The experience of theater enriches both the campus environment and the quality of life in the South Sound. The university's Department of Theatre Arts actively engages with the local performing arts community to develop programs and opportunities in "community theater." Through its efforts, the department helps to support a vibrant and innovative cultural environment for our area.
A partnership with Northwest Playwrights Alliance, Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, and playwright C. Rosalind Bell realized the production of Bell's The New Orleans Monologues, which brought to life the imagined voices of those who suffered the ravages of Hurricane Katrina in vastly different ways. The play premiered on campus in the fall of 2007 and made its way to the Festival of Northwest Plays in February 2008.
Northwest Playwrights Alliance, Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, and the Department of Theatre Arts also co-produce the annual Double Shot Festival. This event offers more than a dozen new works over a 48-hour period with Puget Sound students, faculty, and alumni working with actors, writers, directors, and musicians from the region.