How to apply
We are still accepting applications. If you are applying after March 1, 2020, please email theatre@concordia.ca to let us know.
All new applicants must complete Concordia University's online admissions application before booking an appointment for an audition, or submitting a portfolio.
Make sure you meet the general admission requirements, including minimum educational qualifications, required documents, proof of language proficiency and mature student entry.
If you are already a student at Concordia please review the following instructions:
- Concordia students currently enrolled in a BFA undergraduate degree: Complete the Internal Transfer of Program Request Form and submit it to the Department of Theatre at GM-500.01. You must submit this first in order to be allowed to sign up for an audition and/or interview.
- Concordia students currently enrolled in another faculty (e.g. Arts & Science): Follow the steps to apply for a Degree Transfer. You must submit this first in order to be allowed to sign up for an audition and/or interview.
- Concordia students from any faculty who wish to add a Theatre Minor: Complete the Internal Transfer of Program Request Form and submit it to the Department of Theatre at GM-500.01. No further action is required.
A letter of intent helps those considering your application to learn more about who you are as an artist and a student, how you express yourself in writing, and what your goals are within the program.
In your letter of intent you should touch upon the following subjects:
- Your interest for theatre and the program(s) to which you are applying.
- Why you want to do this work and study this art form?
- Past theatre experience, or other experience that you feel is relevant to your choice of program.
- What you are looking for in the program?
- Anything else that you think is relevant, but not covered by the other questions. For example, what inspires you? What related skills do you have?
One to two pages should be enough for you to succinctly write about all the topics.
Please save your letter as a word doc or PDF. You will be able to upload it when you book your appointment in step 4.
Select your program of interest for details regarding the audition, interview or portfolio:
Performance Creation Admissions Workshop
- Use the online form in the next step to book your appointment, which will occur on March 13 or 14.
- Compose an original performance piece. You will either perform this piece or share your idea for a performance in the workshop. You may draw inspiration from source material and/ or a topic that resonates with you and reveals something about your imagination and creativity.
- Your original performance piece must be 3 minutes long, and include at least two of the following ingredients: water, 10 seconds of chaos, a moment of grace, 15 seconds of absolute stillness, two contrasting music choices, a gift, a photograph,a garment, unexpected light, a farewell, jazz, twitter, a revelation. Short excerpts of poetry, text, and/or music from external sources are permitted, however, the majority of your performance piece should consist of original material created by you.
- As there will be minimal time for set-up during the workshop, costume elements and hand props, as well as media support should be kept to an absolute minimum.
- Applicants are welcome to submit additional materials that demonstrate a creative practice (e.g. work with music or sound, design, visual arts, etc.) in the form of an e-portfolio, however, this is not required. If you are interested in playwriting, dramaturgy or forms of critical writing in Performance Creation, you should clearly indicate this in your Letter of Intent, and we strongly suggest submitting a sample of writing for theatre and performance, maximum of 10 pages, in an electronic format to theatre@concordia.ca by March 1, 2020.
Location of the Performance Creation Admissions Workshop:
7th floor of Concordia's MB Building - The John Molson School of Business
What will happen on the workshop day?
- On the workshop day, you will check in at the reception desk.
- It is essential that you arrive one-half hour before your scheduled workshop in order to ensure enough time for registration (latecomers will not be permitted entrance into the workshop).
- Following registration, one of our faculty members will lead you in a 45 minute group warm-up.
- Following the warm-up session you will participate in a group workshop that will involve performing your original piece and discussing your work with other workshop participants. This will be followed by a group discussion and reflection / question-and-answer period about the experience of the workshop. The entire admissions workshop process will run approximately 1.5 to 2 hours, depending on the number of people participating.
- Following the admissions workshop for the Specialization in Performance Creation you are invited to join us for an informal Open House/ meet and greet session from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 14. This will be a chance to chat with faculty members and other applicants. The location of the callback session willl be announced at the admissions workshop. Attendance at this session is optional.
Are you from outside Montreal and unable to attend the admissions workshop in person?
The best way to participate is in person. This gives the faculty the opportunity to meet you, and to work with you as part of a group, in a collaborative environment. Attending the workshop in person also allows you to see the facilities, meet current students, and get a sense of how we do things. That said, if it is impossible for you to make the trip, we understand.
The steps for out of town applicants to submit special requirements are:
- Compose an original performance piece. You will either perform this piece or demonstrate or share your idea for a performance. You may draw inspiration from source material and/ or a topic that resonates with you and reveals something about your imagination and creativity.
- Your piece must be 3 minutes, and must include at least two of the following ingredients: water, 10 seconds of chaos, a moment of grace, 15 seconds of absolute stillness, two contrasting music choices, a gift, a photograph,a garment, unexpected light, a farewell, jazz, twitter, a revelation. Short excerpts of poetry, text, and/or music from external sources are permitted, however, the majority of your performance piece should consist of original material created by you.
- Videotape yourself performing the piece. If you are standing and/ or moving in the piece, please make sure that your whole body is in the frame.
- Post the video online on youtube or vimeo; set it to private and upload / paste the link to your application
- Remember to upload your your letter of intent. Additionally, because we will be unable to work with you in a collborative group context, please send one letter of support that attests to your work as part of an ensemble to theatre@concordia.ca .
