Tamilla Woodard, Chair
Grace Zandarski, Associate Chair
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, venues, and collaborative processes.
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, deep 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 noncontemporary 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. 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.
As adult learners in training for a demanding profession and members of a highly interdependent community of co-learners, attendance at all scheduled classes, tutorials, conferences, rehearsal calls, work-study assignments, production assignments, and productions is expected and mandatory. If students are unable to be in attendance as expected due to personal illness or family emergency, they have a responsibility to notify all those who will be affected by their absence and in as timely a manner as possible.
Plan of Study: Acting
Class of 2026
Required Sequence
Year one (2023–2024)
| Course | Subject |
| 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 |
| DRAM 143a/b | Alexander Technique I |
| DRAM 153a | Play |
| DRAM 163b | Text Analysis I |
| DRAM 180a | Rehearsal Practicum: Meeting the Play |
| DRAM 403a/b | Acting Intimacy and Combat for the Stage |
| DRAM 563a | Activated Analysis |
| DRAM 863b | Anti-Racist Rehearsal Coordinator (ARC) Fundamentals I |
| DRAM 873a/b | Global Theater and Performance: A Theater History Survey |
Year two (2024–2025)
| Course | Subject |
|---|---|
| DRAM 163a | Text Analysis II |
| DRAM 190a | Shakespeare Practicum |
| DRAM 203b | Acting II: Plays of Extended and Heightened Language |
| DRAM 213a/b | Voice II |
| DRAM 223a/b | Speech and Accents II |
| DRAM 233b | The Body on Set I |
| DRAM 243a/b | Alexander Technique II Tutorials |
| DRAM 263a/b | Clown |
| DRAM 273a | Character Analysis and Movement |
| DRAM 283a | Shakespeare Embodied |
| DRAM 405a/b | Advanced Principles of Acting Stage Combat |
| DRAM 413a/b | Singing II and Tutorials |
| DRAM 733b | Mapping the Energetic Body |
Year three (2025–2026)
| Course | Subject |
|---|---|
| DRAM 233a | The Body on Set II |
| DRAM 253a | Commedia |
| DRAM 273b | Character Analysis and Movement |
| DRAM 303a | Acting III |
| DRAM 303b | Actor Showcase |
| DRAM 313a | Voice III |
| DRAM 323a/b | Speech and Accents III |
| DRAM 343a/b | Alexander Technique III Tutorials |
| DRAM 363a | You Are the Creator |
| DRAM 383b | Voiceover Workshop |
| DRAM 423a/b | Acting Through Song |
| DRAM 463a | Taming the Cyclops: How to Do Your Best Work in an On-Camera Audition |
| DRAM 463b | On-Camera Acting Technique |
| DRAM 723a | Voices for Animation and other Mediums |
| DRAM 743b | Professional Preparation and Audition Workshop |
| DRAM 763a | The Art of Self-Tape for Television, Motion Pictures, and Theater |
Class of 2025
Required Sequence
Year two (2023–2024)
| Course | Subject |
|---|---|
| DRAM 163a | Text Analysis II |
| DRAM 190a | Shakespeare Practicum |
| DRAM 203b | Acting II: Plays of Extended and Heightened Language |
| DRAM 213a/b | Voice II |
| DRAM 223a/b | Speech and Accents II |
| DRAM 233b | The Body on Set I |
| DRAM 243a/b | Alexander Technique II Tutorials |
| DRAM 263a/b | Clown |
| DRAM 273a | Character Analysis and Movement |
| DRAM 283a | Shakespeare Embodied |
| DRAM 405a/b | Advanced Principles of Acting Stage Combat |
| DRAM 413a/b | Singing II and Tutorials |
| DRAM 733a | Mapping the Energetic Body |
Year three (2024–2025)
| Course | Subject |
|---|---|
| DRAM 233a | The Body on Set II |
| DRAM 253a | Commedia |
| DRAM 303a | Acting III |
| DRAM 303b | Actor Showcase |
| DRAM 313a | Voice III |
| DRAM 323a/b | Speech and Accents Tutorials |
| DRAM 343a/b | Alexander Technique III Tutorials |
| DRAM 363a | You Are the Creator |
| DRAM 383b | Voiceover Workshop |
| DRAM 423a/b | Acting Through Song |
| DRAM 463a | Taming the Cyclops: How to Do Your Best Work in an On-Camera Audition |
| DRAM 463b | On-Camera Acting Technique |
| DRAM 723a | Voices for Animation and other Mediums |
| DRAM 743b | Professional Preparation and Audition Workshop |
| DRAM 763a | The Art of Self-Tape for Television, Motion Pictures, and Theater |
Class of 2024
Required Sequence
Year four (2023–2024)
| Course | Subject |
|---|---|
| DRAM 233a | The Body on Set II |
| DRAM 253a | Commedia |
| DRAM 303a | Acting III |
| DRAM 303b | Actor Showcase |
| DRAM 313a | Voice III Tutorials |
| DRAM 323a/b | Speech and Accents Tutorials |
| DRAM 343a/b | Alexander Technique III Tutorials |
| DRAM 363a | You Are the Creator |
| DRAM 373b | Practices for Opening and Grounding |
| DRAM 383b | Voiceover Workshop |
