Theater Studies job openings for 2023-2024 academic year
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Actor Jonathan Cullen onstage with F Murray Abraham in "The Mentor"
Jonathan Cullen (left) will be on campus March 25 & 26 holding auditions for the Fall 2023 Mainstage production of "Twelfth Night"
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RENT logo against a graffiti-covered wall
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Major & Minor Requirements
Productions & Performances
Faculty
Guest Artists

About Us

Theater is a form of human expression, shaped by social, economic, technological, personal, and artistic forces. Duke's Department of Theater Studies combines scholarly theater research with productions of plays both old and new, from all over the world and the creation and development of new performance works. 

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Events

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Featured Courses

Spotlighted Student Research

blood covered hand
MEDEA
María Zurita Ontiveros & Ash Jeffers
woman in field
The Road Kill Club
Valerie Muensterman
collage of old photos
Daddy Issued
Morgan Fears
The Fame of the Aeronaut
The Fame of the Aeronaut
Wesley Caretto
Blue
Blue
Samantha Meyers
man with bloody hand/mouth
The Curse of the Wendigo
Rory Eggleston
Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton
An Indictment
Kari Barclay
Dancing in the Bonehouse
Dancing in the Bonehouse
Kelly McCrum
alligator
Mukwerere
Jamie Bell & Austin Powers
Wittgenstein's Hamlet
Wittgenstein's Hamlet
Michael Myers

Spotlighted Faculty Research

Broadway Bodies: A Critical History of Conformity
Broadway Bodies: A Critical History of Conformity
Ryan Donovan
Wittgenstein and Literary Studies
Wittgenstein and Literary Studies
Sarah Beckwith and Toril Moi (chapter authors)
Modern and Contemporary World Drama: Critical and Primary Sources
Modern and Contemporary World Drama: Critical and Primary Sources
Esther Kim Lee (editor)
Made-Up Asians: Yellowface During the Exclusion Era
Made-Up Asians: Yellowface During the Exclusion Era
Esther Kim Lee
Staged Readings: Contesting Class in Popular American Theater and Literature, 1835-75
Staged Readings: Contesting Class in Popular American Theater and Literature, 1835-75
Michael D’Alessandro
Stage Business and the Neoliberal Theatre of London
Stage Business and the Neoliberal Theatre of London
Alex Ferrone
Albee and Influence
Albee and Influence
John M. Clum, Natka Bianchini (editors)
Polish Cinema Today: A Bold New Era in Film
Polish Cinema Today: A Bold New Era in Film
Helena Goscilo, Beth Holmgren
Seven Contemporary Plays from the Korean Diaspora in the Americas
Seven Contemporary Plays from the Korean Diaspora in the Americas
Esther Kim Lee
The Theatre of David Henry Hwang
The Theatre of David Henry Hwang
Esther Kim Lee
The Theatre of Caryl Churchill
The Theatre of Caryl Churchill
R. Darren Gobert
The Mind-Body Stage: Passion and Interaction in the Cartesian Theater
The Mind-Body Stage: Passion and Interaction in the Cartesian Theater
R. Darren Gobert
The Mythical Bill: A Neurological Memoir
The Mythical Bill: A Neurological Memoir
Jody McAuliffe
Shakespeare and the Grammar of Forgiveness
Shakespeare and the Grammar of Forgiveness
Sarah Beckwith
Unleashed: 25 Years of Manbites Dog Theater
Unleashed: 25 Years of Manbites Dog Theater
Jeff Storer (artistic director)
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Alumni Highlights

John Gromada (T’86)
John Gromada
Sound Design
Ashley Diane Long (T'14)
Ashley Diane Long
Post Production Artist, Actor
Kana Hatakeyama
Kana Hatakeyama
Filmmaker, Actor
Kari Barclay
Kari Barclay
Writer, Director, Educator
Kendall Rileigh (T'02)
Kendall Rileigh
Actor
Charles Randolph-Wright (T’78)
Charles Randolph-Wright
Director
Adia Morris (T’01)
Adia Morris
Teacher
Martavius Parrish
Martavius Parrish
Actor, Singer
Talya Klein (T’02)
Talya Klein
Writer, Director
Spencer Paez (T'13)
Spencer Paez
Actor