Acting for the Theatre (BFA)
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)
Why study Acting for the Theatre?
Train to become a versatile actor with a rich diversity of skills, ready to take on a wide range of roles and theatrical styles.
Begin by acquiring core acting skills such as text interpretation (scene and monologue work), movement, voice and presence, characterization, and ensemble work. At the same time, grow into a well-rounded theatre artist by studying dramaturgy/script analysis, collaborative methods, theatre history and theory, and scenographic design fundamentals.
As you move through the program, explore more advanced techniques and specialty skills, such as stage combat, theatrical Biomechanics, Viewpoints, singing, dialects, audition and camera, among others. Progress from acting styles rooted in psychological realism to range-expanding techniques based in psychophysical and non-realistic approaches. Apply your growing skillset by performing in productions of plays by great contemporary playwrights and iconic writers from the past. You’ll also opportunities to create and perform original work.
Throughout your degree, gain exposure to the professional theatre scene in Montreal and beyond. You may do a supervised internship with an organization such as the Segal Centre, the Centaur Theatre, Geordie Theatre, and Bread and Puppet Theater. You may also have the chance to participate in an international exchange program or field schools; recent opportunities have included programs in Chinese opera in Beijing, and post-dramatic theatre in Germany.
By the end of the program, you’ll emerge with a clear sense of your own theatrical identity. You’ll know what kind of work you want to do and what kind of stories you’re inspired to tell, and you’ll have the confidence, abilities, and artistic daring to step into a professional career.
Program details
A Bachelor of Fine Arts degree takes a minimum of three or four years (90 – 120 credits) of full-time study, depending on your academic background.
Program option:
- Specialization in Acting for the Theatre (60 credits)
This program is only available for Fall admission.
Minimum cut-off averages
- Quebec CEGEP: DEC
- High School: C+
- University Transfers (internal/external): C
- Bacc. français: 11
- International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma: 26
Course requirements for admission
None. You must meet Concordia’s minimum admission requirements.
Additional requirements for admission
- Letter of intent
- Audition video
Following the review of your application, short-listed applicants may be asked to submit follow-up video assignments and/or be invited to a Skype interview.
Check program availability as late applications will continue to be accepted for certain programs for an undetermined amount of time.
Minimum cut-off averages should be used as indicators. The cut-off data may change depending on the applicant pool. Applicants who meet the stated minimum requirements are not guaranteed admission to these programs.
We consider complete applications year round and we give priority to applicants who apply by official deadlines. Late applications will be considered if places are still available for the fall term only.
| You've sent your application from: | Fall term deadline | Winter term deadline |
| Inside Canada | March 1 Certain programs have extended their deadlines. Please check program availability. |
N/A Admission to this program is only available for the Fall Term. |
| Outside Canada (International) |
February 1 | N/A |
We reserve the right to close admission to a program at any time after the official deadline without prior notice.
First year courses include:
- Foundations of acting
- Foundations of voice and movement
- Scene study
- Ensemble
- Foundations of performance creation
- Dramaturgy
- Theatre history & theory
- Introduction to design for the theatre
Second year courses include:
- Intermediate scene study
- Intermediate and advanced voice & speech
- Intermediate and advanced movement for the stage
- Performing in studio projects and/or mainstage productions
Upper year courses include advanced techniques and specialty skills such as:
- Shakespeare
- Stage combat
- Theatrical Biomechanics
- Fitzmaurice Voicework
- Singing
- Dialects
- Rasaboxes
- Audition and camera skills
- Performance creation seminars (e.g. post-colonial theory, gender & sexuality in performance)
- Designing and conducting an acting workshop
- Performing in studio projects and/or mainstage productions
You may also choose from courses that cover all practical aspects of theatre, including stage management, production, and advanced dramaturgy.
See a complete list of current courses in the Undergraduate Calendar
Either recently created or completely renovated, our performance spaces encourage creativity. You will rehearse in smart rooms that look out over the city, perform in theatres with beautiful acoustics and great sightlines, and build sets and props in incredible workshops. It’s hard to imagine what we can't do in these facilities:
- Multiple performance spaces, from the large, refurbished D.B. Clarke Theatre and Loyola’s F.C. Smith Auditorium, to the Cazalet Studio, our intimate black box space
- Four acting studios with sprung floors and contemporary projection and integrated sound systems (two also have lighting grids)
- Two design classrooms and a lighting lab
- A costume shop, plus costume storage space and a dye lab
- A fully equipped scene construction shop and prop storage
Visit our facilities page for more information on our studios, resources and venues.
Throughout your degree, you will participate in class projects, departmental productions, and student-led shows. You may also apply your talents in professional and extracurricular opportunities where you might. Performance opportunities in the Department include:
- At least four mainstage shows each year
- A number of smaller studio performances in our black box spaces
- Our student-led short works festival
- Scene and short play performances connected with each semester’s Directing classes
- Many in-class performances and public showings
- Special projects led by graduate students and Concordia artist-researchers
- Cabaret nights hosted by the Concordia Association of Students in Theatre (CAST)
When is our next theatre performance? Visit our news and events page to find out.
As a Concordia ACTT graduate, you’ll be joining an extensive, proud network of our alumni, many of whom have gone on to work with exciting theatre companies in Canada and around the world, and in film, television, and web series.
The ACTT program provides an excellent basis for advanced studies at the graduate level. Many of our students have been accepted (and, in several cases, scholarshipped) into Master’s programs in Acting at such notable institutions as New York University, University of Southern California, University of Washington, Naropa University, University of Iowa, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, among others.
The program encourages the development of autonomous thinkers and theatre-makers, with the ability to create their own work, and many students go on to form their own theatre companies. Many of Montreal’s English language theatre companies are helmed by Concordia alumni.
Our graduates possess an excellent foundation for any career – in theatre or beyond – in which presence, confidence, communication, and collaboration are integral. For example:
In theatre:
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
- Artistic director
- Performance coach
- Acting/voice/movement teacher
- Festival curator
- Casting director
Outside of traditional theatre:
- Narrator/voice-performer
- Clown
- Stunt or motion-capture performer
- Model
- Corporate product spokesperson
- Event animator (historical or fantasy character)
- Museum animator
- Event or broadcast host
- Workshop facilitator
- Public speaking coach
- Teacher
- Media relations specialist
- Politician
- Lawyer
