Performance, Play & Design
J106 Theater Arts Center
(831) 502-0051
theater@ucsc.edu
http://theater.ucsc.edu
https://games.arts.ucsc.edu/
Programs Offered
Art & Design: Games + Playable Media B.A.
Theater Arts B.A.
Theater Arts Minor
Dance Minor
Theater Arts M.A.
Other Programs of Interest
Computer Science: Computer Game Design B.S.
The Department of Performance, Play & Design (PPD) collectively embodies a process of rigorous experimentation and socially conscious analysis to create equitable, accessible, and interdisciplinary works of art and scholarship. We are deeply committed to practices, research, and teaching that speak to the current moment, disrupting oppressive narratives of the past and present, and re-centering historically marginalized communities through narratives, structures, aesthetics, ritual, engagement, and play. We strive in our department to put our performance practice at the forefront of the evolving cultures and identities of our society by immersing students in design, production, history, theory, writing, directing, and technical craft. We integrate these aspects with intersectional feminist, decolonial, and new media strategies and principles to help shape the performance-makers of the future. PPD students are a combined cohort that blends interest in traditional methods with new technologies, defying traditional categorization: experimenting with digital and physical game design, exploring theory on our multiple stages, learning their craft in our labs, studios and shops, and bringing activism, artistry, and agency to their work on campus, online, and beyond.