A course in dramatic arts will help an individual gain expertise in the art of writing and producing plays. Read your way through this article to know what it takes for a career in dramatic arts.

Dramatic Arts Courses

“You need three things in the theater - the play, the actors and the audience, - and each must give something”, said Kenneth Haigh, an English actor. If you are a patron of the ‘dramatic arts’, you probably would agree with what Kenneth Haigh had to say about the same. Dramatic art is to drama/plays what a script and the actors are to a movie, but drama and cinema are two different things altogether. Drama basically is the performance of a particular turn of events, fictional or non-fictional. Dramatic arts are concerned with the enactment of drama in theaters (not to be confused with cinemas) with the assistance of actors on a stage and before an audience. Here, all efforts towards production climax during the course of the drama while members of the audience serve as witnesses to what’s unfolding on stage. If you have always been interested in dramatic arts, then a course in dramatic arts is what will help you chase down your dreams. Go ahead and read on to know what it takes to be eligible for a course in dramatic arts, its career prospects and the institutes offering courses in dramatic arts.
 
Career In Dramatic Arts
 
Eligibility
At present there are numerous institutes offering courses in dramatic arts. Courses in dramatic arts vary in terms of their durations. There are courses that extend to little over a few days, few weeks and even a few months. Then there are courses that can stretch on for three to four years. As far as eligibility to these courses goes, it is almost a must for a student to be done with his/her 10 + 2 or an equivalent. There are a number of institutes that offer undergraduate courses in dramatic arts, but institutes like these are a rarity in India. A student to get into these institutes should possess the necessary educational qualifications and pass an interview which really is an audition of sorts. There are also institutes that offer postgraduate courses in dramatic arts. In order to be eligible for one of these courses, an individual will have to be done with an undergraduate degree and will also have to pass a series of interview and auditions. It is also possible for students to do a PhD in dramatic arts.

Course Details
A course in dramatic arts will attempt to familiarize students with what drama really is. A student possessing a burning desire to make it big in theater by means of a course in dramatic arts will get to understand the various ingredients that go into making a drama a possibility. Courses in dramatic arts will comprise of lessons in acting, voice modulation, speech, music, on-stage movements, theater techniques and design. Courses will throw light on the history of theater, theater architecture, aesthetics and the overall production process. A course taken up in an institute of repute will also give students ample opportunities to showcase their talents or ‘strut their stuff’.

Specialization
A student who has taken up a course in dramatic arts can look to specialize in either of the following ‘branches’:

  • Direction
  • Acting
  • Production
  • Playwriting     

Career Prospects
Although a career in dramatic arts is an unconventional one, it still comes with its advantages. For a student with talent, expertise and experience in dramatic arts, the chances of making more than just a decent living are as high as the skies. All a student or individual needs to succeed in dramatic arts is a generous dose of natural talent and great networking skills. The chances of breaking out into a successful career as a ‘movie star’ cannot be ruled out too.

Some Of The Institutes Offering Courses In Dramatic Arts 

  • Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), Bloomsbury, London, United Kingdom
  • The Juilliard School, New York, United States of America
  • Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, United States of America
  • National School of Drama, Delhi, India
  • Boston University/College of Fine Arts, United States of America
  • Tisch School of the Arts, New York, United States of America


More in Career Options

Top