Charles A. Gillespie, PhD, in his chapter Dramatic Characteristics in Catholic Studies, displays how Catholic studies can fulfill an ideal of Gaudium et Spes in engaging the contemporary human drama through theatre and performance, by applying a theory of Hans Urs von Balthasar (Theo-Drama) to works of Bertolt Brecht (Life of Galileo) and Wole Soyinka (Death and the King’s Horseman) so as to illuminate a practical way forward for students to enter and transform their cultural milieu. The chapter argues that a Catholic studies approach to theatre and performance enacts such an engagement with the drama of the modern world. First, in dialogue with von Balthasar’s Theo-Drama, the chapter explores how theatrical imagery converges an understanding of the modern world in Gaudium et Spes and what it means to read and respond to the signs of the times. Second, the chapter offers two case studies for teaching plays in Catholic studies: how Brecht’s Life of Galileo and Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman open Gaudium et Spes themes from unexpected theatrical angles. Third, the chapter reflects on the importance of artistic praxis within Catholic studies as an invitation to students preparing to enter the culture industry and as a means of integrating embodied action.