Perform in English and Hoike in Hawaiian Language. Sit in English and Noho in Hawaiian Language. Release in English and Hookuu in Hawaiian Language. Dance in English and Haa in Hawaiian Language. Hide in English and Pee in Hawaiian Language. Memorize in English and Hoopaanaau in Hawaiian Language. Touch in English and Hoopa in Hawaiian Language. Sing in English and Mele in Hawaiian Language. Appear in English and Oili in Hawaiian Language. Dive in English and Luu in Hawaiian Language. Crawl in English and Kolo in Hawaiian Language. Dance in English and Hula in Hawaiian Language. Balance in English and Kaulike in Hawaiian Language. Bellow in English and Kuo in Hawaiian Language. Breathe in English and Hanu in Hawaiian Language. Extend in English and Hoonui in Hawaiian Language. Embrace in English and Puliki in Hawaiian Language. Flinch in English and Kuemi in Hawaiian Language. Sit in English and Noho in Hawaiian Language. Release in English and Hookuu in Hawaiian Language. Dance in English and Haa in Hawaiian Language.
Hide in English and Pee in Hawaiian Language. Memorize in English and Hoopaanaau in Hawaiian Language. Touch in English and Hoopa in Hawaiian Language. Sing in English and Mele in Hawaiian Language. Appear in English and Oili in Hawaiian Language. Dive in English and Luu in Hawaiian Language. Crawl in English and Kolo in Hawaiian Language. Dance in English and Hula in Hawaiian Language. Balance in English and Kaulike in Hawaiian Language. Bellow in English and Kuo in Hawaiian Language. Breathe in English and Hanu in Hawaiian Language. Extend in English and Hoonui in Hawaiian Language. Embrace in English and Puliki in Hawaiian Language. Flinch in English and Kuemi in Hawaiian Language.

Theatre Program Overview

UHM Theatre + Dance continues to evaluate and modify its offerings and practices in order to better support anti-racist theatre and dance education, Click here to find out more about the ongoing initiatives.

Undergraduates: How to apply
Graduate Program: How to apply

The programs in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa are renowned for productions and course offerings centering traditional and contemporary Hawaiian and Asian performance. Students at all levels and in all programs can study acting, directing, design, playwriting, and TYA (theatre for young audiences); classes in history, theory, research, and performance studies provide context and spur change. Coursework goes hand in hand with productions staged in the 600-seat Kennedy Theatre and the intimate Earle Ernst Lab Theatre.

The programs in Theatre and Performance Studies include 14 full-time faculty members who teach over 40 courses per semester. The theatre program has approximately 50 undergraduate majors, 38 masters candidates, and 15 PhD students. Students come from around the globe to study theatre at UHM.

Both the academic courses and the full season of productions in the beautiful Kennedy Theatre complex aim to expose students and audiences to works from each of these focus areas. Theatre and Performance Studies degrees provide the opportunity to obtain a uniquely broad educational foundation as well as to focus intensely on specific areas of interest.

Degrees: BA, MA, MFA, PhD

Focus Areas: Hawaiian Theatre; Asian Theatre; Acting, Directing, Design; Hawaiian Theatre; Playwriting; TYA; Theatre History and Criticism; Performance Studies

Focus Areas

Hawaiian Theatre

Original productions reflect and honor the language, traditions, history and values of the Hawaiian community.

Acting

The Acting program at UHM allows the serious acting student to study forms and methods from the broadest array available at any university.

Directing

The Directing program at UHM is designed to give students the practical and theoretical tools to not only stage productions but to conceive whole worlds that will not soon be forgotten.

Theatre Design

The Design program at UHM is a small, personalized, multi-cultural program that emphasizes hands-on training, varied design and teaching opportunities, individualized mentoring with professionally active faculty, and design prospects with area theatres.

Playwriting

While learning dramatic structure, dramaturgy and collaborative play development, students in our program are encouraged to find their own individual voice as upcoming playwrights.

Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA)

The TYA program encourages the development and pursuit of wonder, combining a foundational emphasis in drama education and curriculum development with the bold theatrics of puppetry, mask, clown, and dance.

Asian Theatre

The program’s centerpiece are our training residencies, in which students have the exciting opportunity to undergo long-term, intensive training in a traditional Asian theatre form with renowned master artists of the genre, who provide rigorous training in semester-long movement, voice, and instrumental courses, as well as individualized instruction in the performance of specific roles and instruments.

Performance Studies

Performance Studies, though situated within the Department of Theatre and Dance, is a hybrid program that intersects with other UHM departments for course offerings as well as research and artistic collaboration.

PhD Research

Updates on doctoral research in Theatre or Performance studies.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for the B.A. in Theatre (click here)