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Barnard College at Columbia University

Department of Theatre

Department of Theatre

3009 Broadway
New York, New York 10027
212.854.2080
ugrad-ask@columbia.edu

Degrees offered

Bachelor of Arts in Drama and Theatre Arts
Bachelor of Arts in Drama and Theatre Arts (Acting Concentration)
Bachelor of Arts in Drama and Theatre Arts (Design Concentration)
Bachelor of Arts in Drama and Theatre Arts (Directing Concentration)
Bachelor of Arts in Drama and Theatre Arts (Dramaturgy Concentration)
Bachelor of Arts in Drama and Theatre Arts (Playwriting Concentration)

About the program

The purpose of the university is inquiry: situated at the intersection of the arts and humanities, in a world theatrical capital, the Barnard and Columbia undergraduate theatre program engages the disciplines of drama, theatre, and performance studies as a distinctive mode of intellectual and artistic inquiry. Majors take foundational coursework in the literary, cultural, and embodied traditions of western and nonwestern performance as well as in the practices of acting, directing, design, and playwriting. All majors then specialize in a specific area and undertake advanced thesis work, leading either to a formal essay of original research, or to an artistic project (in acting, design, directing, dramaturgy, playwriting, or solo performance) that combines the practices of research and artistic creation. While Barnard and Columbia students fulfill the overall graduation requirements of their respective institutions, major requirements for the Barnard Major in Theatre/Columbia Major in Drama and Theatre Arts are identical, and the majority of required coursework is offered through the Barnard College Department of Theatre. Barnard and Columbia students receive their degrees from their respective colleges of Columbia University. The Department's season of productions in the Minor Latham Playhouse and the Glicker-Milstein Black Box Theatre is a crucible of investigation: the place where professional directors and designers collaborate with undergraduates, using a wide range of classic and contemporary plays and performance practices to shape insights unique to theatrical inquiry today. Whether it's Shakespeare or Soyinka or Caryl Churchill, or the directing, solo performance, and playwriting theses in the Senior Thesis Festival, Department of Theatre productions are both a learning process and a scene of encounter, where perceptions are shaped for the attention and creative response of a larger public. Making, thinking about, and writing about performance are an essential part of undergraduate education. For this reason, courses offered in the Barnard Department of Theatre and casting for its stage productions are open to all Barnard and Columbia undergraduate students, and Theatre courses engage productively with Barnard's "Nine Ways of Knowing" and with Columbia's Core Curriculum. In recent years, graduates have written plays for Broadway and beyond; have begun careers as actors, directors, dramaturges, designers; and have gained admission to the most competitive MFA programs in the arts. They have also been successful in pursuing non-artistic careers, including admission to demanding Ph.D. programs in literature, theatre, and performance studies.

Notable alumni

Tania Bijlani, Jessica Brater, Samantha Debicki, Jennifer Emerson Foreman, Miriam Felton-Dansky, Anitha Gandhi, Greta Gerwig, Courtney Greene, Sarah Ashford Hart, Meredith Hill, Julia Kelly, Sherri Kronfeld, Colleen Lucey, Karyn Lyman, Ambarish Manepalli, Aya Ogawa, David Paul, Lily Perlmutter, Lucia A. Peters, Natalie Robin, Katya Schapiro, Zuzanna Szadkowski, Natasha Warner, Audrey Lynn Weston, Ruth Juliet Wikler-Luker

Acceptance rate

approximately 7%

Faculty

W. B. Worthen, Gisela Cardenas, Sandra Goldmark, Paige Johnson, Shayoni Mitra, Alice Reagan, Hana Worthen, Steven Chaikelson.

by Stephi Wild — July 27, 2026

Valerie Rachelle Named Artistic Director and Dean of PCPA

Valerie Rachelle Named Artistic Director and Dean of PCPA

by A.A. Cristi — July 23, 2026

Valerie Rachelle has been named Artistic Director and Dean of Pacific Conservatory Theatre, returning to the institution where she previously worked as an actor, casting director, and choreographer.

LIFELONG to Make Edinburgh Fringe World Premiere

LIFELONG to Make Edinburgh Fringe World Premiere

by Stephi Wild — July 23, 2026

LIFELONG, a new play by two-time Fringe First winner Lynda Radley, explores immortality, AI, and inequality through Pepperdine University students performing at the Edinburgh Fringe.

LIFELONG by Pepperdine Scotland to Premiere at Edinburgh Fringe

LIFELONG by Pepperdine Scotland to Premiere at Edinburgh Fringe

by Stephi Wild — June 9, 2026

Double Fringe First winners Pepperdine Scotland and playwright Lynda Radley reunite for LIFELONG, a new work set in an AI-controlled facility where scientific advances grant residents extraordinarily long lives — at a cost.

LIFELONG to Premiere at Edinburgh Fringe

LIFELONG to Premiere at Edinburgh Fringe

by Stephi Wild — June 3, 2026

Double Fringe First winners Pepperdine Scotland and playwright Lynda Radley reunite to premiere LIFELONG at the Edinburgh Fringe, a new work exploring longevity technology, AI, and the dangers of power in the wrong hands.

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