伊利诺伊州剧院部在BFA和MFA级别上提供举世闻名的表演节目。学生与专业活跃的教职员工，众多客座艺术家和试听员一起工作。最近的试镜嘉宾包括纽约市铸造总监Pat McCorkle，Steppenwolf的Erica Daniels，芝加哥莎士比亚的Bob Mason，犹他州莎士比亚艺术节的Kathleen Conlin，伊利诺伊州莎士比亚艺术节的Deb Alley，Paul Barnes和大河莎士比亚艺术节的Alec Wild，密尔沃基话剧团的布伦特·黑兹尔顿（Brent Hazelton），美国玩家剧院的
The Illinois Department of Theatre offers nationally known acting programs on both the BFA and MFA level. Students work with professionally active faculty, numerous guest artists, and auditioners. Recent audition guests have included NYC Casting Director Pat McCorkle, Erica Daniels of Steppenwolf, Bob Mason of Chicago Shakespeare, Kathleen Conlin of the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Deb Alley of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Paul Barnes and Alec Wild of the Great River Shakespeare Festival, Brent Hazelton of Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Brenda deVita of American Players Theatre, and many others.The three-year graduate acting program leads to a terminal professional degree in theatre performance. Graduate actors meet for daily, four-hour sessions, including sections in dynamics, voice and speech, movement, and acting. Acting students work on scenes from plays selected from the full scope of dramatic literature and perform them in final presentations at the end of each semester. Research and study accompany performance in order to stimulate fresh interpretations and a thorough understanding of each play and period. Electives may be taken in theatre history, creative dramatics, dramatic theory, or special projects in production, movement, or voice. Three years in residence earning eighteen graduate units of credit (one unit equals four semester hours) are required for the degree. Course work includes at least twelve units in acting, at least one unit in theatre history, and five units in departmental approved electives. Students in the MFA Program participate continuously in the production program of the Department of Theatre which presents six to eight productions annually at Krannert Center.