Theatre: BFA Performance

BFA in Performance

The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Performance (Acting) is a pre-professional degree with an emphasis on actor training, as well as additional training in voice and dialects, directing, technical theatre and design, dance, and stage movement and combat. 

Required courses for the BFA in Performance are listed here.

Performance opportunities are many during the regular production season, as the department is focused on undergraduate work and actors.  Many more opportunities open up for student actors during the annual one-act play festival, in senior projects, and in productions sponsored by our recognized student organization, the Associated Students for the Performing Arts (ASOPA).  Current students have also been active in producing work in venues around Laramie and even have developed their own web series.

UW student actors can become involved in the department's work on every level, from performing in s

hows to directing to working as part of a technical company, which provide fantastic hands-on training.

UW student actors have gained both regional and national recognition in recent years, and the department boasts of an impressive list of successful alumni working in theatre, television, and film! We offer several levels of acting in the department, including:

• Beginning Acting: A fundamentals course covering given circumstance, fourth wall, sensory work, emotional work, improvisation, scoring (objective/obstacle), endowment, and basic scene work, generally concentrating on contemporary realism.
• Intermediate Acting: A "methods of characterization" course, utilizing various approaches to creating a character, including essence work, extensive character biography study, and script analysis. The course includes extensive scene work and also extended one-person monodramas.
•  Acting Styles: A "genre" course, covering Farce, Comedy of Manners, Chekhov, Shakespeare, and contemporary classics using extensive scene work and monologues. This course can be extended through independent study, usually focusing on Shakespeare, (scansion, imagery, linguistic individuation studies, etc.)
•  Acting for the Camera: A course providing students with fundamental skills required to perform on camera. Includes single and three-camera set-ups, monologue and scene presentations utilizing industry scripts. See Acting for the Camera scene samples here.
•  Advanced Scene Study: A course which focuses on individual actor "problems and challenges." Students are assigned scene work and monologues that allow them to focus on a variety of obstacles, including movie scripts, teleplays, non-realistic pieces, original plays in development, and ensemble work.
•  Auditioning and Professional Issues: A "business" course that focuses on the audition process, preparation for graduate training program auditions, TV commercial auditioning, as well as contracts, unions, internships, and resume/photo preparation.

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