab your tickets at go/lonely… and keep us company!

    Hepburn Zoo

    Open to the Public
  • photo of the artist holding a saxophone

    New Directions Spring Arts Festival: In the Moment

    At this very moment,
    You’ve breathed molecules
    First produced by Cyanobacteria epochs ago
    How does this make you feel?
    Does it sound like this?

    Shows at 2:00pm and 6:00pm.

    Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall

    Open to the Public
  • black and white photograph of the artists

    New Directions Spring Arts Festival: 27 Breaths

    27 Breaths is a live music and movement piece created and performed by composer and musician, Mathew Evan Taylor, and choreographer and dancer, Laurel Jenkins. In close proximity Taylor and Jenkins Inhale/Exhale, Push/Pull, never simply breathe…

    Shows at 2:15pm and 6:15pm.

    Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall

    Open to the Public
  • silhouette of person from behind

    New Directions Spring Arts Festival: Inner Landscapes

    Inner Landscapes is a performance practice developed by Assistant Professor of Dance Laurel Jenkins and Nives Sertic, a projection artist based in Croatia. Middlebury College’s New Directions Spring Arts Festival will present the second iteration of this work which began when Sertic and Jenkins met as artists-in-residence last year at Cite des International Arts in Paris, France. This intimate work submerges the body in worlds of color. Original sound is played live by Matthew Evan Taylor and costumes are by Mac Melrose.

    Shows at 2:30pm and 6:30pm.

    Mahaney Arts Center Dance Theatre

    Open to the Public
  • photos of artists, side by side

    New Directions Spring Arts Festival: Momentary Exchange

    Co-created and directed by Michole Biancosino, Assistant Professor of Theatre, with Visiting Artist, Todd Anderson, digital poet and technologist

    Leave your cellphone on for this unique theatre event. In this app-driven performance piece, you are invited to take a 50 minute journey - through memory, relationships, songs, and weather – as we take a road trip together. Audiences co-write the story in real time by using your phone and responding to prompts in real-time. It’s going to be a wild ride.

    Mahaney Arts Center Seeler Studio Theatre

    Open to the Public
  • photo of the artist holding a saxophone

    New Directions Spring Arts Festival: In the Moment

    At this very moment,
    You’ve breathed molecules
    First produced by Cyanobacteria epochs ago
    How does this make you feel?
    Does it sound like this?

    Shows at 2:00pm and 6:00pm.

    Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall

    Open to the Public
  • black and white photograph of the artists

    New Directions Spring Arts Festival: 27 Breaths

    27 Breaths is a live music and movement piece created and performed by composer and musician, Mathew Evan Taylor, and choreographer and dancer, Laurel Jenkins. In close proximity Taylor and Jenkins Inhale/Exhale, Push/Pull, never simply breathe…

    Shows at 2:15pm and 6:15pm.

    Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall

    Open to the Public
  • silhouette of person from behind

    New Directions Spring Arts Festival: Inner Landscapes

    Inner Landscapes is a performance practice developed by Assistant Professor of Dance Laurel Jenkins and Nives Sertic, a projection artist based in Croatia. Middlebury College’s New Directions Spring Arts Festival will present the second iteration of this work which began when Sertic and Jenkins met as artists-in-residence last year at Cite des International Arts in Paris, France. This intimate work submerges the body in worlds of color. Original sound is played live by Matthew Evan Taylor and costumes are by Mac Melrose.

    Shows at 2:30pm and 6:30pm.

    Mahaney Arts Center Dance Theatre

    Open to the Public
  • photos of artists, side by side

    New Directions Spring Arts Festival: Momentary Exchange

    Co-created and directed by Michole Biancosino, Assistant Professor of Theatre, with Visiting Artist, Todd Anderson, digital poet and technologist

    Leave your cellphone on for this unique theatre event. In this app-driven performance piece, you are invited to take a 50 minute journey - through memory, relationships, songs, and weather – as we take a road trip together. Audiences co-write the story in real time by using your phone and responding to prompts in real-time. It’s going to be a wild ride.

    Mahaney Arts Center Seeler Studio Theatre

    Open to the Public
  • Flyer for 'A Woman Left Lonely'

    A Woman Left Lonely

    Find a glimmer of hope even in the loneliest of lives. Join three of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tennessee Williams’ iconic heroines as they grapple with isolation, embrace desire, and chase after dreams. This night of short plays and scenes includes the explosive classic, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen; and This Property Is Condemned. Senior thesis work of Victoria Keith ‘23. Directed by Bri Beach ‘23.5 and Sophie Butler-Rahman ‘25. Grab your tickets at go/lonely… and keep us company!

