"To be or not to be: that is the question."

It's one of the most well-known and well-used lines in theatre, taken from Shakespeare's "Hamlet." But there's the subsequent question, one that lingers when theatre becomes the topic:

To be or not to be an actor.

For those of you that are unaware, Notre Dame has a very active theatre department. From watching The Actors From the London Stage perform Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" this fall to Bertold Brecht's "The Life of Galileo" in the spring, we'll have a very theatre-filled experience. That is, if we choose to make it so.

All students received theatre ticket application allowing them to purchase discounted theatre tickets to all mainstage performances. In addition to "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "The Life of Galileo" other mainstage plays to grace Washington Hall's stage will include How the Other Half Loves by Alan Ayckbourn, Antigone by Sophocles, and Macbeth (also known as the Scottish Play) by Shakespeare.

But that's not all.

"What, a play toward! I'll be an auditor; an actor too, perhaps, if I see cause," says Puck from "A Midsummer Night's Dream." No truer words could be spoke. There are many, many more opportunities to be bring theatre into your life here at Notre Dame.

For starters, we have five student theatre groups on-campus. Already having held auditions for its fall production, The Not-So-Royal Shakespeare Company will perform a rendition of Shakespeare's "Othello" later this semester. Pasquerilla East Musical Company will perform Damn Yankees in February. Last year, Farley Hall Players performed "Chance at Love," written, composed and directed by seniors Tommy Curtin and Ryan Cunningham. "Chance at Love" went on tour this summer across the United States. The St. Edward's Hall Players and Notre Dame Student Players also put on plays during the school year.

And there's more.

You have the theatre classes which put on performances in the Lab theatre on the third floor of Washington Hall. They range from one-person shows to directing finals. You find fliers for them posted in LaFortune and O'Shaughnessy Hall.

So audition for a play, help build the set, work as stage crew or just go and watch.

Okay, so you're probably thinking "Why the pitch for theatre?"

My freshman year, I took a class the Theatre department. FTT105 Introduction to Theatre. In that class, I had the opportunity to do just about everything. I ushered at plays, worked in the costume and scene shops, worked as stage crew, and read a lot of really diverse plays. We read "The Tempest," "Angels in America," "School for Scandal" and more. We watched a professional performance of "The Angels' Cradle." This was before we had Actors from the London Stage come each semester and the Summer Shakespeare Program, which started in the summer of 2000.

So, I guess you could say I tried it and got hooked. I have a lot of friends in theatre, both in the Theatre department and participating in the student clubs. I've seen a lot of plays – and I love what I've seen.

I love the theatre.

"My fate cries out… Go on; I'll follow thee." (Hamlet to Ghost, "Hamlet")

• To be or not to be