John Shearin, Producing Artistic Director

 Jeff Woodruff, Managing Director

The School of Theatre and Dance, College of Fine Arts and Communication, East Carolina University, has artistic and producing responsibilities for the ECU/Loessin Playhouse and the ECU/Loessin Summer Theatre.  Each is recognized as an element of distinction for the University.

• The purpose of the School of Theatre and Dance is to provide a professionally oriented program of study and training within the liberal arts concept. The Unit seeks to maintain a competent and productive faculty, and to support excellence in teaching, encourage creative activity and maintain professional-quality production work in its performance venues.

The School of Theatre and Dance strives to give students professional training in theatre and dance and to offer professional quality theatrical production for the University community and the community of Eastern North Carolina.

• The mission of the ECU/Loessin Summer Theatre is to provide the citizens of eastern North Carolina with the highest quality productions of the world's musical, comic, and dramatic repertory at affordable prices to encourage broad, diverse, and non-elitist audience participation.

ECU/Loessin Playhouse and Summer Theatre

Edgar Loessin, along with John Sneeden and Mavis Ray, founded the Department of Drama and Speech (now the School of Theatre and Dance) in 1963. He served as department chair until his retirement in 1990. During this time he created the Playhouse as an educational theatre and the Summer Theatre as a professional company. As he was responsible for East Carolina's emergence as a major force in the university and professional theatre in the region, in 2001, we paid tribute to his achievements and honor his contributions in naming these two theatrical producing entities for him.