The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting is a pre-professional degree in acting with an emphasis on developing the skills necessary for the working artist of the theater.

The theater visionary Constantin Stanislavski wrote,” Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art.”  And that’s what the B.F.A. in Acting at Nazareth College will helps students develop – their own place as performers in the larger world of theater and art. A hall mark of our acting program is its small size and our ability to nurture each performance major individually.  It’s an immersion experience that begins bright and early for freshmen with classes in dance technique, acting, script analysis, behind the scenes lab work, and a freshmen showcase. 

Course progression in our acting major is carefully crafted as students develop skills in courses like improvisation, stage dialects, stage combat, and camera performance.  But the real test of training is in auditions and on the stage in front of an audience.  Our laboratory season includes two musicals and two plays each year on our beautiful recently renovated large Callahan Stage and in Studio 48 an intimate black box theatre.  Freshmen are cast as early as their spring semester.

Equal attention is paid to the written word with courses in play writing, text analysis, theatre history and drama. The rigorous Nazareth liberal arts core provides methodologies for studying and understanding the ever changing world that theatre grows out of and responds to.

Program Highlights

• Period plays presented yearly
• Shakespeare studies throughout curriculum
• Opportunities to compete at the American College Theatre Festival
• Annual All Student Production
• Yearly Student Directing One Acts
• Experience in all areas of production from construction your own costume to running the cables for lighting instruments to leading the set changes during performances.
• Formal auditions each semester to hone your technique
• Seasons selected in order to provide every student with solid opportunities on and back stage
• Free tickets to the entire Nazareth College Arts Center season