Award-winning, diverse and innovative, the theatre program at Appleton North High School is active year-round.  Major annual productions include a fully-staged One Act competition piece in the fall, a large cast musical performed in March, and a straight play performed in May.  Many North students also participate in the Summer Shakespeare Theatre that is open to all students from the surrounding area in June and July. The theatre seminar/production class presents a children's show in December, and a social-issue play in May.  Improvedy, the area's only student improv comedy troupe, performs four public shows a year.  In recent years, other large productions have occasionally been added, such as a showcase musical for the state theatre festival, a second fully-staged musical, or an in-concert version of a musical in conjunction with the orchestra.  The Drama Club, one of the largest clubs on campus, plans, builds, and staffs a Haunted House each October to raise money for the program.

North Theatre has been awarded the top honor of Critic’s Choice at the Wisconsin High School Theatre Festival every year since 1999, the only school to accomplish such a feat in the history of the festival.