Art education can be classified into the education through art (general art education) and the education for art (specialized art education). The education for art, namely specialized art education, is an educational goal-oriented function of acquiring the specialty of art itself and needs earlier education than other fields. In order to satisfy the needs of specialized art education, the number of art high schools has increased rapidly since the 1980s, in particular. In spite of this reality, the study on the curricula at the department of theatre of art high schools has been insufficient so far, comparing to other art fields. The purpose of this study was to examine the current status of education and curricula at the theatre department of such three domestic front-running art high schools as Kaywon, Anyang, and Jeonju, focusing on their current status of education, development, educational goals, and changes of curricula, in order to work out the future direction of theatre department at art high schools-agencies for the early education of cultivation of artists. In the second chapter, the educational policy of art high schools as special-purpose high schools, designated by the Ministry of Science and Technology, was examined. In addition, the investigator examined how the purpose of curricula at the department of theatre was nationally prescribed as specialized art education, together with the change of curricula at the theatre department of art high schools. And as for the current status of education at the department of theatre of art high schools, the investigator focused on presenting objective data by means of examining the current status of the three schools. The investigator examined the educational goal and developmental process of every school and then looked into the current status of changes and educational conditions of theatre departments. As study findings show, the Ministry of Science and Technology regulates the goal aomically operated in a relative sense. Therefore, the investigatornd operation of curricula of art high schools, but schools have been auton compared the patterns and contents of guidance between ordinary curricula and specialized curricula. However, although a variety of talented persons are necessary in the area of theatre, the curricula regrettably focus only on acting. In order for domestic theatric art to be developed in a balanced manner, it seems to be necessary to have interests in other areas of education for the cultivation of talented persons in producing, theories, staff and so on, in addition of cultivating performers. And it is also necessary to urgently establish qualitative standards for such educational circumstances as the dependency on part-time lecturers and the rooms for rehearsals. However, as mentioned earlier, in order to settle down these problems, national-level establishment of strict political criteria and support must be carried out. It is because most of domestic art high schools have been established by private educational organizations. The investigator hopes this study is an opportunity for many people to have interests in the theatric education of art high schools and many studies on it will be carried out in the future on the basis of study findings. In order to optimally cultivate the talent and personality of students in the 21st century, continuous researches and examinations must be carried out on the specialized theatric education of art high schools.