| DRAM 423a/b | Acting Through Song |
| DRAM 463a | Taming the Cyclops: How to Do Your Best Work in an On-Camera Audition |
| DRAM 463b | On-Camera Acting Technique |
| DRAM 723a | Voices for Animation and other Mediums |
| DRAM 743b | Professional Preparation and Audition Workshop |
| DRAM 763a | The Art of Self-Tape for Television, Motion Pictures, and Theater |
Additional Requirements for the Degree
Anti-Racist Theater Practice Requirement
Acting students are required to enroll in DRAM 863b, Anti-Racist Rehearsal Coordinator (ARC) Fundamentals I, in order to fulfill the School’s anti-racist theater practice requirement. Combined with the prerequisite workshop, Everyday Justice: Anti-Racism as Daily Practice, 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 a DRAM 873a/b, Global Theater and Performance, in order to fulfill the School’s theater history requirement. This course is considered a crucial foundation for all of the program’s students.
Courses of Instruction
DRAM 50a, The Theatrical Event See description under Directing.
DRAM 51b, New Play Lab See description under Playwriting.
DRAM 53a, Authentic Collaboration Artists and their organizations are often urged to “collaborate,” and indeed, many of us recognize the value of collective work. Yet few of us are formally trained to create together. In this one-week intensive class, students explore seven collaborative principles, illuminated by their own experiences, which serve as a springboard for exploring how theoretical models can be converted to practical skills. A discussion of the five interactive strategies of effective collaborators leads to three hands-on collaborative projects, offering a visceral opportunity to actually practice collaborating in an environment free from the production pressures in which collaboration is usually encountered. Written and visual support materials are provided. Ben Krywosz
DRAM 103a/b, Acting I This is a studio-based exploration of the internal and external preparation an actor must undergo in order to effectively render the moment-to-moment life of a given character. This course is meant to promote a rigorous investigation of how the actor uses the self as the foundation for transformation. The first term of this class employs a series of questions to examine the principles and craft behind acting technique while exploring the plays of a wide variety of twentieth- and twenty-first-century playwrights. The second term includes a sequence of simulated rehearsals in order to put those principles and craft into practice. Gregory Wallace
DRAM 113a/b, Voice I The first year of voice training is structured as a progression of exercises/experiences designed to liberate the individual’s natural voice from habitual psychophysical tensions; to connect image, intention, and emotion to breath and sound; to develop the voice’s potential for expression and awaken the actor’s appetite for language; and to promote vocal ease, clarity, power, stamina, range, and sensitivity to impulse. Walton Wilson
DRAM 123a/b, Speech and Accents I Speech training seeks to broaden the actor’s range of imaginative vocal expression and to deepen the actor’s sensory relationship to language. Actors conduct a rigorous examination of their own speech habits, idiolects, and linguistic identity through exploration of vocal physiology. Through this examination of their own idiolects, actors build the tools of accent transformation, including vocal tract posture, prosody (melody and rhythm), and phonetics. To encourage speech that flows freely from impulse and breath, the approach uses exercises that are actively rooted in the whole body rather than being limited to the surfaces of the mouth. In the second term, the actors broaden the boundaries of their language use through the study of accents in connection with dramatic text, including texts used in acting classes. Julie Foh
DRAM 133a/b, The Body as Source This course works to bring awareness and integration to the physical, mental, emotional, and energetic aspects of the actor. Through specific physical training exercises, participants are encouraged to identify and release holdings in the mind/body system, allowing them to deepen a connection to imagery, physical impulses, and acting choices. The class also includes application to character creation and a body-first approach to scene-work. Erica Fae
DRAM 143a/b, Alexander Technique I Offered in all three years through class work and private tutorials, this work develops the actor’s kinesthetic and spatial awareness, fosters balance and alignment, and, through breath work, promotes the connection between voice and body. Fabio Tavares