The deadline to send the above is March 1, 2020.
Following the review of the above materials, short-listed applicants may be contacted to schedule a skype interview.
We are still accepting applications. If you are applying after March 1, 2020, please email theatre@concordia.ca to let us know.
- Use the online form in the next step to book your appointment, which will occur on March 14 or 15, 2020.
- Bring your portfolio to the interview. It should include creative work such as drawings, paintings, sculptures, photographs, videos, clothing you have designed or made or any other relevant work. If you attending the interview in person, you do not need to upload a digital portfolio. On the other hand, if you are from outside of Montreal and cannot attend the interviews in person, please upload a minimum of 20 images of your work. Please save your letter as a word doc or PDF. You will be able to upload it when you book your appointment in step 4.
- Please upload your images as .JPEG files. You will be able to upload them when you book your appointment in step 4.
- All applicants must arrive at least one-half hour before your interview/ portfolio review appointment, in order to ensure enough processing time (to register at the reception desk, etc.).
- Proceed to next page (Step 4) to complete all online application requirements.
Location of interviews:
5th floor of Concordia's GM building.
Are you from outside Montreal and unable to attend interviews in person?
- The first round of skype interviews will take place on March 15, 2020. If possible, please book a skype appointment in step 4.
Upload the following by March 1, 2020:
- Letter of Intent
- Link or PDF of e-portfolio (Only do this if you are not attending in person.)
- Portfolio with a minimum of 20 images of work. (.JPEG files)
We are still accepting applications. If you are applying after March 1, 2020, please email theatre@concordia.ca to let us know.
- Use the online form in the next step to book your appointment on March 6, 13, or 14, 2020. Please note that capacity is limited. Due to their convenience for travellers, the timeslots on Saturday, March 14 will fill up first. We cannot overload those appointments. It is strongly recommended that you consider booking your appointment for Friday, March 6 or Friday, March 13, or the first appointment of the day on Saturday, March 14.
- Auditions held on March 6 will have callbacks the same day. They will be announced by 5:00 p.m. and happen shortly thereafter. The March 6 callbacks will be done by 9:00pm. There is nothing to prepare for callbacks, they are workshop-style group sessions facilitated by faculty members.
- Callbacks for auditions held on March 13 and 14 are announced by 10:00 p.m. on March 14, and those called back will be required all day on Sunday, March 15, 2020. There is nothing to prepare for callbacks, they are workshop-style group sessions facilitated by faculty members.
- You must select one of the listed monologues for your audition.
- Please note that the entire audition process can take up to 2.5 hours.
Location of auditions and interviews:
7th floor of Concordia's MB Building - The John Molson School of Business
What will happen on audition day?
- On audition day, you will check in at the reception desk.
- Arrive one-half hour before your audition appointment in order to ensure enough time for registration (latecomers will not be permitted entrance into the audition rooms).
- Please wear clothes in which you can move, and in which your feet have contact with the floor. That means no jeans, and if you wear tights, they must be footless. Participants will be asked to work barefoot, or, if necessary, with dance shoes.
- You will start out with a 45-minute group warm-up.
- You will participate in a one-hour group audition. This in conducted in a group workshop format. You will perform your monologue in a room with other applicants.
There will be callbacks for the Acting for the Theatre program.
- For March 6 auditions: those accepted to the callbacks are announced by 5:00 p.m. that day. Callbacks begin shortly thereafter and finish by 9:00 p.m. in the same location as auditions. All callback candidates are required for the entire time.
- For March 13 and 14 auditions: those accepted to the callbacks will be notified by 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 14. Callbacks are from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 15, 2020 in the same location as the auditions. They are conducted in a group workshop format, and all callback candidates are required for the entire time. Candidates should arrive 30 minutes beforehand, as callbacks will begin promptly on time.
Are you from outside North America?
The ACTT program accepts students only by live, in-person audition.
However, candidates based outside North America may submit a “pre-audition” by video prior to the annual audition dates. Based on this “pre-audition,” ACTT faculty members will make a recommendation about whether the candidate seems competitive for acceptance and should travel to Montreal to audition, if at all possible.
Candidates based outside North America who wish to submit a “pre-audition” video should include the following:
1. A one minute (maximum) introduction of yourself, speaking about who you are as an actor/artist and why you’re interested in coming to the ACTT program at Concordia. This introduction should include your full name and where you currently reside.
2. A monologue of your choosing, selected from our list. This should be video’d in a single, continuous take (no edits), with the whole body visible at all times.
3. A one minute (maximum) character-based physical performance or movement piece, using very few words (if any). The piece should include a clear beginning, middle and end, and should tell a simple story in a theatrical way. You may involve other performers if you wish. Again, this should be video’d in a single, continuous take.
Candidates based in North America may not submit a “pre-audition” video.
To submit your pre-audition video, please upload it to youtube or vimeo, and send the link to theatre@concordia.ca by March 1, 2020.
The first round of acceptance offers to the BFA Acting for the Theatre are made based on the in-person auditions described above. That process usually results in the program being filled to capacity, with a waiting list.
If you are applying after March 1, 2020, please email theatre@concordia.ca to let us know.
Fill out the Pre-Audition Questionnaire to book your appointment(s).
