Get Ready to Perform, Design, and Construct Your Next Performance
At Webster University’s Sargent Conservatory of Theatre Arts, the faculty and staff execute a professional training program for acting, musical theatre, directing, theatre studies and dramaturgy, design, technical theatre, and stage management.
Plus, our Conservatory is associated with professional theatre companies, two of which are on campus: The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Explore below to learn more about our sequential and intensive program for training artists for theatre.

We’re thrilled to bring audiences back into our spaces.
Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. | Oct. 1–10 |
Sondheim on Sondheim | Nov. 12–14 |
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane |
Dec. 3–12 |
The Learned Ladies | Feb. 25–Mar. 6 |
Burial at Thebes | Apr. 1–3 |
Student Voices | Apr. 15–17 |
Amélie | Apr. 22–24 |
Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.
By Alice Birch
Emerson Studio Theatre
Oct. 1–10, 2021
Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. premiered at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2014. This wildly experimental and inventive play, which centers the fury of modern womanhood, does not behave. Birch puts together a grouping of vignettes that ask how to revolutionize language, relationships, work, and life in general while bursting at the seams of conformity. Conservatory faculty member Joanna Battles directs.
Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. is strictly for mature audiences. The material and language in the play are of a sensitive nature. The play depicts sexual situations and includes mentions of rape, pedophilia, sexual abuse, body objectification, and violence toward women.
Sondheim on Sondheim
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Conceived and directed on Broadway by James Lapine
Browning Mainstage Theatre
Nov. 12–14, 2021
An intimate look at one of the most prolific and inventive forces in modern musical history, Sondheim on Sondheim features new arrangements of Stephen Sondheim’s most beloved work. Through exclusive interviews, audiences get an inside look at the personal life and artistic process of the famed composer. Tali Allen (Director of Education) and Michael Baxter (Artistic Associate) bring our partners from The Muny to co-direct the production.
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Adapted by Dwayne Hartford from Kate DiCamillo’s book
Stage III
Dec. 3–12, 2021
WebCo invites audiences of all ages to The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, based on Kate DiCamillo’s beautiful novel. Featuring original accompaniment composed by Webster student Noah Lovins, the play follows Edward Tulane, an expensive toy rabbit made of china, on an adventurous journey that teaches him what it is to love, what it is to lose that love, and how to find the courage to love again. Conservatory faculty member Doug Finlayson directs.
The Learned Ladies
By Molière, translated by Richard Wilbur
Emerson Studio Theatre
Feb. 25–March 6, 2022
Molière’s timeless comedy satirizes pseudo-intellectualism and social climbing while celebrating the power of true love to expose and conquer hypocrisy. Wilbur’s “lighter-than-air verse upholds the idiom and letter of Molière,” describes a New York Times critic. The translator’s “rhymed couplets are always crisp and playable.” Guest artist Rebekah Scallet, Producing Artistic Director of the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre from 2011 to 2020, directs.
Burial at Thebes
By Seamus Heaney
Stage III
April 1–3, 2022
Heaney’s translation of Sophocles’ Antigone, commissioned by Ireland's Abbey Theatre to commemorate its centenary, exposes the darkness and the humanity in the Greek masterpiece, inking it with Heaney’s own modern and masterly touch. Burial at Thebes stands as a timely exploration of the conflict between those who affirm the individual's human rights and those who must protect the state's security. Senior directing major Kylie Ferguson helms this capstone production.
Student Voices
Emerson Studio Theatre
April 15–17, 2022
WebCo celebrates the unique voices of current students, curating a selection of short, original performance texts. Join us for the world premiere of this collection. Guest artist Kathryn Bentley, associate professor of theater and artistic director of Southern Illinois University’s Black Theatre Workshop, directs.