DRAM 153a, Play This course explores the actor’s playful spirit and the notion of the theatrical event as “game.” Through a series of games and improvisation and composition exercises, students develop complicity with fellow actors/the audience and discover qualities of openness, spontaneity, generosity, and attack as they are encouraged to take risks, access their imagination, and play fully with their voice and body. Exercises explore status, focus, scale, presence, flow, and impulse while delving into the mysterious nature of “le jeu,” the actor’s pleasure in playing. Justine Williams
DRAM 163a, Text Analysis II This course seeks to provide students with tools to mine the printed text for given circumstances, character, objective, and action, noting the opportunities and limitations that the printed play script presents and promoting the freedom and responsibility of the actor as an interpretive artist. James Bundy
DRAM 163b, Text Analysis I This course seeks to provide students with tools to mine the printed text for given circumstances, character, objective, and action, noting the opportunities and limitations that the printed play script presents, and promoting the freedom and responsibility of the actor as an interpretive artist. James Bundy
DRAM 180a, Rehearsal Practicum: Meeting the Play See description under Directing.
DRAM 190a, Shakespeare Practicum This practicum focuses on the director-actor collaboration in rehearsals, focusing specifically on the plays of Shakespeare. In this lab, second-year actors and directors learn “by doing” how to mine the form and content of a Shakespearean text. Students work together to unpack given circumstances, character objectives, and the central dramatic conflicts of scenes and plays, exploring these in on-the-feet work while negotiating the space, with the goal of strengthening their ability to make and receive offers, and to test and develop production ideas within the rehearsal process. Taught in conjunction with DRAM 120a. Karin Coonrod
DRAM 203b, Acting II: Plays of Extended and Heightened Language Language in plays written prior to the twenty-first century comes in all shapes and sizes: poetic, heightened, extended, and more. This course explores the challenges of these plays and gives actors the opportunity to employ a variety of tools that are being developed during their second year of training. Actors work on material chosen specifically to expand their emotional commitment to character, imagination, and language. By deepening their experience with these plays and characters, actors gain the confidence necessary to approach these roles in the professional arena. Mary Lou Rosato
DRAM 213a/b, Voice II In the second year of voice training, students focus on deepening their awareness of voice as a kinesthetic experience rooted in the body and the need for expression. Voice II explores how to meet the demands of text with clarity, emotional depth, personal connection, generosity of scale, ease, and healthy habits. The actor develops the ability to embody the text through continued physical release work, discovery of resonant spaces, and advanced vocal skills along with visceral and imaginative text exploration. Voice II opens pathways for actors to access their most expansive selves in order to embody characters in every genre and style of play and in every space. Walton Wilson, Grace Zandarski
DRAM 223a/b, Speech and Accents II The second year of speech training continues to expand the actor’s range of vocal and imaginative expression away from their own idiolect to expand the actor’s toolbox and deepen sensory relationship to language as applied to heightened dramatic texts. In addition, this course supports the linguistic preparation for the Shakespeare Character Workshop. In the second term, this course offers an intensive study of accents and dialects to provide multiple opportunities for the experience of character transformation and embodying the work into integrative performances. Cynthia Santos DeCure
DRAM 233b, The Body on Set I This course deepens the training of the energetic body and explores how the body can be a fertile resource for the actor’s work for film and television. This approach to psychophysical work helps the actor bring something tangible and felt to set, freeing the mind to manage the often-flurry-like energy of a set and maintain solid footing while shooting. We’ll also explore how this physical work can aid in scaling performances for various frames, working through multiple takes, and flourishing despite a typically limited rehearsal process. Erica Fae
