Devised Theatre

Devised theatre gives students the chance to invent from the ground up. Without relying on a traditional script, ensembles generate material using improvisation, movement, writing, media, and collective intuition. The process rewards curiosity, experimentation, and responsiveness to the present moment.

Lehigh is among the rare B.A. theatre programs with faculty deeply experienced in devising. The convergence of strengths in performance, directing, and design makes our department a laboratory for collective creation. Over the years, we have premiered devised works like Speaking Freely, Something from Nothing, gener8-tion Txt, Open Up!, the Act Like You Know 10-Year Anniversary Show, and most recently GPS—a bold virtual experiment born during COVID that fuses theatre, choose-your-own adventure, and escape room mechanics into an interactive narrative.

In GPS, audience members moved through multiple Zoom rooms, participated in narrative choices, and solved puzzles alongside characters. That work emerged from a 2020 devising process involving faculty, staff, and students, who together shaped three environments (Greenhouse, Penthouse, Sewers) and structured the piece for interaction in digital space.

Students in devised theatre at Lehigh get more than performance credit—they learn leadership, collaboration, and how to craft meaning from uncertainty. These projects allow them to see their voices come alive in community through Hip Hop Theatre, media, and experimental forms. Devised productions become proof of how shared imagination can be staged, preparing graduates for M.F.A. programs, experimental ensembles, and roles where vision matters as much as technique.