Drama school

Adrama school,stage schoolortheatre schoolis an undergraduate and/or graduate school ordepartmentat a college or university, or a free-standing institution (such as the Drama section at theJuilliard School) that specializes in the pre-professional training in drama andtheatrearts, such as acting,design and technical theatre,arts administration,and related subjects. If the drama school is part of a degree-granting institution, undergraduates typically take anAssociate degree,Bachelor of Arts,Bachelor of Fine Arts,or, occasionally, Bachelor of Science orBachelor of Design.Graduate students may take a Master of Arts, Master of Acting, Master of Science,Master of Fine Arts,Doctor of Arts,Doctor of Fine Arts,or Doctor of Philosophy degree.

Entry and application process

Romanian students (Drama Club Botosani) in a modern interpretation ofThe Taming of the Shrew

Entry to drama school is usually through a competitiveauditionprocess. Some schools make this a two-stage process. Places on an acting course are limited (usually well below 100) so those who fare best at the audition are selected. Most academies state that applicants must be over 18 years of age. Auditions usually involve the performance ofmonologues,singing, and group workshops.

Course content

The courses offered by drama schools focus on practical courses, rather than theoretical classes. Their aim is to train students as professional actors for stage, film, and television. At the beginning of the final year (usually the third), most drama schools stage a series of performances throughout the academic year to whichagentsandcasting directorsare invited. This helps to build the future of the graduates and serves as a showcase of what the students can do.

United Kingdom

In 1833, actressFrances Maria Kellymanaged theRoyal Strand Theatrewhere she funded and operated a dramatic school, the earliest record of a drama school in England.^[1]In 1840 she financed the building of theRoyalty TheatreinSohowhich opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School.^[2]TheLondon Academy of Music and Dramatic Art(LAMDA) remains both the UK's and the world's oldest drama school still in existence and was established in 1861.^[3]

Federation Membership

TheConference of Drama Schoolswas an organisation that comprised Britain's 22 leading Drama Schools. CDS existed to strengthen the voice of the member schools, to set and maintain the highest standards of training within the vocational drama sector, and to make it easier for prospective students to understand the range of courses on offer and the application process. Founded in 1969, the 22 member schools continue to offer courses in Acting, Musical Theatre, Directing and Technical Theatre training. Graduates of CDS courses are currently working on stage, in front of the camera and behind the scenes in theatres and studios across Britain. In 2012, CDS was merged with theNational Council for Drama Trainingto create a single national authority Drama UK responsible for both the provision of Drama Training and accreditation of official courses. In 2017, Drama UK was replaced by theFederation of Drama Schools.

Top drama schools in the UK are members of the mission groupConservatoires UK,which also includes the country's world-leading music schools.

Funding

In the UK, funding varies from drama school to drama school. Historically drama schools were not part of the mainstream academic system, and therefore were not funded on the same basis as universities. Some drama schools are now part of a university, such asGuildhall School of Music and Drama,which is part of theCity University of London,and Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, which is part of the University of Manchester, and these tend to charge similar tuition fees to universities. Student loans, drama awards and scholarships may help to provide students with their funding. The most prominent funding scheme for performing arts education in the UK are theDance and Drama Awards.This is a government scheme which subsidises the training offered at a selection of the leading performing arts schools in the fields of dance, drama, musical theatre and stage management.

Ireland

A number of third-level institutions provide courses in Drama and Theatre Studies, includingTrinity College, Dublin,^[4]NUI Maynooth,^[5]and Dublin City University. A decision by Trinity in January 2007 to drop its BA in Acting Studies to cut costs met with disappointment from the theatre sector.^[6]A Forum for Acting Training was convened with leading professionals who recommended in a 2008 report,^[7]that an Academy for Dramatic Arts, independent of a University, but with third level accreditation should be created. The report was submitted to the Irish Government. On 1 August 2008,The Irish Timesreported that aRADAgraduate,Danielle Ryan,granddaughter of the lateTony Ryanwho foundedRyanair,had announced plans to develop an Irish Academy of Dramatic Arts part-funded from a Trust created by her late father, Captain Cathal Ryan.^[8]

This plan went ahead and the academy, known asThe Lir Academy,opened in September 2011. The Lir is part of Trinity College and is situated in the Grand Canal Dock area. It is officially associated withRADA.

Drama schools outside the UK and Ireland

Australia

Austria

University of Music and Performing Arts Graz,Graz
Institute for Theatre and Drama (ACT),Anton Bruckner Private University,Linz
University of Mozarteum,Salzburg
Max Reinhardt Seminar,University of Music and Performing Arts,Vienna
Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna,Vienna
Theatre, Film and Media Studies -University of Vienna

Belgium

AcSenT (Accademie voor Spel en Theater (Antwerp)
$ARTS^{2}$ ,École supérieure des Arts (Mons)
Erasmushogeschool Brussel(English name:Erasmus University College Brussels)
Institut national supérieur des arts du spectacle et des techniques de diffusion (INSAS),Brussels
Faculty of Arts and Philosophy,Ghent University
LUCA School of Arts,KU Leuven(Brussels)
Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp(Antwerp)
Royal Conservatory of Ghent,University College Ghent (Ghent/Aalst)
Royal Conservatory of Liège(Liège)
Institut des arts de diffusion (Louvain-la-Neuve)