Amélie
Book by Craig Lucas, music by Daniel Messé, lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Daniel Messé
Browning Mainstage Theatre
April 22–24, 2022
Based on the now iconic film, Amélie offers a fresh take on the beloved protagonist, an extraordinary young woman who lives quietly in the world but loudly in her mind. When a chance at love comes her way, Amélie realizes that to find happiness she will have to risk everything and say what is in her heart. Guest artist Wendy Renée Greenwood — a seasoned theatre educator, actor, director, stage manager, props designer, and playwright — directs.
Explore photos of our previous productions
Each season, Webster has multiple productions. Select a season below to view its photos:
- Ismene
- Twelfth Night
- Bomb-itty of Errors
- Picnic
- Machinal (capstone)
- Miss You Like Hell (capstone)
- Bright Star
- [title of show]
- As You Like It
- Lysistrata
- Men on Boats
- She Kills Monsters (capstone)
- Fly by Night (capstone)
- Brigadoon
- Slasher
- Macbeth
- The Glorious Ones
- The Philadelphia Story
- Next Fall (capstone)
- Rhinoceros (capstone)
- The Drowsy Chaperone
- Dogfight
- Stage Door
- Shotgun
- The Miser
- Mr Burns, a Post-Electric Play (capstone)
- The Cockfight Play (capstone)
- The Pajama Game
2014-15 Season Photos:
- Stop Kiss
- Spring Awakening
- Hay Fever
- Big Love
- Honk! (capstone)
- The Last Five Years (capstone)
- The Tempest
2013-14 Season Photos:
- Alice in Wonderland
- The Country Wife
- Smokey Joe's Cafe - The Music of Leiber and Stoller
- The House of the Spirits
- Reckless (capstone)
- A Reconsolidated Life
- Into the Woods
2012-13 Season Photos:
- The Children's Hour
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- Yours, Anne
- Uncommon Women and Others
- Eurydice (capstone)
- The Pig Iron People (capstone)
- Legally Blonde: The Musical
2011-12 Season Photos:
- Top Girls
- Carousel
- Hot L Baltimore
- Hello Again
- Edgar Allan Poe's Nevermore (capstone)
- 100 Saints You Should Know (capstone)
- Dinner With Friends (capstone)
- Lady Windermere's Fan
2010-11 Season Photos:
2009-10 Season Photos:
- The Proposal
- Company
- The Winter's Tale
- Cloud Nine
- On The Razzle
- The House of Blue Leaves
- The Wedding Singer
2008-09 Season Photos:
- On the Edge
- Our Town
- Stepping Out
- Picasso at the Lapin Agile
- Dancing at Lughnasa (capstone)
- Betrayal (capstone)
- Cabaret
2007-08 Season Photos:
- Tied to a Stick
- Anton in Show Business
- Tartuffe
- The Cripple of Inishmaan
- Angels in American: Millennium Approaches
- The Spitfire Grill
- Oklahoma
2006-07 Season Photos:
- The Siren Song of Stephen J. Gould
- A Month in the Country
- The Comedy of Errors
- The Night of the Iguana
- Bat Boy
- Private Eyes (capstone)
- You're a Good Man Charlie Brown (capstone)
- No, No Nanette
2005-06 Season Photos:
- The Spirit is Willing
- Our Country's Good
- Bye Bye Birdie
- The Memory of Water
- A New Brain
- String of Pearls
- The Man Who Came To Dinner
2004-05 Season Photos:
- Red Ink
- The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
- The Lucky Chance
- Ruthless! The Musical
- A Piece of My Heart
- Blythe Spirit
- Frankie and Johnny at the Claire de Lune (capstone)
- Scotland Road (capstone)
- Into the Woods
2003-04 Season Photos:
- Twenty and Two
- Summer and Smoke
- Rdgers and Hart: A Celebration
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- Lysistrata
- Loot
- Woyzeck (capstone)
- Nine
2002-03 Season Photos:
Full Season Archive
- The Importance of Being Earnest
- An Evening of One Acts 2002
- Pippin
- Violet
- The Laramie Project
- On the Verge
- As Bees in Honey Drown (capstoned)
- Two Rockin' Gents
2001-02 Season Photos:
Full Season Archive
- Ten Little Indians
- 42nd Street
- 5th of July
- Blood Wedding
- Lucky Stiff
- Heartbreak House
- The Shape of Things (capstone)
2000-01 Season Photos:
Full Season Archive
- Female Transport
- Company
- As You Like It
- Hedda Gabler
- You're a Good Man Charlie Brown
- The Women
1999-00 Season Photos:
Full Season Archive
- Collette Collage
- Caucasian Chalk Circle
- Picnic
- School for Scandal
- And Evening of One Acts 2000
- Guys and Dolls
1998-99 Season Photos:
Full Season Archive
- Gemini
- Grand Hotel
- The Philadelphia Story
- The Cherry Orchard
- Cole
- Macbeth
Undergraduate Majors and Minors
