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.
