Theatre

Theatre for all stages.

Butler Theatre strives to push the boundaries of our art as we create innovative productions and instill our students with an entrepreneurial spirit, which will help them to succeed in an ever-changing market. 
Majors & Minors
Applying to Butler Theatre
Students acting on stage in a theatre production

All the world’s your stage.

Butler Theatre majors are performers, designers, and builders. They take time, space, people, and ideas to create amazing experiences. They participate in internships around the country, study abroad opportunities around the world, and learn on-campus from visiting international theatre artists.

Our students also explore a variety of classes and dive deeper into theatre through our BFA in Acting and/or one or more of our six areas of emphasis: acting, stage management, directing, set and lighting design/technical theatre, costume design/technical theatre, and music theatre.

This comprehensive training allows students to gain transferable and marketable skills, which prepare them for successful careers.

Internships
Top Reasons be a Butler Theatre student
2025-2026 Butler Theatre Season
Midsummer Night's Dream actors

Innovative

Always something new

We encourage risk taking. We push the boundaries. We love devising new work, reinventing the classics, and producing new plays. Our black box theatre is a laboratory where we experiment and explore. We don’t duplicate the past; we create the theatre of the future.

Actors stretching in black box theatre

Flexible

Empowered to create an experience

Students grow not only as artists, but also as people. Butler provides a strong liberal arts foundation combined with extraordinary experiences—both on and off-campus. Our Theatre degrees are flexible so you can double major, study abroad, complete internships, and much more.

Colorful theatre production

Globally-Minded

A new perspective.

Our students understand theatre from many diverse angles. We bring in experts from around the world who will work closely with our students as part of our Christel DeHaan Visiting International Theatre Artist program. We also take a trip to the Moscow Art Theatre School every summer.

students putting on stage makeup

Heart of the Community

You’ll thrive in Indy.

We are at the center of a thriving arts and cultural community in Indianapolis. We have close relationships with artistic organizations around the city and our students learn from and work with companies like the Indiana Repertory Theatre, the Phoenix Theatre, and Indianapolis Shakespeare Company.

99%
Of 2020 graduates employed or attending graduate school within one year of graduation
8:1
Student-to-faculty ratio
40+
Annual performances
Student theatre production

New Major

The BFA in Acting is designed for serious undergraduate students who seek deep actor training, preparing them for entry into professional acting work or graduate MFA Acting programs.

Learn more

Contact Us

Department of Theatre

Lilly Hall, Room 165
4600 Sunset Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46208

317-940-9659

Department Chair

Diane Timmerman

Administrative Specialist

Wendy Schrepferman