Casting and Production Assignment Policy
Students must accept roles in which they are cast and
production positions that are assigned to them.
The theater program at Mason Gross School of the Arts
prepares students for the wide variety of roles they will encounter in the
professional entertainment industry: theater, film, and television. The goal is to develop highly skilled and
versatile theater artists.
Theater, film, and television encompass the full range of
human behavior and experience and there will be times when students may be
asked to perform in roles or work on plays that may contain language and
describe situations distasteful to some. Students in the Mason Gross School of the Arts Department of Theater
must be able to portray characters and work on plays even if the values and
beliefs therein may be at significant odds with their own.
Students in the program are not at liberty to choose the
assignments or roles they are cast in according to how congruent they are with
their personal belief systems. In addition, altering a text or changing the
language of a play in order to sanitize language or character behavior creates
an inauthentic performance of the play that falsifies the artistic integrity of
the playwright's work. It also cheats
the audience who came to see a legitimate performance of the play. Altering the text of a play is unacceptable
in our program and will result in a failing grade for the work in question.
Failure of any core course can result in artistic dismissal.
Actors are required to attend all auditions for which
they are called. If a student wishes to
audition for a role for which he or she has not been called, the student may
request an audition. At the discretion
of the chair/vice chair, the student may be granted the audition.
All
issues of nudity or smoking in rehearsals and performances (including special
effects) must be approved by the Executive Committee in order to make sure
departmental policies are followed. The stage manager or director prepares a
photocopy of the relevant pages in the script, highlighting necessary nudity or
smoking, and provides the Executive Committee with a copy as well as an
explanation of the request.
Nudity
during a performance may be permitted if it is essential to the logic of the
play, but it may not be gratuitous.Actors cannot be required to perform in the nude. During casting, only
the student's primary acting teacher may discuss performing in the nude with
the actor. The director cannot have
this conversation with the actor. The chair/vice chair is the final arbiter of taste and adherence to the Executive Committee policy. An actor's refusal to perform nude will be individually
negotiated by the primary acting teacher and will not affect the student's
status in the program. If nudity is to occur, the department will post a sign in
the theater lobby and box office window so that patrons with sensitivity to
nudity may be apprised.
Smoking
during a performance is only permitted within strict limits if it is essential
to the action and logic of the play. Electronic cigarettes will be used wherever possible and a sign will be
posted for the audience advising of their use. If real smoking is to occur, the department will post a sign in the
theater lobby and box office window so that patrons with sensitivity to smoking
may apprised. If smoking is approved the ventilation systems will be run during
those scenes and during intermissions to dilute the concentration of smoke in
the atmosphere. This may cause noise which would affect the audience's ability
to hear some of the scene. An actor's refusal to smoke onstage will be
individually negotiated by the primary acting teacher and will not affect the
student's status in the program. Non-tobacco products will be used if the
materials are lit.
Production Practice/Rutgers Theater Company
The
Rutgers Theater Company is a
resident company of student actors, designers, directors, playwrights,
stage managers, and technicians whose work is guided by master teachers
and other accomplished professionals. Production practice is fully
integrated with the curriculum of the Department of Theater. Theatrical productions are tightly organized and collaborative events
that require each participant to fulfill his or her responsibilities.
Rehearsal and Production Conflict Policy
M.F.A. and B.F.A. students' presence is required for evening
and weekend work throughout the production process.Some productions require commitments during
holidays, vacation periods, and/or religious holidays. Students are not excused from any
responsibilities, rehearsals, or performances for any reason unless specifically
approved in advance and in writing by the Department of Theater Executive
Committee. Under no circumstances will students be released from a technical
rehearsal, dress rehearsal, or performance. Should a potential conflict not be approved, the student will need to
clear that conflict, and his or her presence will be required.
Outside Employment
During the academic year
(including Thanksgiving, winter, and spring break production periods for
students required during those periods), M.F.A. and B.F.A. students may not
accept paid or unpaid outside theatrical or entertainment industry employment
without written consent from the student's head of program. Violation of the outside work policy may
result in dismissal from the program.
Departmental
Scholarships
Students are expected to be in good artistic and academic
standing to receive departmental scholarship or other financial support.
Artistic probation will put a student's departmental support in jeopardy.
Mason Gross School of the Arts 
