Acting & Directing at the University of North Dakota
Follow your dream and Live Out Loud! 
The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performance option is designed as a pre-professional conservatory-style program within a liberal arts education.
Curriculum and performance opportunities are structured to prepare students for acting careers or for advanced actor training in quality graduate schools or conservatories.
This option includes specialized classes in vocal training, dance, and a progression of acting classes. The program addresses issues of career as well as art. Students audition for the BFA in Performance in the second semester of their sophomore year.
Acceptance into the program is based on a GPA of 2.5, an audition that demonstrates marked abilities in performance, and an interview that demonstrates commitment to rigorous study and a professional attitude. Student progress in the option is based on talent, potential, and growth.
Our New York Showcase programs give seniors in this and the Music Theatre option an opportunity to audition for casting agents, graduate schools, and industry professionals.
The Theatre Studies Bachelor of Arts option is designed for students wishing to pursue careers in acting, directing and/or stage management.
In addition to two levels of directing classes, students have the opportunity to apply for a directing slot in the lab theatre, which is an important part of our main season.
Directors are expected to gain experience as stage managers and/or dramaturges in the mainstage season.
Directors take a wide range of classes in dramatic literature, text analysis, and theatre history. They may take electives in acting and design to further their experience in all aspects of theatre.
Professional theatre requires production personnel with both general and specialist knowledge and understanding. UND's Stage Management students acquire a good general grounding in all aspects of theatre production. They develop skills in time management, resource management, budgeting and scheduling, and work closely with students of all other theatre disciplines to develop an overall understanding of performance and theatre production.
Recent students have been hired as stage management interns in summer theatre programs as undergraduates and have gone on to earn advanced MFA degrees in directing or stage management.
For more information, contact Professor Emily Cherry