MFA Acting

The Acting program admits talented and committed individuals from a wide range of backgrounds who possess a lively intelligence, a strong imagination, a collaborative ethos, and a physical and vocal instrument capable of development and transformation and prepares them for work as professional actors. Combining in-depth classroom training with interdisciplinary production opportunities, the program further recognizes and affirms the call for our field, our faculty, and our theater-makers-in-training to prioritize anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices and pedagogies in order to create a more just, joyful, and liberated profession. At the conclusion of their training, graduates will be prepared to work on a wide range of material in multiple genres and venues.

The Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) degree is conferred by the President and Fellows of Yale University on students holding a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college who complete with distinction any of the programs of study outlined and who exhibit excellence in their professional practice. Three years in residence is the time required for this work; on rare occasions the faculty of David Geffen School of Drama may reduce the residency requirement, but in no case below a minimum of two years. The M.F.A. is awarded in the following areas of study: Acting, Design, Directing, Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism, Playwriting, Stage Management, Technical Design and Production, and Theater Management.