Join Theater Pre-Orientation 2023


Welcome to Skidmore!

If you’re an incoming student interested in being involved in the Theater Department, we highly recommend signing up for our 3 day Pre-Orientation Program.  Whether you think you might want to major in Theater or just be involved in our productions, Pre-O is a great way to learn about and connect with our department before the school year starts.  It’s informative, beneficial, and lots of fun!

At Theater Pre-Orientation you will:

  • Explore the plays we will be producing in the Fall as Seminar Productions
  • Get familiar with the Janet Kinghorn Bernhard (JKB) Theater and its facilities
  • Participate in an Audition Workshop for those interested in acting
  • Participate in a Design and Technical Theater Workshop for those interested in these areas
  • Have the opportunity to meet and socialize with many of our students, faculty, and staff
  • Go on a special field trip to see a professional theater production.
  • Learn about what life is like in the Theater Department at Skidmore and how to best get started as a Skidmore Theater student

Students who have participated in this program in past years found it to be an invaluable experience enabling them to successfully get involved in theater activities in their first year – especially prospective Theater Majors. The cost for the program includes room & board, workshops and seminars, transportation and cost of a ticket to a professional theater production, and a Theater Company BBQ / Lawn Games event with the faculty and staff of the Theater Department.

Check out our THEATER PRE-O SCHEDULE (*subject to change).

Registration is due on or before July 6th 2023. Please contact us if you miss the deadline and still want to sign up– we’ll do our best to get you in!

Any questions about Registration can be directed to preorientation@skidmore.edu or 518-580-8338.

As an introduction to the way we approach our work, we will explore the world and style of the two Fall Department Seminar Productions, their psychological, social, and political themes, as well as their performance history. The directors of these two plays, and Skidmore faculty from other disciplines will share their thoughts on the plays and the unique ways in which we’ll be approaching them. We may explore the plays further by “workshopping” some scenes. This Pre-Orientation Program is a microcosm of the Theater 250 Production Seminar course we offer with all productions, so we think you will enjoy getting the inside scoop about these wonderful plays, as well as how we typically approach Department Seminar Productions.

The Audition Workshop will introduce you to our audition process, providing helpful hints about the process. At the beginning of the semester, students interested in acting will audition for all of the plays and student Labs we will be producing this term. Audition info for this term will be posted here.

At the Design and Technical Workshop (aka Tech Olympics!) we will introduce you to our methods of working through an interactive and fun workshop, plus show you some of our key equipment and discuss the design and production process for our Fall plays.

If you are interested in directing, playwriting, theater management, or theater history and theory, let us know and we will be sure that you have time with the appropriate faculty.

When we hear that you are committed to coming to Pre-Orientation, we will send you online links to the play texts which will help to prepare you for our discussions and theater activities at Pre-Orientation.

Whether you attend our Pre-Orientation or not, if you’re interested in theater, we strongly urge you to register for Introduction to Theater (TH103) for this Fall semester, as this course is a pre-requisite for many other theater courses. You might also consider taking Theater Company (TH235), which is a weekly “town hall” style meeting with the whole department, where important announcements are made and we engage in regular discussions of our production work.

So come to Skidmore a little earlier, get settled, get to know us and how we work, make a bunch of new friends right away – all with the same interest in Theater – and have some great fun, too! The only complaints we have ever received were from students who did NOT register for this exciting program!


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