A theater resume is one page, trimmed to 8″ × 10″ and stapled to the back of your headshot. It follows a fixed order, and directors read it in that order. Below is what goes on it, a filled sample, and how to list your roles.
What goes on a theater resume, in order
- Your name, large, at the top. The name you perform under.
- Union status under your name: AEA, SAG-AFTRA, or EMC if you are earning points. Leave it off if you are non-union.
- Contact: your phone and email, or your agent’s, plus your website.
- Stats: height, hair, eyes, and voice type if you sing (for example “Soprano, belt to E5”). Weight and age are optional, and age is usually left off.
- Theater credits in three columns: Show, Role, Theater / Director. Group them by type (Broadway, Off-Broadway, Regional, Educational) with the strongest group first.
- Training: degree programs, studios and named teachers, with what you studied.
- Special skills: dialects, instruments, stage combat, dance styles, languages. Only what you can do in the room today.
A filled sample
This is the Classic template with an invented performer. Every name, theater and director on it is made up.
| Our Town | Emily Webb | Riverbend Playhouse / dir. Ann Placeholder |
| A Doll’s House | Nora Helmer | Lakeside Repertory / dir. Sam Example |
| Twelfth Night | Viola | Summer Shakespeare Festival / dir. Lee Sample |
| The Paper Lanterns | Ensemble (u/s Mae) | Fictional Theater Company / dir. Robin Demo |
| Into the Woods | The Baker’s Wife | State University Theater / dir. Pat Placeholder |
| BFA Acting | State University | Voice, movement, text analysis |
| Scene Study | Example Acting Studio | Teacher: Chris Sample |
Dialects: RP, Southern US, Irish. Piano (intermediate). Stage combat (SAFD unarmed). Tap and jazz. Conversational Spanish.
How to list roles on a theater resume
On a theater resume you list the character’s name: Emily Webb, Viola, Nora Helmer. That is the main difference from a film and TV resume, where you list the size of the part (Lead, Supporting, Co-Star, Guest Star) instead, because the character names mean nothing to someone who has not seen the episode.
If you understudied, write the part you covered after your track, for example “Ensemble (u/s Mae)”. If you went on, you can say so: “u/s Mae, performed”. The third column names the theater and the director, because directors know each other and that column is often what gets you a second look.
Theater resume or film and TV resume?
If most of your work is on stage, theater credits go first and get their own groups. If you work in both, keep separate Film, Television and Theater sections and put the one that matches the audition at the top. Never merge them into one “Stage and Screen” list. Students and young performers follow the same layout: lead with educational and community theater, then training, and never pad the page.
Bring printed copies to every audition, trimmed to 8″ × 10″ and stapled to the back of your headshot at the corners. For online submissions, send the same page as a PDF named with your full name, so a director who saves it can find it again.
Build this resume without formatting a thing
Enter your credits once. Resume For Actors lays them out exactly like the sample, with character names for theater and role types for film and TV, and exports a PDF at Letter or 8″ × 10″ ready to staple. One payment of $19, yours for life, unlimited resumes.
Build my theater resume See the Classic template