The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting is a pre-professional degree that offers advanced performance skills and a multitude of practical experiences in Chicago and abroad, providing the opportunity to prepare for a career as a global artist, equally adept at interpretation or creation, in classical work as well as current media practice. Students have the option of an international exchange semester to immerse themselves in international performance practice and broaden their experience of the art form.

Each student will have the opportunity to receive personalized instruction and production/performance opportunities, several exclusive to the BFA cohort. Our program capacities are intentionally small to ensure individual attention, honing both the skills of the solo player as well as ensuring a strong commitment to an ensemble ethos. Progressively intense training in voice, movement, and acting styles is matched with inquiry into performance practice from a global perspective. The BFA cohort will create and perform a new work or present a contemporary script, synthesizing the techniques and insights acquired over the course of study in this structured, rigorous program.

Acting BFA students are regularly evaluated to monitor their levels of achievement and progress and to suggest directions for growth. Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA in their major, complete the performance requirements, and demonstrate continued development in order to continue in the program.

As a result of successfully completing program requirements, students should be able to:

• demonstrate a strong integration and practice of the requisite acting, voice, and movement skills of a variety of performance styles, including performance work in different media: on camera, voice over, animation, and devised work;
• display the collaborative skills necessary to be a vital, proactive part of the ensemble: in the classroom, in production, and in the profession;
• exhibit the ability to analyze texts for performance and research;
• articulate through speech and writing a working knowledge of theatre history and its foundational practitioners;
• develop a strategy for entering the profession and sustaining a career through the creation of a business model for self-management as a performer/theatre maker; and
• demonstrate knowledge of contemporary performance practice that deepens their skill set and broadens their professional opportunities.