The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting provides preparation for successful careers in performing arts, entertainment, and cultural industries.

Admission

Audition. Please consult the Dramatic Arts website for current admission details.

Location

• Storrs Campus

Modality

• In Person

Requirements

Core Courses

Acting students must complete the following core courses.

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
DRAM 1215	Theatre Production: Makeup And Wardrobe For The Actor	3
DRAM 1282	Practicum in Dramatic Arts	2
DRAM 3182	Practicum in Dramatic Arts	3
DRAM 1701	Acting I	2
DRAM 1702	Acting II	3
DRAM 1801	Stage Movement I	2
DRAM 1802	Stage Movement II	3
DRAM 1901	Voice and Speech I	2
DRAM 1902	Voice and Speech II	3
DRAM 2701	Acting III	3
DRAM 2702	Acting IV	3
DRAM 2810	Stage Movement III	3
DRAM 2812	Stage Movement IV	3
DRAM 2901	Voice and Speech III	3
DRAM 4701	Acting V	3
DRAM 4702	Acting VI	3
DRAM 4703	Acting VII	3
DRAM 4704	Acting VIII	3
DRAM 4705	Acting for the Camera	3
DRAM 4811	Stage Movement V	3
DRAM 4911	Voice and Speech IV	3
DRAM 4912	Voice and Speech V	3
DRAM 4931	Stage Dialects	3

Additional Required Courses

Diverse Perspectives

All students in the department are required to take at least one course within the major that contributes to the advancing of diverse perspectives. Courses that count toward this requirement include:

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
Select one of the following:		3
DRAM 1501	Introduction to World Puppetry
DRAM 2135	History of Popular Theatre and Live Entertainment
DRAM 2136	Asian Theatre and Performance
DRAM 2137	Asian American Theatre and Performance
DRAM 2138	Islam on Stage
DRAM 3130	Women in Theatre: Gender Identity and Expression on the Stage
DRAM 3131	Black Theatre
DRAM 3132	African-American Women Playwrights, 1900 to the present
DRAM 3133	Latina/o Theatre
DRAM 3139	Theatre and Human Rights

When applicable, courses taken to fulfill this requirement may also be counted toward the department history and literature-based course requirement.

History and Literature

Acting students must complete the following history and literature courses.

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
DRAM 2130	Histories of Drama and Performance I	3
DRAM 2131	Histories of Drama and Performance II	3
Select six credits selected from the following literature and history-based courses:		6
DRAM 2135	History of Popular Theatre and Live Entertainment
DRAM 2136	Asian Theatre and Performance
DRAM 2137	Asian American Theatre and Performance
DRAM 2138	Islam on Stage
DRAM 3130	Women in Theatre: Gender Identity and Expression on the Stage
DRAM 3131	Black Theatre
DRAM 3132	African-American Women Playwrights, 1900 to the present
DRAM 3133	Latina/o Theatre
DRAM 3138	Contemporary Theatre and Performance
DRAM 3139	Theatre and Human Rights
DRAM 3611	Trends in the Contemporary Puppet Theatre
DRAM 3612	Plays for Puppet Theatre
DRAM 4135/4135W	Advanced Topics in Theatre and Performance
DRAM 4711W	The Director in the Theatre

Writing and Information Literacy Requirements

Writing in the Major

To fulfill their departmental writing in the major requirement, students in all three B.F.A. programs must complete one of the following courses:

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
DRAM 3141W	Playwriting	3
DRAM 4135W	Advanced Topics in Theatre and Performance	3
DRAM 4711W	The Director in the Theatre	3

All upper-level courses in Design and Technology, Puppet Arts, and Theatre Studies build upon the basic information literacy competencies introduced in ENGL 1007 Seminar and Studio in Writing and Multimodal Composition, ENGL 1010 Seminar in Academic Writing, or ENGL 1011 Seminar in Writing through Literature. Students are expected to develop an understanding of how information is created, disseminated, and organized in the performing arts, and develop abilities in accessing, evaluating, synthesizing and incorporating information into written, oral, or media presentations.

Supplementary Scholastic Standards

The University of Connecticut requires that all undergraduate students have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.0 at the time of graduation. Acting BFA students are further required to receive grades that are no lower than a C in any single core course (Acting, Movement, Voice) in the major during the first and second years of study, and thereafter no lower than a B-. They are also required to receive a grade of Satisfactory in all Practicums. Adherence to the Department of Dramatic Arts Production Participation and Professional Collaboration Standards policy is a requirement for passing all core courses and practicums. Students who receive a grade lower than those above in a core class or practicum will be placed on program-level warning for the following semester. Per department policy, students on program-level warning are not eligible to be cast in department productions, including those at Connecticut Repertory Theatre, nor to enroll in DRAM 3182 Practicum in Dramatic Arts.  

In the event a student’s academic achievement does not rise to the minimum level during the next semester attended by the student, they may be subject to dismissal from the BFA Acting program.  

In the event a student is discontinued from the BFA Acting program, they will be eligible to file a written appeal within 10 days of their notice of discontinuation. Students should refer to the Department’s Handbook for details on the dismissal policy and process.

Learning Objectives

1. Work with a dynamically aligned body, free from unnecessary tension and efficient and expressive in action.
2. Understand and challenge their personal movement patterns and is capable of full physical transformation.
3. Uses consent-forward artistry to successfully create dramatic moments of physical storytelling, e.g. intimacy and stage violence.
4. Uses a voice that is healthy, free, and responsive to shifts in thought and feeling.
5. Delivers speech that is intelligible and encompasses a range of accents, characters, texts, and media.
6. Acts believably under imaginary circumstances in a wide variety of mediums.
7. Can "find the game," responsively and in complicité with both the space and fellow actors.
8. Foster a growth mindset towards themselves and others, equipping them to continually expand their artistic toolkit, proactively take risks and embrace failure as a crucial step towards success.
9. Self-start their creative process and know how to administrate and innovate as an entrepreneur.