DRAM 233a, The Body on Set II A continuation of The Body on Set I, this course picks up with a more rapid-fire pace and applies what we learned to a wider variety of scenes. In addition, pending space availability, we will mostly shoot “on location” in this course, giving participants the experience of doing their work outside of the comfortable (or known) energy of the studio, and in tight, confined, public, or awkward environments. On set, no one makes that magic happen but you, and we’ll get real-time practice in channeling “flow” through the chaos. We’ll also save time for conversations about transitioning into the industry while tending to the actor’s heart through it all. Erica Fae
DRAM 243a/b, Alexander Technique II Tutorials This work develops the actor’s kinesthetic awareness; fosters balance and alignment; coordinates movement; and, through breath work, promotes the connection between mind, voice, and body. All these elements are applied during rehearsal and performance. Through clarity of intention, the actor can find the organic physical life of the character. Bill Connington
DRAM 253a, Commedia This course explores the classical archetypes of the commedia dell’arte. It makes use of mask, physical articulation, sound, and rhythm to develop the transformational power of the actors. When the mask is alive and impulses begin to travel with abandon through the physical psychology of the body, the student begins to understand the actor/audience relationship in all its ferocious beauty. The work is primarily improvisational with the actor/creator at the center of the theatrical conversation. Christopher Bayes
DRAM 263a/b, Clown This course focuses on the discovery of the playful self through exercises in rhythm, balance, generosity, and abandon. The blocks and filters that prevent the actor from following impulses fully are removed. It allows the actor to listen with the body and begin to give more value to the pleasure of performance. Once actors learn to play without worry, they begin to discover the personal clown that lives in the center of the comic world. Christopher Bayes
DRAM 273a/b, Character Analysis and Movement This class explores some anatomical fundamentals of movement through a rigorous daily warm-up. Movement phrases are embodied investigating weight, intention, direction, and freedom. Original movement creations, musical theater styles, contact improvisation, and some vernacular dance forms are also done in class, culminating in combinations of text and movement where creative freedom in the physical realm is emphasized. Warm-up clothes are worn. Jennifer Archibald
DRAM 283a, Shakespeare Embodied This class aims to build each artist’s comprehension and confidence in Shakespeare’s language while developing their physical, emotional, intellectual, and imaginative responsiveness to the demands and joys of playing and directing Shakespeare. Equally, it is a collective exploration of the relationship between the theater artist’s identity and Shakespeare’s stories and characters so they may speak to us and to our audiences today. What may happen at the encounter of your imagination, your lived experience, your body, and Shakespeare? Monologues, scenes, group exercises, reading, and writing assignments. Daniela Varon, Midori Nakamura, John Douglas Thompson
DRAM 303a/b, Acting III This final scene-study class re-invests in and revisits the fundamentals of the craft by engaging works of contemporary theater that explore performance beyond the approaches of naturalism and psychological realism. Each round of “stretch” scenes will increase the actors’ confidence in and ability to connect with the tools of their practice to identify, personalize and embody a character’s given circumstances, pursue objective, activate language, and robustly occupy spaces of make believe in order to tell the story of the scene with specificity, depth, and ease. Running through the fall term is work on individual interview projects in which students embody and give voice to the verbatim text of persons they have interviewed, employing the fundamental tools of performance—deep and profound listening—while bringing to bear a synthesis of their vocal and physical training to date. Tamilla Woodard, Ron Van Lieu
DRAM 303b, Actor Showcase In their final term, students choose and rehearse scenes, which are presented to agents, managers, casting directors, and other members of the industry in New York and Los Angeles. Gregory Wallace and Tamilla Woodard assist in the scene selection process, with input from Ellen Novack and an industry guest. Paul Mullins directs the showcase.
