Acting
Plan of Study
The first year is a highly disciplined period of training, with a concentration on the basic principles of craft that lead to extraordinary acting: active listening, authentic response, expansive imagination, and a spirit of play. Models of realism are explored through work on a variety of scenes by contemporary and modern playwrights, as actors identify practical tools for mining the printed text for given circumstances, character, objective, and action while also acquiring voice and speech skills. The second year begins with a focus on verse drama and physical storytelling, creating embodied performances of Shakespeare and beginning explorations of clown. The second term of the second year continues with the emphasis on developing an expansive sense of truth through heightened and extended language and movement with work on pre- and early twentieth-century texts from world literature. The third year includes work on nonnaturalistic texts with challenging theatricality, as well as a semester-long solo verbatim project and development of self-generated performance material. Voice and accents work includes developing the expanded and extended voice, as well as independent exploration of accents and dialects. Students also have multiple courses in learning to work on camera and in front of a microphone, transferring their acquired skills to the mediums of film and audio recording.
School production opportunities include work in a wide-ranging season of directors’ thesis productions, Shakespeare Repertory Projects, new plays by student playwrights, and program projects led by faculty or a professional guest director. All casting is assigned by the Chair of the Acting program (pending approval by the dean) based on the developmental needs of each student, the needs of the specific project as articulated by its director, and the desire to achieve a balance of collaborative opportunity between all students. Actors should take note of the casting policy, described under Program Assignments. During the academic year, and due in part to the highly interdependent and collaborative nature of the School, permission to act in projects outside the School is rarely given.
Yale Repertory Theatre serves as an advanced training center for the program. Most Acting students will work at Yale Rep as understudies, observing and working alongside professional actors and directors. Students may be cast in Yale Rep productions during the season, depending upon their appropriateness to the roles available and at the invitation of the production director and approval of the dean. Through work at Yale Repertory Theatre, those students who are not members of Actors’ Equity will attain membership to the union upon graduation.
Yale Cabaret provides an additional, although strictly extracurricular, outlet for the exploration of a wide range of material, including self-scripted pieces, company-devised original work, adaptations, and musicals. The program’s chair works directly with the Yale Cabaret artistic directors regarding approval of Cabaret participation by actors. Participation in Yale Cabaret productions is dependent on students’ program-related casting obligations and academic standing.
For course descriptions, electives, and additional information, please view the David Geffen School of Drama Bulletin.
Year One
DRAM 4b - Critical Response Process®
DRAM 50a - The Theatrical Event
DRAM 51b - New Play Lab
DRAM 53a - Authentic Collaboration
DRAM 103a/b - Acting I
DRAM 113a/b - Voice I
DRAM 123a/b - Speech and Accents I
DRAM 133a/b - The Body as Source I
DRAM 143a/b - Alexander Technique I
DRAM 153a - Play
DRAM 163b - Text Analysis I
DRAM 180a - Rehearsal Practicum
DRAM 403a/b - Acting Intimacy and Combat for the Stage
DRAM 533a/b - Professional Skills and Advanced Trainings
DRAM 563a - Activated Analysis
DRAM 863b - Principles of Anti-Racist Theater
DRAM 873a/b - Text and Context Across the Repertory
Year Two
DRAM 163a - Text Analysis II
DRAM 203a/b - Acting II: Plays of Extended and Heightened Language
DRAM 213a/b - Voice II
DRAM 223a/b - Speech and Accents II
DRAM 233a/b - The Body as Source II
DRAM 243a/b - Alexander Technique II Tutorials
DRAM 263a/b - Clown
DRAM 273a - Movement Invention II
DRAM 293b - The Greeks
DRAM 353a - Play with Text
DRAM 405a/b - Advanced Principles of Acting Stage Combat
DRAM 413a/b - Singing II and Tutorials
DRAM 533a/b - Professional Skills and Advanced Trainings
Year Three
DRAM 190a - Shakespeare Practicum
DRAM 253a - Commedia
DRAM 273b - Character Analysis and Movement
DRAM 303a - Acting III
DRAM 313a/b - Voice III
DRAM 323a/b - Speech and Accents III
DRAM 343a/b - Alexander Technique III Tutorials
DRAM 363a - You Are the Creator
DRAM 373a - Movement Invention III
DRAM 423a/b - Acting Through Song
DRAM 463a - On-Camera Acting Technique
DRAM 473b - Taming Cyclops
DRAM 533a/b - Professional Skills and Advanced Trainings
DRAM 743b - Professional Preparation and Audition Workshop
DRAM 793b - Actor Showcase
Additional Requirements for the Degree
Anti-Racist Theater Practice Requirement
Acting students are required to enroll in DRAM 863b, Principles of Anti-Racist Theater, in order to fulfill the School’s anti-racist theater practice requirement. This course offers vital strategies for the lifelong development of individual and communal anti-racist practice..
Theater History Requirement
Acting students are required to enroll in DRAM 873a/b, Text and Context Across the Repertory, in order to fulfill the School’s theater history requirement. This course is considered a crucial foundation for all of the program’s students.
Participation in Commencement
In order to be eligible for participation in the Actor Showcase and to participate in Commencement ceremonies, any acting student carrying an outstanding Incomplete grade in any coursework must satisfy the course requirements by the fourth week of their final semester and before course DRAM 793b, Actor Showcase, begins.