Theatre History

Video produced by students Amanda Verhagen and Alina Cerminara.
Music thanks to Myles Black and the Pearly Whites.

Designed originally by distinguished theatre historians Michael Booth and Alan Hughes, our history program provides students with a rare opportunity to study the theatrical past within a practically-oriented, fully functioning contemporary theatre complex.

Students create their programs in close consultation with faculty, choosing from among a wide range of areas of study. Current faculty specialties include: finance and economics; acting; ancient Greek theatre; 19th- and 20th-century commercial theatre; opera history; theatre criticism; dance history and theory; and Modernism. Students may also study the history of design, directing, dramatic literature and production.

The University of Victoria’s McPherson Library contains superb special collections of historical and theoretical material including the Robertson Davies Collection of 19th-century prompt books, an 18th-century collection, and extensive audio-visual materials.

Our affiliation with the Faculty of Fine Arts offers students exciting opportunities for pursuing interdisciplinary studies in Music and Opera, Writing, Visual Arts and Art History.

In addition, UVic's outstanding departments of History, Law, English, Greek and Roman Studies, Pacific and Asian Studies, and Germanic Languages and Literatures provide theatre history students with many courses and resources directly relevant to their studies.

The City of Victoria has a long and vibrant theatre heritage boasting two turn-of-the-century civic theatres, The Royal and McPherson, a professional opera company, Pacific Opera Victoria, and two innovative professional theatre companies: The Belfry and Intrepid Theatre.

As the capital of British Columbia and home to the Provincial Archives, Victoria is a city rich with opportunities for archival, institutional and architectural research. Victoria's idyllic island location is also handily positioned within easy reach of four other first-rate Canadian and American research facilities: University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, University of Washington and the University of Oregon at Eugene.

The Department of Theatre offers two undergraduate degree options:  BFA Theatre Major with a Specialization in Theatre History and BA Honours in Theatre History.

• List of required courses for the BA Honours in Theatre History
• List of required courses for the BFA with Theatre History specialization