DRAM 313a, Voice III (Class, Tutorials) The third-year curriculum continues the work of expanding vocal capacity, flexibility, endurance, and expressivity in order to prepare the actor to play any character in any space with ease. A variety of methodologies, including extended vocal techniques, are applied to resonance, range, and vocal extremes such as screaming and shouting. Gentle release work, designed to free the body from habitual muscular tension, is used to stimulate breath and sound and enhance overall presence. This class also focuses on applying voice work to text with the implied goal of empowering actors to trust their voice, follow their imagination, and bring life to language on the stage and screen. Grace Zandarski
DRAM 323a/b, Speech and Accents III (Tutorials) In the third year of speech training, actors engage in a deep exploration of embodiment of someone else’s linguistic identity through the Interview Project. This course is a culmination of putting all the actors’ tools into practice. Speech tutorials in the first term focus on the analysis and embodiment of other idiolects. In the second term, material for tutorials can evolve from any areas of speech, accent, and text work that the actor wishes to explore. Julie Foh
DRAM 343a/b, Alexander Technique III (Tutorials) This dedicated, one-on-one support focuses on awareness of unconscious habits and the experience of stress in your body. Intention affects your physicality, breathing, emotional impulses, voice, and attitude. You will learn to make choices to support your creative performance without the interference of unnecessary tension. The Alexander Technique fuels your imagination. Jessica Wolf
DRAM 363a, You Are the Creator The purpose of this course is to offer our actors, the space and time during the first term of their final year of training to explore creativity that may not be centered on their role as actors, but will enhance their journey as artists, both at DGSD, and beyond. With lots of individual support, in small class sections, and through mentoring, actors choose a project to work on for the term in answer to questions like these: What are you longing to express? What are you passionate about? What are your concerns and desires? Is there something you’ve always wanted to do or to make? An actor’s creativity may take any form: writing, singing, dancing/movement, learning a musical instrument, writing music, painting, sculpting, cooking, woodworking, to name only a few of the limitless possibilities. Of course, actors may write for the theater, tv, or film; they may create or work on a solo performance piece. Their options are wide open in this process-oriented, often joyous work that seeks to celebrate their full potential as creator. Joan MacIntosh
DRAM 373b, Practices for Opening and Grounding This eight-week class intensive will focus on practical tools for strength, stamina, and ease, bridging your training with the showcase/professional leap. Yoga, Qigong, breath work, and meditation will intersect in different places for each of you, and the aim is to finish with an individual physical/energetic sequence that you can use at any time, based on the things your body, heart, and mind need to feel healthy and ready to work. Annie Piper
DRAM 383b, Voiceover Workshop This course seeks to provide students with an overview of the voiceover business. Specifically, we focus both on the technical aspects of self-recording and on navigating through the process of auditioning for casting directors. We develop and increase the speed of the actor’s interpretive, analytical, and creative skills to adapt to a very quick creative process. Most important, actors learn to “find” the best part of their voice: where their vocal strengths lie and where their voice fits in the landscape of voiceover work. Keegan Monti-Kewley
DRAM 403a/b, Acting Intimacy and Combat for the Stage This course is designed to provide the first-year actor with an understanding of the techniques and safety measures employed in the practice of theatrical violence and intimacy and how to fully embody them in character. In the first term we investigate the process for consent and intimacy work and how to integrate them into the moment-to-moment life of a scene. In the second term we focus on physicalizing conflict and violence. We do so through individual, partner, and group physical exploration, exercises, scene work, and performance. This course fosters the understanding of collaboration, consent, organic response, and a deeper knowledge of the physical self and the group dynamic. Kelsey Rainwater, Michael Rossmy
DRAM 405a/b, Advanced Principles of Acting Stage Combat We continue building on the techniques learned in the first year, providing the second-year actor with an understanding of the techniques and safety measures employed in the practice of armed theatrical violence. We deepen the understanding of proprioception and weapon awareness when working with a partner and within a group. Upon learning these techniques, we engage in a deeper exploration of dramatic situation and characterization through scene study and performance. Kelsey Rainwater, Michael Rossmy
DRAM 413a/b, Singing II (Class, Tutorials) This work explores the interplay and integration of imagination, intention, and breath, and the coordinated physical processes that result in a free and expressive singing voice. The actors gain experience in acting sung material through the active investigation of the emotional, linguistic, and musical demands in songs and musical scene work. Glenn Seven Allen
