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Our Theatre

Known as Studio Theatre, our theatre is both intimate and flexible as a theatre performance space, and is recognized as one of the finest theatre venues in the Springfield area.

Seating ranges from 100 to 318 seats, depending on the particular stage configuration used for each production. Audiences and performers alike enjoy a very acting-centered theatre.

Our Location

The University of Illinois Springfield is located in Springfield, the capital city of Illinois, and home to many historical attractions and cultural events throughout the year. Just an hour and a half north of St. Louis and three and a half hours southwest of Chicago, Springfield is home for many established theatre artists.

The Theatre program is thrice blessed with the commitments of the hard working, talented Illinois Springfield students, the fruits of a generous and contributing theatre community, and the patronage of growing, supportive audiences from Springfield and across central Illinois.

Our History

In 1971, under the leadership of Guy Romans, the then Sangamon State University repertory company began a memorable period of producing plays that lasted until the early 1980s. In the fall of 2002, The University of Illinois at Springfield installed its new Theatre Program.

Our Mission
Our mission is to offer Illinois Springfield students the opportunity to further develop their talents as theatre artists, by working with great dramatic literature in the classroom and on the stage. We foster the idea that theatre is a vital artistic event, which brings people together to respond to one another’s experiences/stories and to the world in which we live. We expose students to the work of the world’s great theatre artists.

As students develop an effective and reliable process of working in the theatre, they gain an appreciation of how theatre works and how its history is made. In addition, students participating in theatre also develop a strong sense of teamwork, as the process of creating theatre is largely collaborative.

We provide the aspiring theatre student with a professional setting in which to work as an actor, a director, a playwright, a stage manager, a dramaturg, a designer—costume, make-up, lighting, sound, props, or as a technician.

We believe that the study of theatre becomes more enjoyable when students apply in the lab (the theatre) what they learn in the classroom. Students who graduate from Illinois Springfield with work accomplished in our theatre program not only become more sophisticated theatre patrons, but for some, a career in the theatre may begin.