The School of Drama presents a full subscription season of six productions every academic year, which feature MFA students and undergraduates.

[1] Though he came to the University of Washington as a poetry fellow, Hughes soon became determined to create a first-rate drama school.

Under Hughes’ leadership, the drama program became a center of Seattle's theatrical life and a respected part of its cultural milieu.

Founders and artistic directors of many of Seattle's leading theatres were first students or faculty at the School of Drama.

The late Ruben Sierra, alumnus and former faculty member, created one of the country's first ethnic theatre companies, The Group Theatre (formerly the Group Theatre at the Ethnic Cultural Center[3]), which was later led by Tim Bond, a directing graduate of the UW who served as associate artistic director at Oregon Shakespeare Festival for 11 years and producing artistic director for Syracuse Stage and who is now Artistic Director of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.

[5] Two years later, Washington Ensemble Theatre was awarded “Best of the Fringe” by Seattle's alternative newspaper, The Stranger.

Through their work with Drama 101 and 201 (the SoD's general humanities courses), Ph.D. candidates gain valuable teaching experience while playing an essential role in the education of majors from every degree program offered by the University.

The course of study provides students with a wide range of practical training, production experience, and intellectual development.

The program fosters individual artistic vision as students grapple with intellectual and aesthetic issues and learn to think critically and creatively.

The PATP is a three-year conservatory MFA program that prepares students to become top-level professional actors equipped with sensibilities and skills that will serve them throughout their careers.

The mission of the program is to develop artists grounded in theatrical tradition who can think for themselves, who are flexible, and whose work is honest, powerful, and present within the varying demands of theatre, film, and television.

Jeffrey Fracé, an expert in devised theatre and former member of SITI Company, is the head of the PATP.