    Hepburn Zoo

    Open to the Public
  • Art vs. the Apocalypse: Fishbowl Symposium

    Join us for a dynamic conversation with guest speakers and community members about how art can reflect, engage, and resist apocalyptic ideas and futures.

    Sponsored by the Department of Theater; co-sponsored by the Environmental Affairs, the Department of Biology, Committee on the Arts, and the Climate Action Capacity Program 

    Mahaney Arts Center Seeler Studio Theatre

    Open to the Public
  • Art vs the Apocalypse fishbowl symposium lunch

    Continue conversations from the Art vs the Apocalypse Fishbowl Symposium over lunch!

    Also sponsored by the Climate Action Capacity Project.

    Mahaney Arts Center Lower Lobby

    Open to the Public
  • Painting of two people looking into a glass jar full of fireflies against a starlit night sky.

    Art vs. the Apocalypse Film Night

    An evening of short films that center and celebrate the non human world and our relationship to it. Presented by Ibiyinka Alao, Nigeria’s Art Ambassador to the UN, featuring Midd alum, and community members.

    Dana Auditorium (Sunderland Language Center)

    Open to the Public
  • Ibiyinka Olufemi Alao (artist) standing in front of a painting

    Art vs. the Apocalypse Arts Workshop

    Ibiyinka Olufemi Alao, Nigeria’s art ambassador to the United Nations, visual artist, filmmaker, architect and author will lead a visual art (painting) workshop as part of the Art vs the Apocalypse event. Alao’s paintings center redemption, peace and love, and lately reflect a long-standing fascination with fireflies. Materials provided. Open to Middlebury College students.

    Sponsored by the Department of Theater; co-sponsored by the Environmental Affairs, the Department of Biology, Council on the Arts, and the Climate Action Capacity Program.

    Mahaney Arts Center 221

    Closed to the Public
  • Image of a woman on stage

    Art vs. the Apocalypse presents "The N Word: Nature Revisited"

    Join Dr. Carolyn Finney, Artist-in-Residence, Environmental Affairs, for a unique presentation that brings her life in conversation with historic figures and contemporary issues. Central Park birder Christian Cooper. George Floyd. The removal of Confederate Statues. Renaming of institutions. Reparations. Systemic Racism. Finney asks, what’s environment got to do with it? How do we meet this moment? Drawing from her book, Black Faces, White Spaces, her relationships “in the field” and her lived experience, Dr.

    Axinn Center 232

    Open to the Public
  • black and white tree with red birds

    Hamlet

    The Middlebury Department of Theatre presents Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy of revenge in a production where 10 actors all share the title role. Shakespeare’s masterpiece takes on new meaning when every person onstage embodies the idea that “there is something of Hamlet in us all.” Featuring Beck Barsanti, Brianna Beach, Annabelle Iredale, Naja Irvin-Conyers, Victoria Keith, Ben Knudsen, Peyton Mader, Charlie Porto, Charlotte Roberts, and Zeph Santiago as Hamlet.

    Please join us for a talk back with the company directly after the Friday performance.

    Wright Theatre

    Open to the Public
  • black and white tree with red birds

    Hamlet

    The Middlebury Department of Theatre presents Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy of revenge in a production where 10 actors all share the title role. Shakespeare’s masterpiece takes on new meaning when every person onstage embodies the idea that “there is something of Hamlet in us all.” Featuring Beck Barsanti, Brianna Beach, Annabelle Iredale, Naja Irvin-Conyers, Victoria Keith, Ben Knudsen, Peyton Mader, Charlie Porto, Charlotte Roberts, and Zeph Santiago as Hamlet.

    Please join us for a talk back with the company directly after the Friday performance.

    Wright Theatre

    Open to the Public
  • black and white tree with red birds

    Hamlet

    The Middlebury Department of Theatre presents Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy of revenge in a production where 10 actors all share the title role. Shakespeare’s masterpiece takes on new meaning when every person onstage embodies the idea that “there is something of Hamlet in us all.” Featuring Beck Barsanti, Brianna Beach, Annabelle Iredale, Naja Irvin-Conyers, Victoria Keith, Ben Knudsen, Peyton Mader, Charlie Porto, Charlotte Roberts, and Zeph Santiago as Hamlet.

    Please join us for a talk back with the company directly after the Friday performance.

    Wright Theatre

    Open to the Public

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