Catalog Navigator : Concentration Requirements

In addition to the general theater requirements, students must enroll in and complete one of the following four concentrations:

1. ACTING

The acting program offers a rigorous and collaborative 4-year course of study for students who aspire to a career in the ever-evolving entertainment industry. Students are trained in various acting techniques, including Meisner, on-camera, devising, classics, and global theater with a commitment to new and emerging methodologies and practices.

Students will study at the Rutgers Conservatory at Shakespeare's Globe in London. The training concludes with a focus on the industry and launching of the artist's professional careers. Students are eligible for productions in the program in the second through final years of study.

The drama program is committed to equitable, representative, and evolving practices to support each student on their journey by continuing to learn, scrutinize, and adjust our program to facilitate training that is current, imaginative, and inspired by the needs of the students, the demands of the industry, and work that is yet to be created.

2. DESIGN: Costume, Lighting, and Scenic

Theater design students are part of a dynamic 4-year professional training program that includes a semester residency in London. Our program provides students with essential artistic and technical skills as well as a strong foundation in theater history and theory. The faculty are distinguished working professionals who provide students with one-on-one mentoring and prepare them to be effective artists and collaborators in the entertainment industry.

Areas of study include costume, lighting, and scenic design.

3. DRAMATURGY

The dramaturgy curriculum provides students with a strong multi/transdisciplinary background in performance practices, performance literature and theory, community/audience engagement, and the Humanities. The core course of study focuses on building the skills for production dramaturgy and is augmented by direct electives in history, foreign languages, and other non-drama courses to build a firm foundation in both theater and the liberal arts. Students in the dramaturgy concentration cultivate their intellectual prowess, analytical skills, and artistic passions through integral multidisciplinary involvement in the Mason Gross productions and classes in the conception and execution of productions, bringing their knowledge of performance history and dramatic structure, their skills in script analysis and contextual research, and their capacity to engage in collaborative conversation into the rehearsal room. These skills also serve our audience as dramaturgy students practice the art of audience/community outreach and engagement.

The dramaturgy concentration specializes in production development, production support, critical writing, audience outreach, season planning, and artistic leadership. The transdisciplinary curriculum makes it an excellent program of study for students interested in performing arts history and theory, playwrighting and devising, cultural studies, and community outreach.

4. PRODUCTION: Costume Technology, Stage Management, & Technical Direction

Production students are part of a 4-year program designed to train students to be professionals in the fields of costume technology, stage management, or technical direction. The program combines integrated knowledge and respect for all aspects of theater at a variety of production levels to create artistically astute, well-versed, thoughtful production professionals. Core training and curriculum come together in production practice, which informs the process of each play. Working from a core artistic sensibility, production students support the work of the contributing artists as together they bring the performance to realization.