Theatre

The training objective of the School of Theater is to expose students to theater traditions from a global cultural perspective and from historical precedent while simultaneously engaging them in a critique of what has come before by showing them what is new. Our mission is to nurture non-mainstream voices and promote a cultural and aesthetic diversity of viewpoint, experience and expression.

The Cotsen Center for Puppetry and the Arts was established in 1998 to allow CalArts students to explore contemporary puppetry and performing objects. Housed in the School of Theater, this one-of-a-kind laboratory offers a framework for practical training, artistic innovation, aesthetic inquiry and interdisciplinary investigation.

The Center for New Performance is the professional producing arm of CalArts, established to provide a unique artist- and project-driven framework for the development and realization of innovative theater, music, dance and interdisciplinary projects.