Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater: Contemporary Theater

Department

Program Overview

Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s B.F.A. in Theater: Contemporary Theater is a singular program that leaves behind the traditional confines of the stage to empower innovative theater makers unbound by convention.

Our ensemble-based training allows students to explore new ways of working as they evolve side by side, challenging themselves and each other, while developing collaborative skills that are crucial for their professional lives as artists. Rigorous training, intimate in scale, combines devising—the fastest-growing theater mode today—with movement, site-specific work, theater analysis, writing, production skills, and an emphasis on socially conscious artistry. Our acclaimed faculty and guest artists are leading practitioners, and serve not only as mentors for growth, but as future colleagues. With room to explore their diverse passions and time to hone their own artistic processes, graduates of Boston Conservatory’s contemporary theater program are prepared to navigate an ever-changing industry, as resourceful multidisciplinary theater makers.

Our Students

Boston Conservatory contemporary theater students are fearlessly original, artistically curious, and passionate about effecting change through the power of theater. They have a calling, and the theater is their home. They are looking to find their voice, their gesture, their cause, and their own unique artistic method and path. They value collaboration, community, and the creation of theater that has an impact locally and globally.

Curriculum Overview

Boston Conservatory’s contemporary theater program is not a conventional college acting program. A cornerstone of its curriculum is the making of new work. Each semester, ensembles reimagine a classic or create an original performance. Throughout their four years, contemporary theater students are making, collaborating, interpreting, and performing what’s new, what’s now, and what’s next. Our students are the storytellers of the future.

The first two years of study offer rigorous training in acting, voice, and movement, as well as the principles of directing and design theory. Dramatic forms and their contexts are explored in literature and history classes while students are immersed in ensemble building and devising practices.

In the second half of the program, students increase experimentation with non-traditional and site-specific performance methods. Elective choices include Acting for Camera, Playwriting, Eco-performance, Extreme Character, Circus Arts, Entrepreneurship for Theater Artists, Race, Identity and Performance, and Introduction to Producing. The final year culminates in the creation of an independent capstone performance.

Program Requirements

The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater: Contemporary Theater requires 120 credits, consisting of the course requirements listed below. View the Sample Curriculum by Semester for additional details.

Acting, Movement, and Voice

T-ST 1141 Acting Studio 1 (2 credits)
T-ST 1142 Acting Studio 2 (2 credits)
T-ST 1143 Movement Studio 1 (1 credit)
T-ST 1144 Movement Studio 2 (1 credit)
T-ST 1147 Contact Skills (1 credit)
T-ST 1241 Vocal-Physical Connection 1 (1 credit)
T-ST 1242 Vocal-Physical Connection 2 (1 credit)
T-ST 2105 Viewpoints 1 (1 credit)
T-ST 2106 Viewpoints 2 (1 credit)
T-ST 2141 Acting Studio 3 (2 credits)
T-ST 2142 Acting Studio 4 (2 credits)
T-ST 2143 Movement Studio 3: Suzuki (1 credit)
T-ST 2144 Movement Studio 4: Acrobatics (1 credit)
T-ST 2147 Directing and Composition (2 credits)
T-ST 2241 Vocal-Physical Connection 1 (1 credit)
T-ST 2242 Vocal-Physical Connection 2 (1 credit)
T-ST 3141 Acting Studio 5 (2 credits)
T-ST 3241 Shakespeare Voice (1 credit)
T-ST 714xx Movement elective or T-PR 70914 Alexander Technique for the Actor (1 credit)
T-ST 719xx Acting Electives (4 credits total, 2 credits each)
T-ST 729xx Voice & Speech Electives (2 credits total, 1 credit each)

Ensemble Collaboration and Performance

T-EN 1941 Ensemble Performance Lab 1 (2 credits)
T-EN 1942 Ensemble Performance Lab 2 (2 credits)
T-EN 1943 Auto Cours 1 (1 credit)
T-EN 2941 Ensemble Performance Lab 3 (2 credits)
T-EN 2942 Ensemble Performance Lab 4 (2 credits)
T-EN 2943 Auto Cours 2 (1 credit)
T-EN 3941 Ensemble Performance Lab 5 (2 credits)
T-EN 3942 Ensemble Performance Lab 6 (2 credits)
T-EN 3943 Auto Cours 3 (1 credit)
T-EN 4941 Ensemble Performance Lab 7 (2 credits)
T-EN 4943 Auto Cours 4 (1 credit)

