Casting and Season Selection

Policy Statement

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The following policy statements are based on the premise that the FAU Department of Theatre and Dance strives to fulfill the following departmental mission and values statement:

Mission

The mission of the Department of Theatre and Dance is to produce innovative artists and scholars through a pursuit of academic and creative excellence.

Values

The Department of Theatre and Dance values:

  • Engaging in the highest quality of professional training
  • Providing an experiential approach to the collaborative nature of theatre and dance
  • Integrating production experience with a scholarly understanding of theatre and dance as artistic forms
  • Encouraging innovative exploration through classic and contemporary methodologies in theatre and dance
  • Developing excellence in research and creative expression in the classroom and production process
  • Encouraging and celebrating diversity in our community
  • Providing active leadership in the contribution to South Florida culture
  • Engaging with our various campus and regional communities

As such, the Department of Theatre and Dance adheres to the following policies:

Casting

When casting the department productions and with a commitment to providing equal opportunity to all students, the following criteria are considered:

  • The pedagogical needs of the students especially those of the MFA (primarily) and BFA (secondarily) degree programs
  • The quality of the audition given especially with regards to the student’s demonstrated preparedness and connection with the material performed
  • The skillset and talent of the student as demonstrated in the audition
  • The student’s preparedness to function effectively within an ensemble and meet the demands of the individual production as demonstrated in the audition
  • The student’s demonstrated commitment to the department and to their own degree program
  • The student’s availability and ability to meet the rehearsal and performance demands of the production
  • The student’s demonstrated professionalism throughout their tenure at the university

Season Selection

When selecting productions, department faculty and key staff consider the following criteria:

  • Mirroring the curricular progression of the MFA performance degree program especially with regards to the acting classes and the material covered therein in the following sequence: American Realism, Modern Realism, Classical (Elizabethan, Jacobean, Restoration), Anti-Realism/Post-Modernism
  • The pedagogical needs of the students especially those of the MFA (primarily) and the BFA (secondarily) degree programs
  • The size and scope of cast as called for in the script with primary importance placed on serving as large a constituency of departmental students as possible
  • Recognizing the gender imbalance that exists in theatre and promoting plays that offer adequate performance opportunities for all genders.
  • Providing equal participation opportunities to all departmental students
  • Tending to the fiscal responsibilities and technical capabilities of the department
  • The period and genre of a play so as to provide the students with as varied a performance experience as possible; mirroring the variety of material students are likely to encounter in the professional arena
  • Providing students and audience with thought-provoking, artistically engaging, creatively satisfying performance experiences
  • Providing an entertaining experience for our South Florida community