Department of Theater
Delve into global theater studies and hands-on practice within a premier professional school setting.
Theater
UCLA Theater students become well-rounded artists and researchers, exploring performance, design, and storytelling across creative disciplines.
Undergraduate Programs
The UCLA Department of Theater is a vibrant community where diverse voices and disciplines converge to shape the theater and live experiences of tomorrow.
Here, academic rigor fuels creativity, and performers, designers, directors, playwrights and scholars are supported by world-class faculty who champion collaboration, critical thinking, and innovation. The department’s training engages with our complex, changing world and integrates the unique opportunities available at the nation’s top public university. We cultivate artists and thinkers who go on to excel across theater, film and television, themed entertainment, and many other fields.
World-Class Faculty
Felipe Cervera
Affiliations: UCLA Space Institute, Latin American Institute, Centre for Southeast Asian Studies
Deborah Nadoolman Landis
Theater News
Theater Season –
Upcoming Performances
MFA Directing Project I
Directed by MFA student Zenaida Smith
*Title To Be Announced
About the project: In one of the first uses of the newly renovated Macgowan Hall 1330 (see p.23), MFA directing candidate Zenaida Smith will direct her MFA Project I. The focus of the project is to work in depth with the text and the actors, while keeping production design intentionally minimal.
Macgowan 1330
A Turner Prize
New Play Festival #1
February 19-21, 2026
Written by MFA student Carl(os) Roa
Directed by Velani Dibba
About the show: Co-written by Carl(os) Roa and ChatGPT, a Turner Prize is an exploration of what it means to be an artist under late-stage capitalism. The world is dying, but starving artist &rade only cares about one thing: winning the Turner Prize. Too bad they’re not even eligible. Meanwhile, the more successful Randie faces the scrutiny of dealing with white gallery owners, white art critics, and an artistic landscape that seeks to flatten her work. Jealous, desperate, and spiraling, &rade starts feeding Randie’s art into Zephyr: an AI service that distorts and reshapes art into something unrecognizable. a Turner Prize wrestles with the question: what is the impact of art under the backdrop of our mass extinction?
Macgowan 1340
Bad Breath: The Stink Inside Me
New Play Festival #2
February 26-28, 2026
Written by MFA student Natalie Grace Lambert
Directed by Diana Wyenn
About the show: Maya, a college freshman studying vocal performance at UT Austin, is desperate to get rid of the stink inside her mouth. When her breath suddenly turns profoundly rank, no one wants to be around her. Not her friends, not her professors, and certainly not her super cute musician boyfriend. Though she routinely brushes, flosses, and uses mouthwash (and never rinses with water after!), the stink persists, leaving even medical professionals perplexed. Oh, also, her dad just died. And he left Maya’s mom pregnant and contemplating an abortion.
Little Theater
Actors Showcase
This annual event spotlights the talents of UCLA TFT acting students, both undergraduate and graduate.
Theater Internships
Get a head start on your career! Internships are open to enrolled juniors, seniors and graduate students from UCLA TFT and the university at large.
UCLA General Catalog
The definitive listing of all departments, programs, majors, minors and courses offered, the Catalog includes degree requirements, as well as academic and administrative policies. It outlines essential information about registration, financial aid, and academic advising, and describes many student services, activities, and resources.