Theater Practice and Application

T-PR 1001 First Year Seminar: Wellness and the Working Artist (1 credit)
T-PR 1907 Theater Production and Process (1 credit)
T-PR 2941 Theater and Community Arts Practice (3 credits)
T-PR 2944 Entrepreneurship for Theater Arts or T-PR 71912 The Business of Theater (1 credit)
T-PR 3941 Touring and Entrepreneurial Skills (3 credits)
T-PR 3943 Site-Specific Collaboration and Performance or T-PR 3947 Environmental and Virtual Performance (2 credits)
T-PR 4941 Capstone (3 credits)
T-SK 0041 Visual Vocabulary and Storytelling (2 credits)
T-SK 1441 Music and Rhythm (1 credit)

Theater Literature and Histories, Liberal Arts, and General Education

A-xx 739xx Africana Studies or L-CM 739xx Liberal Arts elective: Arts & Humanities (3 credits)
A-xx 749xx Africana Studies or L-CM 749xx Liberal Arts elective: Social Sciences (3 credits)
A-xx 759xx Africana Studies or L-CM 759xx Liberal Arts elective: Math/Science (3 credits)
A-xx 7x9xx Africana Studies, L-CM 7x9xx Liberal Arts, and/or T-LT 799xx Topics in Theater Academics elective (3 credits)
C-PR 1001 Introduction to Creative Media Technology (1 credit)
L-CM 1301 Introduction to College Writing (3 credits)
L-CM 1302 Literature Topics (3 credits)
T-AP 3941 Capstone Planning (1 credit)
T-AP 4941 Senior Seminar (3 credits)
T-LT 1907 Dramatic Text and Context (3 credits)
T-LT 1941 Introduction to Ensemble in Contemporary Theater (3 credits)
T-LT 2903 Global Theater Histories 1 (3 credits)
T-LT 2904 Global Theater Histories 2 (3 credits)
T-LT 3905 Performance Theories (3 credits)
T-LT 3941 Playwriting (3 credits)
T-LT 3942 Dramaturgy (3 credits)
T-LT 799xx Topics in Theater Academics (3 credits)
Xxxxx General electives (7 credits total)

What You Will Learn

Upon successful completion of the B.F.A. in Theater: Contemporary Theater program, students will:

create original and innovative theater that responds to the contemporary world;
construct and apply a personalized technique for making and performing theater;
experiment with dramatic forms and content as artistic innovators;
analyze and embody diverse theater practices, histories, literatures, and aesthetics;
collaborate with creativity, generosity, rigor, and integrity;
contribute as artist-citizens to the social, cultural, and ethical impact of theater;
define and express their artistic identities with confidence and authenticity; and
make informed choices about constructing creative lives and sustainable careers.

Guest Artists

Each semester, Boston Conservatory welcomes notable guest artists to visit classes, lecture, or collaborate on new work. Recent guest artists have included:

Rachel Chavkin: Tony Award–winning director of Hadestown, writer, dramaturg, and founding artistic director of Brooklyn-based company the TEAM
David Henry Hwang: Obie Award–winning author of M. Butterfly, Yellow Face, and Soft Power
Ty Defoe: Ojibwe and Oneida performance artist, activist, and writer living in New York
Claire Warden: national leader of the intimacy direction movement in theater today
Tim Miller: internationally acclaimed queer performance artist from Los Angeles
Double Edge Theatre: a female-led ensemble and theater laboratory for actors
Mauricio Salgado: actor, director, and cofounder of Artists Striving to End Poverty
Paris Crayton III: actor, director, and author of more than 40 plays produced nationwide

Professional Partnerships

Boston Conservatory has established partnerships with leading theater organizations such as SpeakEasy Stage Company that give students exciting professional opportunities. Learn more about these partnerships.

Your Future

In 2019, Boston Conservatory graduated its first class of contemporary theater innovators. Graduates join a strong network of Boston Conservatory alumni working as actors, directors, playwrights, and producers nationwide, including:

Arena Stage
Arizona Theatre Company
Atlantic Theatre Company
Barrington Stage Company
Dallas Theater Center
Denver Center Theatre Company
Geva Theatre Center
Guthrie Theater
Hartford Stage
Huntington Theatre Company
La Jolla Playhouse
Lincoln Center
Long Wharf Theatre
Lyric Stage Company
Manhattan Repertory Theatre
New York Stage and Film
The Old Globe
The Public Theatre
Roundabout Theatre Company
Signature Theatre
Studio Theatre
SpeakEasy Stage Company
Vineyard Theatre
Walnut Street Theatre

How to apply