The specific relationship between the SJSU Theatre program and the Silicon Valley region can be seen in the formative and ongoing role the university plays in the development of a South Bay performing arts community. SJSU Theatre alumni, students, faculty, and staff have produced significant achievements in the region as theatre and film professionals, teachers, community activists, entrepreneurs, and arts administrators. Our graduates help build and lead a distinctively regional artistic, imaginative, creative community. The emergence of a downtown renaissance in San José is partly attributable to the fertile, ongoing relationship between the university theatre program and the culture of the South Bay.
Professional Affiliations and Partnerships
Students benefit from the department's active affiliation with the professional community and by a required industry internship in the senior year. To various sectors of the profession, these activities demonstrate the value of our students’ education, while providing a segue between undergraduate and post-graduate experiences.
Cinequest Film Festival
Our RTVF program has a long-standing relationship with the Cinequest Film Festival. A vanguard organization set in the Silicon Valley, Cinequest’s uniqueness and impact result from being ahead of the curve in the powerful integration of creativity and technology. Cinequest fuses the world of the filmed arts with that of Silicon Valley’s innovation to empower youth, artists and innovators to create and connect - driving transformations and a better tomorrow. Cinequest does this through Cinequest Picture The Possibilities and Cinequest Film Festival.
The Hammer Theatre Center
Theatre Arts majors also have access to numerous opportunities with many companies connected to the department. Our alliance with the award-winning Hammer Theatre provides students with access to professional instruction and experience in the theatre. Hammer professionals and guest artists will lecture or teach courses in playwriting, design, directing, acting and educational theatre. Students will also have the opportunity to pursue internships in acting, directing, dramaturgy, stage management, production design, development, arts marketing and more. This affiliation between SJSU and The Hammer Theatre offers students the opportunity to work closely with top professionals in the field, gaining insight into the art and operations of a professional regional theatre through close interaction with members of the theatres staff. Through this partnership, students learn what the art form of theatre means to the life of a community, and how the life of a community enriches its theatre.
