The undergraduate program at the Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies offers a unique combination of rich and rigorous scholarship with high standards of practical training. The program provides students with an integrated set of critical and artistic skills through which to engage with broader intellectual, social, and political issues in the humanities and beyond. Along with courses in theatre and performance theory and history, dramatic literature, dramaturgy, technology, and practice-based lab courses, the Centre offers introductory and advanced studio courses in acting, production, design, directing, and playwriting. The Digital Dramaturgy Lab_squared and the newly founded BMO Lab in Creative Research in the Arts, Performance, Emerging Technologies and AI, with their international scope and interdisciplinary approach, present the students with a unique opportunity to develop projects exploring the use of new technologies in the context of the performing arts.
Students graduating from our program have combined majors in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Sciences, including English, Women and Gender Studies, Cinema Studies, Sexual Diversity Studies, Art History, Classics, Religion, Anthropology, Canadian Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Human Biology, Computer Science, and Cognitive Science. The Centre’s undergraduate program has access to the Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse theatre and a number of performance and rehearsal spaces available to students and faculty.
Please note. While some of our courses are open to all students of the university, others are restricted to students in a Drama Specialist, Major or Minor program. Some studio courses (Group B) require an audition, interview, or the submission of a portfolio. While entry into and progress through most of these studio courses require certain prerequisites, the Centre can grant exceptions on a case-by-case basis.
More details, including application guidelines and deadlines, can be found on our website at: cdtps.utoronto.ca/.
The Centre’s Undergraduate Administrative Coordinator, Colleen Osborn, is also available for consultation. For general enquiries or to schedule an appointment send an e-mail to undergrad.cdtps@utoronto.ca.
The program’s mandate:
- Mounting courses on the historical, theoretical and practical aspects of drama, theatre and performance
- Integrating academic and practical dimensions of study in each course
- Involving undergraduates in the planning and execution of program activities
- Introducing students to the demands and expectations of a professional theatre career
- Fostering an environment that ensures individual growth as well as shared responsibility for the development of others
Programs
Follow your own interests and chart your own path through university. Our undergraduate major, minor, and specialist programs offer you plenty of flexibility.
Advice for First Year
DRM101Y1 is a mandatory pre- or co-requisite for all studio entry courses to our Group B Studio courses. Therefore, in your first year, you should enrol into our foundations course, DRM101Y1. You can apply into the 200-level studio course in Performance (DRM200Y1) directly out of high school. The first round of auditions is held in April with an application deadline in March; the second round is held in August.
Students can enrol directly into our other entry studio courses (DRM202H1 - Directing I, DRM228H1 - Playwriting I, and DRM 254H1 - Design & Production I) in their second year at the University of Toronto once they have declared a Drama Major or Drama Specialist and have completed DRM101Y1
Teaching and Research
As a drama student, you'll gain a broad overview of the contours of drama, theatre, and perforamnce studies and in-depth knowledge of specific regions, time periods and themes. You'll be in good hands with our undergraduate faculty. Thanks to their diverse research interests, you'll be able to take courses on a variety of topics, from the history of Canadian Theatre to Comparative World Theatre to the Contemporary Avant-Garde.
Resources
Here are just a few of the resources available to our students:
- Backpack to Briefcase (b2B) – Meet and learn from our alumni (and other Faculty of Arts & Science alumni) at mentorship meals, speed networking events, career panel discussions and industry nights.
- Society of Undergraduate Drama Students (SUDS) – Build your skills and meet other people who share your interest in drama, theatre, and performance studies.
- University of Toronto Libraries – U of T’s award-winning library system offers you an extensive general collection, plus specialized collections such as the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library.
Careers
Your studies will help foster analytical and communication skills that are critical to many careers. Our alumni put their training to use in the arts, law, business, government, museums, non-profits, documentary filmmaking, journalism, international relations, urban planning, teaching, and many other sectors. Visit the Career Navigator website to see what our alumni are up to now.