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Costume Construction
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Costume Design
- Bachelor of Arts in Directing
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Lighting Design
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Scene Design
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Scene Painting
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sound Design
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Stage Management
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Technical Direction
- Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies and Dramaturgy
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Wig and Makeup Design
To complete a minor in theatre, students must take a minimum of 18 credit hours from the courses below. All credit must be completed at Webster. Courses to fulfill a requirement for any major cannot also be used to fulfill a requirement for the minor in theatre.
Theatre Courses
- THEA 1050 Theatre Appreciation (3 hours) — GCP Arts Appreciation/Written Communication
- THEA 1080 Studio Acting (3 hours) — GCP Arts Appreciation/Oral Communications
- THEA 2100 Introduction to Theatre Design (3 hours)
- THEA 2030 History of Theatre: Greeks to Elizabethan — GCP Roots of Culture/Written Communication
- THEA 2040 History of Theatre: Restoration to 1915 (3 hours) — GCP Roots of Culture/Written Communication
- THEA 2050 History of Theatre: 1915 to Present — GCP Roots of Culture/Written Communication
- THEA 2060 Introduction to Dramaturgy and Play Analysis — GCP Arts Appreciation/Written Communication
- THEA 2080 Studio Acting II (3 hours) — GCP Arts Appreciation/Oral Communications
- THEA 3040 Topics in Theatre (3 hours) Repeatable with different titles
- THEA 3070 Creative Dramatics: Social Issues (3 hours)
- THEA 4060 Advanced Dramaturgy Seminar (3 hours)
- MUTH 1030 History of American Musical Theatre (3 hours)
- ENGL 4150 Shakespeare (3 hours)
Additional Information
Theatre Minor Advisor — Doug Finlayson, finlaydo@webster.edu
Apply to Webster's Sargent Conservatory of Theatre Arts
All future Webster Conservatory students follow a three-step process. (Note: The Conservatory does not require a video or prescreening.)
1: Apply to Webster
Application may be made through our website at webster.edu/apply, or you may apply through Common App or COALITION App.
After applying, you will receive email with a form link.
2: Submit Form and Fee
Use link in email to submit the Fine and Performing Arts Student Assessment Request Form and $30 fee for the Conservatory. You will be contacted by Patti Baygents with next step information to schedule a date and time for your review or interview.
3: Schedule Audition/Interview
To schedule your audition or interview at Webster, please go to Webster's Conservatory Auditions.
(Note: Acceptd does not take the place of a Conservatory audition or interview.)
If you have any questions regarding the Conservatory or the audition or review process, please contact Patti Baygents, Audition Coordinator for the Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts, at pbaygents80@webster.edu or 314-246-4216.
Use of Acceptd is not required to be admitted to the program and does not take the place of a Conservatory audition or interview.
The Sargent Conservatory of Theatre Arts is working in association with the online digital audition/portfolio company Acceptd. The use of Acceptd allows students to submit perusal materials to Webster and other programs. Although we view all postings to the Acceptd site, students interested in the Conservatory must schedule an official Webster audition or interview for the program to which they are applying. Acceptd does not take the place of a Conservatory audition or interview.
To schedule your audition or interview at Webster, please go to Webster's Conservatory Auditions page.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

Sondheim on Sondheim

Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.

Urinetown: The Musical

Mac Beth

Water by the Spoonful

Deadly

The Living

Canfield Drive

Picnic
Take a Virtual Tour

“I feel very lucky to be even attending this school. It’s an honor to be a recipient of the Webster University Endowed Theatre Scholarship and be able to keep living out my dreams.”

BFA in Acting, '24
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