DRAM 423a/b, Acting Through Song (Class, Tutorials) This course uses tutorials and group classes to continue a focus on breath support, ease, range of expression, and clarity, emphasizing the actor’s commitment to the material in performance. The course aims to give each student the experience of bringing healthy and expressive singing technique to bear while prioritizing the craft of the actor with respect to character, given circumstances, objectives, action, and stakes. A key goal is to give each student a sense of their own artistry—at any level of experience—as an actor/singer with individual agency. Students are required to put at least four songs into an audition binder and to perform in the end-of-year Singing Send-Off. Anne Tofflemire
DRAM 453b, Independent Study: Yale Summer Cabaret Students who want to participate in the Yale Summer Cabaret may audition to be a performer or interview for positions in production, stage management, and administration. Yale Summer Cabaret offers an opportunity to participate in an ensemble company producing plays for the School, the larger Yale University community, and the city of New Haven. Through the Yale Summer Cabaret, participating students gain hands-on, collaborative experience in all aspects of producing and performing a full summer season. Auditions and interviews are open to non-Acting students. Chantal Rodriguez
DRAM 463a, Taming the Cyclops: How to Do Your Best Work in an On-Camera Audition In this class, students shoot, examine, and reshoot audition scenes from all genres of film and television, helping them acquire the necessary skills to audition successfully both in the audition room and on self-tapes. The class also includes workshops and meetings with some of the leading professional casting directors, agents, managers, entertainment lawyers, and actors working in the industry. All of this provides students with the skills and information needed to make a smooth transition into the professional world. Ellen Novack
DRAM 463b, On-Camera Acting Technique This course introduces students to working on camera. Brief scenes are filmed the way films are shot: with master shots, two shots, over-the-shoulder, and close-up shots. The takes are edited into films, which are watched and critiqued. Various exercises on film are explored; and in each class, strong performances from well-known films are viewed and discussed. Ellen Novack
DRAM 563a, Activated Analysis An introduction to a methodology for actors and directors developed from Stanislavski’s final experiments. Through a progression of physical improvisations—or “études”—students personalize all known given circumstances and investigate the unanswered questions of a play. The result is a deeply visceral connection to the world of the play and its characters. Actors and directors discover the text through the framework of their own imaginations, impulses, and artistic curiosities. Taught in conjunction with DRAM 180a. Annelise Lawson
DRAM 723a, Voices for Animation and Other Mediums This course is an introduction to creating voices for animation. Students explore a variety of speech exercises including shifting vocal tract posture, tone, placement, and tempo to develop unique character voices. Actors practice developing multiple character voices through working with original illustrations, animation copy, and various exercises to recall, embody, and sustain the voices consistently in performance. This course also offers instruction in various voice acting modalities taught by guest artists. Cynthia Santos DeCure
DRAM 733a, Mapping the Energetic Body A less reactive nervous system allows you to attend to the situation at hand, to listen and respond with courage and clarity. A healthy relationship with your physical and energetic body creates confidence and agency. Mapping the route to your own energetic signature via breath work, yoga asana, and qigong forms will pave the way for connection and transformation. This is a deep, challenging, and calming group practice. Annie Piper
DRAM 743b, Professional Preparation and Audition Workshop This workshop addresses the complex social and artistic dynamics of theater auditions and gives students a chance to further develop their personal practice and craft in preparation for pursuing opportunities in the field. Students receive sides to prepare, work with a reader, and are asked to make adjustments in real time, as well as to observe each other closely with generosity in an effort to develop confidence in best practices and their own individuality. Tamilla Woodard
DRAM 763a, The Art of the Self-Tape for Television, Motion Pictures, and Theater This course explores what makes it possible for actors to show their best work and reveal their artistry through creating an intelligent, professional, unique, and dynamic self-tape. Johnny Wu
DRAM 863b, Anti-Racist Rehearsal Coordinator (ARC) Fundamentals I This course offers actors rehearsal and process-facilitation training as anti-racist coordinators. Taught through the lens of anti-racism, it incorporates social and restorative justice, cultural competency, and self care to create an embodied experience where actors learn to utilize their sphere of power to disrupt white-supremacy culture in processes of creation, collaboration, and facilitation and as members of the DGSD community. First-year Acting program students are required to enroll in DRAM 863b, ARC in order to fulfill the School’s anti-racist theater practice requirement. Combined with the prerequisite workshop, Everyday Justice: Anti-Racism as Daily Practice, this course offers vital strategies for the lifelong development of individual and communal anti-racist practice. Nicole Brewer
DRAM 873a/b, Global Theater and Performance As a foundation for lasting creativity, inspiration, and incitement for innovation, this course offers a look at the history of theater and performance and its invitation to the future of the form. Tlaloc Rivas