Acting Concentration

Sonoma State University Acting Program offers a conservatory-style approach to prepare the student actor for the professional theatre world through the development of a personal acting process, systematic skills training, performance in productions, and study of theatre traditions and styles. Students graduate ready to make choices about their career and, more importantly, believe they are artists who hold an important and responsible place in society.

You do not need to audition to be accepted into the acting program as a freshman or sophomore. As a transfer sophomore or junior, you will need to do a placement interview/audition. If you want to apply for a talent scholarship, you need to apply in February and audition in March for the coming year. Scholarships are granted only to those students who have been admitted to the University and are declared Theatre Majors.

We aim to:

Nurture individual artistic process
Expand technical skills and artistry
Develop performance skills
Offer an effective range of physical and vocal training approaches
Introduce a broad range of genres and dramatic writers
Provide a safe environment to encourage risk-taking
Inspire passion for the art and craft of acting and theatre

We offer:

A Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Theatre with a concentration in Acting
An innovative curriculum, that includes contemporary writing, physical acting styles, American Realism, Scene Study on-camera, improvisation, Shakespeare and verse acting, voice and speech, dance styles, and music theatre
Close connection with a supportive faculty
Ample opportunities to perform dramas, comedies, musical theatre, experimental works, student writing and improvisation in a variety of venues from the first year through graduation
Class sizes that allow for personal attention and individual feedback
A community of theatre students in acting, dance, technical theatre and general theatre majors who work together and support one another
Regular instruction through course work and residencies with Bay Area professional actors and directors supported by the Evert B. Person Endowment Fund
Generous Performing Arts/Acting scholarships available through Endowed Funds
State-of-the-art facilities including a 475 seat proscenium theatre, a black box studio theatre, 2 dance studios, and an amphitheatre
Opportunities to collaborate with dancers, musicians, singers, and technicians
A foundation for professional acting career, graduate studies, creative work, or teaching acting and theatre
A life broadened and enriched through personal immersion in the art and craft of acting

We welcome your interest in our program, invite you to visit the campus to sit in on classes, meet with instructors, and see our work on stage.

Mission of the Acting Concentration:

We teach that theatre occurs as a part of a social process and context. We help our students to understand that the theatre artist is more than an entertainer, and is also an integrated human being who is a creative member of a community. We teach that the actor/artist is valued for what s/he offers society, and is deeply important to the expression of its relevant issues. We hope to instill in our actors a sense that each is an individual, not a commodity to be jobbed-in, but an expressive voice.

Outcomes for actors majoring in our program:

The actor takes artistic risks and is competent in a variety of styles and genres, including American realism, classical verse style, on-camera, and working collaboratively.
The actor’s instrument (body, voice, imagination) is expressive, responsive, bold, confident, present, able to create believable characters, and to communicate with an audience.
The actor can balance disciplined rigor with a sense of freedom and play.
The actor has a broad understanding of theatre history and dramatic literature.
The actor can analyze and break down a prose or verse text from an actor’s point of view.
The actor develops an acting process that is specific and fundamental that will ground the student in all his/her current and future stage work.
The actor is familiar with the process, vocabulary and tools of the directors, designers, stage managers and technicians.
The actor is ready to move to the next phase of his or her career with confidence and expertise, including auditioning and competing for acting jobs, gaining acceptance to graduate school programs in acting or teaching of acting in K-12 programs, and producing his or her own work.

Auditions 2011/12

Click for details.

2013-14 Evert B. Person
Scholarship auditions are
Saturday March 2, 2013
Application due date is 4pm Friday February 1, 2013

For information about the Acting Concentration contact:
Paul Draper
Director of the Acting Program
(707) 664-3904
paul.draper@sonoma.edu

Theatre Arts Catalogue