<p>There are student-initiated productions outside of the department’s regularly scheduled mainstage shows. Senior thesis productions are a major one, usually completely student-run, with opportunities for acting and tech work. The number depends on how many students that year are doing performance/directing/production-oriented theses. There are opportunities to act for the directing classes, which culminates with a public showcase of short scenes (though it is an ‘official’ theatre dept event, it is still very student-run). RAW offers grants to artists from all disciplines and has sponsored student performances in the past. There are ‘official’ theatre-focused student groups, like the improv group or Hum play, but more often it is less formalized and just a bunch of students who decide to do something together. Maybe someone really wants to direct a certain play, so s/he’ll find interested collaborators and make it happen, or someone wants to do a staged reading of a play they wrote. The frequency depends on the students that year. Two years ago there was a robust cohort of theatre makers and so it seemed like there were student-initiated performances happening all over the place… but it can wax and wane. The theatre department is generally supportive of students who initiate their own things, and may give them rehearsal/performance space or tech support.</p>
<p>You can get a sense of the senior thesis plays from the schedule here: [Reed</a> College | Theatre | Season Performance Schedule](<a href=“http://academic.reed.edu/theatre/productions/schedule.html]Reed”>Season Performance Schedule - Theatre Department - Reed College)
There doesn’t tend to be a ton of musicals, though someone did a version of Rocky Horror this year. But if you really want to put on a musical, then make it happen.</p>
<p>This is liberal arts. Everything is open to non-majors. We want cross-collaboration between disciplines. So you can absolutely major in something else and still be able to act/direct/design/run/paint/SM pretty much any show, whether faculty-run or student-run.</p>