The mission of S&B is to bring faculty, staff, and students together in the spirit of collaborative learning and artistry and to engage in open conversations among members of the Department of Theatre Arts & Performance Studies and larger Brown community in order to select and produce the works of the mainstage theatre season. Throughout this process, S&B values include collaboration, curiosity, experimentation and expansiveness, mentorship and sharing knowledge, creativity, diversity, education, and creating challenging theatre.

The board seeks to select and produce theatrical projects that provide rich sites of collaboration and learning among students, faculty, and staff. In the discussion, planning, and production of theatre at Brown, S&B privileges providing educational opportunities for student theatre artists and producers, regardless of their sex, race, color, religion, age, disability, status as a veteran, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

Each year, the Sock & Buskin board chooses a season consisting of 2 mainstage theatrical shows, two mainstage dance performances, and the Writing is Live Festival to be produced during the following academic year. The board also produces a 3rd show, the “senior slot.” Senior slot, determined by faculty who select from proposals submitted by junior concentrators, is a mainstage show running for one week and is open to juniors who wish to direct or write a full production of their choosing in their senior year.