Creative Rigor

Through our themed Home Seasons in the Gonda and Devine Theatres, the Davis Center uniquely blends creative and critical approaches, often wrestling with current events and presenting new works. Our alumni and faculty include artists, scholars, and scholar-artists; they experiment, create original work and delve deeply with adaptations. Where Davis Center alumni go, inventive approaches follow. Their innovation is not a happy accident but rather the outcome of an ongoing commitment to train dynamic creativity.

A thesis only at Georgetown

Since 2005, Theater & Performance Studies majors can pursue senior honors thesis projects, manifesting as original creative projects, community engagement, or written scholarship (or a blend of all three). Students interweave creative and critical research, while mentored closely by faculty. In particular, creative thesis projects are hubs of collaboration, involving students, faculty and guest artists for months (sometimes years). These shows premiere in our seasons, and some have gone on to other venues.

Actors around a glowing blue bottle on stage. — The company of *An Acorn,* Eliza Palter’s (C’20) thesis project, which she directed and adapted from an open script by Caridad Svich, advised by Prof. Maya E. Roth. Drawing on physical theater, environmental activism and creative collaboration, this project grew artist-citizens. (Photo: Jordan Silverman)

Actor holding a tray of miscellaneous fruit. — Jeremy Guyton (C’12) offers fruit to audience members in *AmBIGuous*, an original solo thesis performance questioning the sustainability of bisexual lifestyles in a society focused on monogamous heterosexuality. Advised by Prof. Natsu Onoda-Power, this performance played in repertory with Allie Villarreal’s *inFATuation*, an original solo piece critically and creatively interrogating fat-bias, inspired by ethnographic research, advised by Prof. Maya E Roth. (Photo: Georgetown University)

Actors on stage with stern faces and arms raised above their heads. — The Company of Caryl Churchill’s *Mouthful of Birds,* directed by Brendan Quinn (C’14) for a creative thesis, leveraged his double majors in TPST and Psychology to reframe themes from *The Bacchae* in collaboration with choreographer Nora Rosengarten (C’14), advised by Prof. Maya E. Roth, stage managed by Sarah Konig, co-produced with Nomadic Theatre. Brendan also presented his thesis to the Provost’s Undergraduate Research Symposium. (Photo: Georgetown University)

Diversity of Graduate Schools

Some industries and schools tend to silo “creativity” and “empathy” as soft skills or non-academic. We believe quite the opposite: educating creative and empathetic thinking requires grit and academic commitment. The Davis Center’s rigor has laid the foundation for our alumni to pursue an extraordinary range of graduate programs.

135+ graduate degrees

50+ Masters degrees

15 JDs

16 MBAs

23 MFAs

14 PhDs

8 MPPs

…and a handful of MDs

Top-tier MFAs

Those pursuing MFAs attend some of the top programs in the world.

23 MFAs

Florida State University School of Theatre College of Fine Arts

UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television

Academics abound

An exceptional number of our Alumni become faculty. We’re proud of the theater professors and teaching artists, but a remarkable affirmation of our values is in how many other fields benefit from our alumni’s creative rigor, including sociology, economics, and computer science.

**Our grads, like our faculty, create.**

Alumni carry the rigor and dynamism of the Davis Center into any and every field they go. Our alumni are founders, leaders and creators in the true sense of the word.

100+ new plays and scripts

20+ academic articles and books

35+ new companies, production groups, or non-profits

Reshaping the field: New York, LA, and beyond

Many Alumni who embrace the creative rigor of our Davis Center Home Seasons as undergrads go on as actors, directors, writers, and producers in New York, London, Los Angeles, and regional performing arts hubs around the world.

Michael Benz holding a skull on stage — Michael Benz (C’04) as the title character in the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre production of *Hamlet,* restaged at the Folger Library Theatre. (Photo: Fiona Harwood)

Actors on stage wearing houses over their heads — Co-conceived by Caitlin Nasema Cassidy (C’11), Robert Duffley (C’13), and Geoff Kanick, *On The Lawn* was a partnership with LubDub Productions, an internationally-acclaimed NYC-based ensemble formed by alumni of our Program. The Davis Center hosted its workshop developmental premiere for TPST’s season, involving student artist-devisers from across campus, faculty and guest artists. (Photo: Leslie E. Kossoff)

Obehi Janice talking to a group of writers at a table — Obehi Janice (SFS’09) working on her play *Ole White Sugah Daddy*, which has been picked up as an Amazon TV series. (Photo: Maggie Hall Photography)

Hard Soft Skills

At Georgetown, Davis Center students work closely with top-tier guest artists, faculty and each other to hone the concrete skill of creative thinking and experimentation. Our Alumni credit their success and advancement in their fields to this approach.

98% say “creativity lessons have an impact on current career.”

80% say they use what they learned “constantly” in their career.

“I’ve been saying this for the past two years on tour, but I am uniquely suited to my work on Cambodian Rock Band because of what I learned about collaboration at Georgetown.”
Matt MacNelly (C’08), reflecting on his work as Music Director for Lauren Yee’s award-winning Off-Broadway play.