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Department of Theatre and Dance

Our Facilities

Theatre ComplexThe theatre complex consists of the John Wright Theatre (a 360-seat proscenium theatre), the Dennis & Cheryl Woods Theatre (a 150-seat arena theatre), the Lab School Theatre (a 100-seat lab theatre), dance studio, and the Lyles Gallery which also serves as the lobby for both the Wright and Woods theaters. 

  • Lighting/Sound Shop
  • Scene Shop
  • Dance Studio

Costume Shop

Students that are interested in the art of theatrical costuming will be trained in design, sewing, and makeup in quality facilities that simulate the industry standards in professional theatrical costume shops. 

We offer a wide range of technology to support our program, including:

  • Ten Bernina Home Sewing Machines
    • Two Sergers
    • A Juki Industrial Serger 2504
    • One Pfaff industrial sewing machine
    • Two gravity feed industrial irons
  • Two steamers 

In addition, we also house onsite a fully functioning costume shop with the following amenities:

  • Two floors of costume stock
  • Four dressing rooms; two with showers
  • Separate Craft/Dye Room
  • Separate makeup studio

The Vintage Collection

The Theatre and Dance Department at Fresno State houses a collection of over 1200 pieces of vintage clothing and accessories dating back to the 1860s. Many of the garments in our collection were acquired  through the personal donations of community members and represent the rich costume history of the Central Valley.

These garments are no longer appropriate for use on the stage, but are still utilized by our Design/Tech students in hands on research projects. In the past 3 years, students and staff have studied and re-created vintage garments for productions, presented research based on the collection at conferences, and received study grants to continue their research.

Please check out the links below for our ongoing efforts to catalogue and preserve this valuable collection. 

  • Click here to access the Theatre and Dance Garment Collection in the Special Collections at the Library.
  • Click here to access the Fresno State Vintage Collection's Instagram for photo's detailing our daily work of photographing and cataloging our collection of historical garments.