Canada

Alberta

School of Creative and Performing arts,University of Calgary(Calgary)
Drama Department,University of LethbridgeCalgary Campus (Calgary)
Department of Fine Arts and Humanities,University of Alberta Augustana Campus(Camrose)
Department of Fine Arts,Concordia University of Edmonton(Edmonton)
Department of Theatre,MacEwan University(Edmonton)
Department of Drama,University of Alberta(Edmonton)
Drama Department,University of Lethbridge(Lethbridge)

British Columbia

University of the Fraser Valley(Abbotsford)
Faculty of Arts,Thompson Rivers University(Kamloops)
Kelowna Actors Studio (Kelowna)
School of the Arts, Media + Culture -Trinity Western University(Langley)
School of Performing Arts,Capilano University(North Vancouver)
New Image College(Vancouver)
School for the Contemporary Arts,Simon Fraser University(Vancouver)
Studio 58 (Vancouver)
Department of Theatre and Film, University of British Columbia (Vancouver)
VanArts(Vancouver)
Faculty of Fine Arts,University of Victoria(Victoria)

Manitoba

Faculty of Arts,Brandon University(Brandon)
Department of English, Theatre, Film & Media at theUniversity of Manitoba(Winnipeg)
Department of Theatre and Film,University of Winnipeg(Winnipeg)

New Brunswick

Department of Dramatic Art,Université de Moncton(Moncton)
Department of Drama Studies,Mount Allison University(Sackville)
InterAction School of Performing Arts,Saint John

Newfoundland and Labrador

School of Fine Arts,Memorial University of Newfoundland(Corner Brook)

Nova Scotia

Fountain School of Performing Arts,Dalhousie University(Halifax)
Faculty of Arts and Social Science,University of King's College(Halifax)
Department of English & Theatre,Acadia University(Wolfville)

Ontario

School of English & Theatre Studies,University of Guelph(Guelph)
School of the Arts (SOTA),McMaster University(Hamilton)
Queen's UniversityDan School of Drama & Music (Kingston)
Department of Theatre,University of Ottawa
Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts,Brock University(St. Catharines)
Faculty of Arts,Laurentian University(Sudbury)
Centennial College Theatre Arts and Performance(Toronto)
Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies -University of Toronto
Centre for Indigenous Theatre(Toronto)
Theatre Arts - Performance,Humber College(Toronto)
George Brown Theatre School(Toronto)
Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts(Toronto)
Shakespeare's Globe Centres(Toronto)
School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design -York University(Toronto)
School of Dramatic Art,University of Windsor(Windsor)

Quebec

Conservatoire d'art dramatique de Montréal
Montréal Children's Theatre
National Theatre School of Canada (Montréal)
Faculty of Arts,Université du Québec à Montréal
Université Laval(Quebec City)
Department of Drama,Bishop's University(Sherbrooke)

Saskatchewan

Faculty of Media, Art, and Performance -University of Regina(Regina)
Department of Drama,University of Saskatchewan(Saskatoon)

Denmark

Den Danske Scenekunstskole (Aarhus,Copenhagen,Odense)
Copenaghen International School of Performing Arts

Russia

References

^Burwick, Frederick (2015).British Drama of the Industrial Revolution.Cambridge University Press. p. 46.
^An earlier theatre, also named the Royalty, existed in Wells Street,Wellclose Square,London from 1787 until the early part of the nineteenth century. See Wilmot-Buxton, Harry John."William Clarkson Stanfield",Chapter IX,English Painters,Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington (1883), accessed 22 November 2013
^"Susan Elkin: Which drama school is for you?".The Stage.Retrieved19 March2024.
^Prospectus from TCDDrama Dept, TCD
^Prospectus from NUIM English DeptDramatherapy Course Archived16 December 2008 at theWayback Machine
^Trinity News reporthttp://www.trinitynews.ie/articles.php?tn=1&issue=2&id=215^{[permanent dead link]}website
^Forum on Acting Training Report, May 2008,Forum Report^{[permanent dead link]}
^Gerry Smyth, Irish Times, 1 August 2008Acting academy to include theatre

External links

Learning materials related toDrama schoolat Wikiversity

[1] Burwick, Frederick (2015).British Drama of the Industrial Revolution.Cambridge University Press. p. 46.

[2] An earlier theatre, also named the Royalty, existed in Wells Street,Wellclose Square,London from 1787 until the early part of the nineteenth century. See Wilmot-Buxton, Harry John."William Clarkson Stanfield",Chapter IX,English Painters,Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington (1883), accessed 22 November 2013

[3] "Susan Elkin: Which drama school is for you?".The Stage.Retrieved19 March2024.

[4] Prospectus from TCDDrama Dept, TCD

[5] Prospectus from NUIM English DeptDramatherapy Course Archived16 December 2008 at theWayback Machine

[6] Trinity News reporthttp://www.trinitynews.ie/articles.php?tn=1&issue=2&id=215^{[permanent dead link]}website

[7] Forum on Acting Training Report, May 2008,Forum Report^{[permanent dead link]}

[8] Gerry Smyth, Irish Times, 1 August 2008Acting academy to include theatre

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