Theatre Program "Best of" lists and what we can learn from them.

Theatre Programs: Best of lists and what can we learn from them?

Lately I’ve been reading a lot lists about the “top,” or the “best,” theatre training programs for both BFA and BA students.

These lists make my stomach churn more than a little. I often wonder how a single writer can look at every program in the country? How solid is their research? How do they prepare their lists? Do schools that have excellent PR firms rank better? I have a lot of questions and they provide very little in the way of answers.

These lists get re-blogged and reposted all across the Internet. I freely admit my own complicity in this as I re-blog/tweet/Facebook post every one of these lists that comes my way.

What I love most about them is when a little known or little publicly appreciated program receives its moment in the sun and makes one of these lists. It makes one feel as if the underdog can win, that the little guy can take on a giant.

I decided to dig into these lists and see what makes them tick and it was interesting what I learned. I looked at the lists of these schools and asked myself what do all of these “best” programs have in common? I took each school and looked at what they themselves say about their own programs. Then I looked at the similarities or commonalities among the “top."

Well, this is what I learned . . .

1.) Nearly every top program has some sort of weekly meeting for the whole department. Some call it Drama Forum, others call it Theatre Lab but they all do it in some manner. They use it as a way to come together each week (some with less frequency but they still do it at least once a month) and showcase student work, make announcements, discuss new developments, present guest speakers, even professors can present work in progress, etc. Many of these programs also make it an open forum to discuss issues, policy changes; they create a space to truly have a dialogue with their student population and community.

I know there will be naysayers about this practice, “Student’s won’t show up, attendance was low, faculty don’t want to commit the time.” Tough, I don’t care. Trying to implement a new policy or practice once will never make it successful. Try it for a whole academic year. Make it the same time and the same day each week. I dare you. Invite student groups to makes announcements, bring in a speaker, and commit to some programming. Also always have a flyer up and make it clear that it’s a way for new members to the theatre community to introduce themselves and learn more.

Some people may say, “But we can’t afford speakers.” Wrong, if you look, they are there. Even if you don’t live near a major city there’s no reason you can’t bring in the stage manager of the big show coming through the local roadhouse. Offer to buy them dinner and a great cup of coffee and I bet they would love to speak with your students for half an hour to 45 minutes, all you have to do is ask. Doing things like that strengthens ties with the professional world and spreads through word of mouth great things about your department.

2.) Engagement in some form of new work - sometimes it’s ten-minute plays written by the students, sometimes it’s a new musical, others times it can be a guest artist brought in to develop a new piece, but they all do it in some manner.

3.) Bridges to the professional world - every “successful” program does this and some do it on multiple fronts. For some schools its internships and externships with casting directors, agents, managers, theatres, and production companies. Many of these schools have built relationships with these folks over the years so that way it’s easy to place their students, the professionals know what to expect and what the level of education is that these interns have.

Some schools go through a traditional showcase process. Some of the really successful programs have internships and a showcase. Or you could take the route of a school like Elon University. Instead of bringing 16-24 students to NYC and Los Angeles they bring industry professionals to North Carolina, have them watch a showcase, evaluate each of the students, provide feedback to each of them, and then teach workshops for a few days about the profession and working as an actor.

I found Elon’s approach interesting because of the savings it provides. If you are a program far from NYC or Los Angeles, or an airline hub, it’s much cheaper to bring a handful of professionals to your school. Especially after you factor in airfare, hotels and meals. There might even be funds present at your university or college to bring in guest speakers.

Of course, there is no substitute for traveling to and experiencing a city. I know of past students who would never have moved to Los Angeles unless they had visited it as part of the showcase process first.

Some programs build real world relationships by hiring working directors and designers to come in and direct their students and design their shows. Smart schools bring in directors and designers with strong ties to regional theatres. And remember, everybody likes to have an assistant.

And lastly, some schools have working ties with regional theatres. What you have to be careful about is students never getting to play leads and they spend their time in ensemble or background roles. One school, such as St. Edwards in Austin, uses an Equity theatre as the on-campus producing center. That means their BFA students get to earn equity points as EMC's while earning their degree. They also then have the opportunity to work alongside professionals from the Austin area. This allows them to grow even more as actors.

Not every school can afford working on an URTA contract. Nor should every program function like that. But there is no harm in reaching out to your local SPT (Small Professional Theatre) and seeing what you can do to help them engage in the Equity Memberships Candidate process and introduce them to your students. Hold a forum with your local AEA rep or SAG-AFTRA rep and educate everyone about how to operate on SPT or SAG ultra low budget contracts. I think everyone can agree that this is a business of relationships. (Heck, I bet your Dramatists Guild Area Liaison would love to speak with your playwriting students.)

4.) Having a plan for your graduates – most schools simply don’t do this. It’s silly how easily this can be incorporated into your capstone courses. I’m not saying your students have to stick to it, but putting the thought into where to move, survival skills, software skills, how to budget and having a written plan in place about how they intend to accomplish their goals is a powerful tool. Hopefully as more schools comply with guidelines from regulatory bodies they will adopt this practice. It truly makes a difference in students, their success rates, and alumni relations and dollars. These plans could be anything, from moving to a new city, attending graduate school, or working in a year long/seasonal fellowship. (Have your students explore Arts Search every spring for opportunities.) The point is, any plan is better than no plan.

5.) Some form of company or class presented work - it seems to bring people together, create a sense of company and community, and allows you to claim you are producing more than you actually are. We all know that NYU Grad presents company shows for each year of the program. A school like Rutgers achieves this in several ways; the BFA’s present work that they have written and created themselves under the title of Performance Ensemble. They do it again by presenting a Shakespeare play as a company that they worked on while studying at The Globe in London. Some schools achieve it through other means; if you have a course in improvisation, present an evening or a weekend of improv before an audience. If you a studying clown, put on a clown show. If your school is finding ways to devise, then present what the class has produced for a weekend. (By the way if your school is not devising or teaching devising, then you are behind the times and that ship has already sailed far away from you.) Another great way to achieve this is presenting ten-minute plays by the directing students.

6.) Production and performance opportunities galore – outside of a few strict conservatories most of the top BA and BFA programs are all about producing as much as possible while maintaining quality. Most schools formally produce at least four productions a season. They build on that by adding in company and class produced work (see point #5), student improv groups, things like No Shame Theatre, a cabaret from their musical theatre students, and most of them have some sort of venue for students to produce and put up work written and directed by themselves. Successful schools create a “second stage” where student led work and classroom work can be presented to a public (and sometimes paying) audience.

What should be number seven, I will put down as an “honorable mention,” is studying abroad. Some programs have a summer, a full semester, even a full year abroad; others have several programs they will transfer all of the credits from. Year after year these schools place students in summer or semester abroad programs at places such as The Moscow Art Theatre, RADA, LAMDA, and BADA.  Some encourage their students to study at places like the O’Neil Theatre Center. Studying at the O’Neil, while not quite abroad, certainly has its advantages. 

There is no reason your program can't adopt some of these ideas and make them your own.

What I feel the need to point out is that much of this has nothing to do with location or money. I once heard a Department Chair tell a room full of educators that his program will never be a top program because it’s too far from an entertainment center such as NYC or Los Angeles. I would tell him that’s a terrible excuse and countless programs have proven him wrong.

I also want to point out that much of this costs little to nothing to implement. Many of the changes can be made with elbow grease and a little gumption. A little effort with your study abroad office and taking the Artistic Director from the local professional theatre can sometimes reap big rewards for your students. Also, little changes in thinking along with tweaking your best practices can go a long way towards building a community, a brand, the success of your students and your program.