The Bachelor of Arts in Acting teaches students advanced performance technique and acting practice to prepare them to compete for work after graduation. An integrated immersion course, Theatre Foundation, will develop students’ kinesthetic awareness as well as their observational skills and ability to respond to their experience of the world in written, visual, vocal, and physical form. This course also lays the groundwork for the rest of the Acting curriculum. The BA offers training in voice, movement, scene study, ensemble, and a variety of acting styles, including heightened languages and physical approaches.

There are opportunities to collaborate as performers with the Cinema and Television Arts Department as well as study abroad prospects with international theatre programs. Acting students are expected to perform in a minimum of one departmental production prior to graduation. The recommendation is that they will do much more. Acting majors are encouraged to take advantage of the specialized classes we offer to enhance their artistry and marketability upon graduation. The department also provides Acting students in their senior year the opportunity to audition for Senior Showcase, a platform for entry into the professional theatre community.

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

• demonstrate competence in the performance techniques necessary to fully inhabit any role in which they are cast;
• demonstrate a broad understanding of theatre as an art and craft as well as practical knowledge of the ways that acting intersects with other aspects of the field;  
• select, rehearse, and perform scenes and monologues in a variety of media as part of creative processes and in preparation for auditions;
• utilize the body and voice as the actor’s instruments of communication;
• integrate theory, process, and text analysis in relation to performance; and
• integrate techniques and skills developed through participation in theatre exercises, games, and improvisations with the preparation of scripted scenes.