Acting

Tamilla Woodard, Chair
Grace Zandarski, Associate Chair
M.F.A. and Certificate

The Acting program admits talented and committed individuals from a wide range of backgrounds who possess a lively intelligence, a strong imagination, a collaborative ethos, and a physical and vocal instrument capable of development and transformation and prepares them for work as professional actors. Combining in-depth classroom training with interdisciplinary production opportunities, the program further recognizes and affirms the call for our field, our faculty, and our theater-makers-in-training to prioritize anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices and pedagogies in order to create a more just, joyful, and liberated profession. At the conclusion of their training, graduates will be prepared to work on a wide range of material in multiple genres and venues.

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All students in degree and certificate programs receive full tuition scholarships.

67% of current students receive need-based aid for living expenses.

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Production Opportunities

Students apply theory to professional practice in production work at the School, Yale Rep, and Yale Cabaret.

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Affinity Groups

Coalition-building and networking among students who share common interests, goals, and/or a self-identified background.

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Student Perspectives

Building a Surprise

Actors Isuri Wijesundara and Malachi dré Beasley (’23) describe realizing the culmination of their education during a Shakespeare Repertory Production of Julius Caesar as one of their final roles at David Geffen School of Drama at Yale.

Student Perspectives

Finding Catharsis in Julius Caesar

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Program News

headshot of Evan Yionoulis
Apr 07, 2026

Welcome Home, Evan!

Evan Yionoulis (’85, ’82 B.A.) has been appointed the next Elizabeth Parker Ware Dean of David Geffen School of Drama and Artistic Director of Yale Repertory Theatre, effective July 1.

Abigail C. Onwunali
Dec 02, 2025

Abigail C. Onwunali (’23) Joins Cast of Broadway Revival: ‘Joe Turner’s Come and Gone’

Onwunali will play Martha Pentecost in the second installment of August Wilson’s Century Cycle.

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