Theatre Professors, Cast Your Theatre Majors First

by Chris Peterson

If a college theatre program allows every student on campus to audition, should theatre majors receive priority in casting?

I think they should.

That does not mean every theatre major automatically deserves a role, or that a student from another department should be dismissed after giving the best audition. Casting still has to consider talent, preparation, chemistry, and the needs of the production.

But if theatre majors repeatedly watch the strongest opportunities go to students studying something else, the program should question who its productions are meant to serve.

College shows are not simply extracurricular activities. They are part of the education. Students learn in acting classes, voice lessons, movement courses, and design studios, but some lessons can only come from working on a full production.

They need to experience a rehearsal process, perform for an audience, apply notes, collaborate with a company, and discover what happens when classroom training meets an actual role.

Those opportunities are limited. Most departments only produce a few shows each year, which means casting decisions should involve more than choosing the most polished person in the room.

A theatre major may not be the strongest performer at 19. That is why they are in school. The program accepted them and agreed to help them grow. If productions consistently favor students who are already more accomplished, some majors may graduate without receiving the practical experience they enrolled to gain.

I saw this happen in college. Theatre majors attended classes, worked in the scene shop, and arranged their schedules around the department, only to watch major roles go to students from outside the program.

Sometimes those students were excellent. The issue was not whether they deserved to perform. It was what the theatre majors lost: weeks of working with a director, building a character, and learning through production.

Non-majors can bring talent and energy into a department, and they should be welcomed. But programs should be honest about their priorities.

Are productions primarily training opportunities for theatre students, or campus activities run by the theatre department?

Either model can work. Students simply deserve to know which one they are paying for.

Casting theatre majors first is not about handing out roles as rewards. It is about treating production experience as part of their education.

A program cannot promise everyone a leading role. It should be able to explain how its casting choices are helping its majors become better theatre artists.