Acting
ACTING
Revealing deep human truths in front of an audience is an act of courage, provocation, compassion, delight. It is a complex, passionate, and sophisticated act that requires rigorous training and education. The award-winning faculty of working professionals in the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of Winnipeg are preeminent in Manitoba for providing that kind of training.
Go to any theatre in Winnipeg, or watch any film or TV production shot in the province, and you’ll see the exceptional work of our acting graduates. For many of our acting students, what starts as an interest turns into a calling as they move through the challenging performance curriculum at the University of Winnipeg.
Our program of acting training emphasizes spontaneity, present-ness, and physical and vocal courage as well as discipline, technique, intellectual development, social context, and professionalism. We offer courses in acting technique, physical and vocal training, a vast range of performance styles, devising original theatrical creations, stage combat, and classical acting. For those who continue into the Honours Acting concentration, the rigour of the training intensifies and includes three public productions.
For those who just want to pick up an acting class or two, many students at UWinnipeg opt to take one or more acting courses as part of a degree outside the Theatre/Film Department. We welcome and encourage this! To learn more, click HERE.
As students who choose to major in Theatre and Film progress through the levels of acting courses at UWinnipeg, the classes become smaller and the instruction more intense. There are 25 students in the Intro to Performance classes and only 20 students in the second-year Acting Theory and Practice classes. The senior classes generally have caps between 12 and 16 students. This allows for very personalized, individual instruction by the professors and teaching assistants; in fact, one of the things we are most noted for at the University of Winnipeg is our small class sizes.
Below you will find details for a General BA in Acting and if you scroll further, you'll find details for the BA Honours.
Program of Study for the General BA
This degree is for those with an interest in, or a passion for acting who are looking to expand their minds and skills but who aren’t necessarily considering a career in theatre. The confidence and public speaking skills and critical and artistic awareness developed in our courses position our BA graduates to be teachers, administrators, entrepreneurs, agents, public servants, lawyers, and even ministers!
You begin your acting training with THFM 1001(6) Introduction to Theatre: Performance. This is a prerequisite course for all upper-level acting courses. In any given year there are as many as six sections of this course, admitting a maximum of 25 students each. (We also accept THFM 1002(6) Introduction to Theatre: General as a prerequisite for upper-level acting courses should you be unable to get into the Intro Acting course - though this is unlikely; and THFM 1003(6) Introduction to Theatre: Indigenous Performance.)
In second year you take THFM 2101(6) Acting Theory and Practice, and can augment that course with a wide variety other departmental offerings. After second year you decide whether or not to complete a Major or Honours degree. If you do the major, in third year you take THFM 3101(6) Acting III: General or THFM 3110(6) Screen Acting or THFM 3920(6) Musical Theatre.
In addition to the core acting courses which are required, there is a plethora of choice for our students: voice and speech skills, principles of physical training for the actor, embodiment, stage combat, and mime and improvisation, as well as a variety of support courses (make-up, design, production, etc.) and special studies courses (yes, it is possible for senior students to study, for example, Japanese theatre here as a tutorial, i.e. on a one-to-one basis with the professor!). We also teach extensively in theory with such required courses as Play Analysis, Theatre History, and Canadian Drama, and options ranging from indigenous and gender studies to aesthetics and advanced theory of acting.
Here are the course requirements for the General BA
Compulsory sequence:
ONE OF:
THFM-1001(6) Introduction to Theatre: Performance
or THFM-1002(6) Introduction to Theatre: General
or THFM-1003(6) Introduction to Theatre: Indigenous Performance
AND
THFM-2101(6) Acting Theory and Practice
AND at least ONE of the following:
THFM-3101(6) Acting III General
THFM-3110(6) Screen Acting
THFM-3920(6) Musical Theatre
THFM-4131(8) Acting III: Honours
THFM-4133(6) Devised Theatre
Required but not in any particular order or year:
THFM/ENGL-2703(3) Play Analysis
AND a minimum of 3 credit hours from the Dramatic Studies Group
Recommended (in no particular order of preference):
THFM-2502(6) Voice and Speech Skills for Presentation and Performance
THFM-2505(3) Principles of Physical Training for the Actor
THFM-2603(3) Make-up: Theory and Practice
A first-year English course
Program of Study for the BA Honours
While we consider the Honours Acting concentration to be a pre-professional program (in other words, normally students would go on to a professional theatre school for further actor training after graduation), more and more of our students leave the program and successfully enter the profession. Our graduates are known for their skill, commitment, and professionalism – all essential attributes of the successful actor.
If you opt for and are qualified to take Honours, there is an intensive audition process at the end of second year (usually towards the end of April). From the group who auditions we select approximately 12 students to move forward with the most intensive acting training available in Manitoba.
In the first year of Honours Acting you take THFM-4131(8) Acting III: Honours which includes one public production, plus intensive voice training in THFM-4137(4) Advanced Voice I, plus with THFM-3105(6) Advanced Movement I. This is followed by at least 6 additional credit hours in fourth year which is usually THFM-4141(8) Acting IV: Honours and includes two public productions, further voice training in THFM-4138(4) Advanced Voice II, along with THFM 3106(6) Advanced Movement II.
Senior acting students also have an opportunity to take advanced courses such as devised theatre or directing courses and can get credit for assistant directing our own shows or those with our community partners.
Here are the course requirements for the BA Hons
Compulsory sequence:
THFM-1001(6) Introduction to Theatre: Performance
or THFM-1002(6) Introduction to Theatre: General
or THFM-1003(6) Introduction to Theatre: Indigenous Performance
AND
THFM-2101(6) Acting Theory and Practice
THFM-4131(8) Acting III: Honours
Required but not in any particular order or year:
THFM/ENGL-2703(3) Play Analysis
AND a minimum of 3 credit hours from the Dramatic Studies Group
THFM-4441(3) Theatre Aesthetics OR a minimum of 3 credit hours in any Honours-level course in dramaturgy
6 or 9 additional credit hours in Theatre at the 3000 level (depending on the choice of required course from the Dramatic Studies Group)
6 additional credit hours in Theatre at the 4000 level
Recommended (in no particular order of preference):
THFM-2502(6) Voice and Speech Skills for Presentation and Performance
THFM-2505(3) Principles of Physical Training for the Actor
THFM-2603(3) Make-Up Theory and Practice
THFM-2801(6) Theatrical Production I
THFM-3110(6) Screen Acting
THFM-4141(8) Acting IV: Honours – Style and Genre OR THFM-4145(6) Acting IV: Honours – Contemporary Performance
A first-year English course
Students in a 3-Year General BA program can take a maximum of 48 credit hours in their major subject.
Students in an a BA Honours program can take a maximum of 78 credit hours in their major subject.
(In both cases, students must take a minimum of 42 hours outside their major subject.)
Consult the Calendar or WebAdvisor for more detailed course descriptions and regulations.
We strongly recommend that you arrange an appointment with the Department's Student Advisor early on to discuss your program (204-786-9955).