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Acting

Photos by Dahlia Katz

Acting


Training talented actors as the changemakers of the future.

As a student in Acting at The Creative School, one of Canada’s premier acting conservatory programs, you'll train alongside other talented actors from diverse backgrounds. We'll help you identify and develop your unique strengths and talents, and empower you to become your best self as an actor, artist and human. Through studio classes, live productions, and industry collaborations, you'll become a versatile and skilled performer. By studying in Toronto, a North American hot spot for theatre, television, and film production, you'll make connections and start building your professional network from day one.

  

Degree Earned

Bachelor of Fine Arts

Program Format

Full time / 4 years


  

Program Highlights

Build a robust set of performance skills, including: theatrical acting, performance creation, film acting, movement, voice, motion capture, and more.

Make professional connections by working with nationally-acclaimed guest directors and professional companies.

Learn about the business side of performance in lessons covering contracts, consent practices, unions, and agents.

Perform live in both original and contemporary productions.

  

Courses & Curriculum

In the first and second year of the program, students are introduced to the foundational concepts of theatre performance through movement, voice, intimacy training, stage combat training, scene study, and rehearsal projects. Students expand their understanding of the craft of acting by bringing their own unique artistry to the work and by thinking critically about the practice of performance. Celebrating the voice of each student is central to our training.

In the third and fourth year, students integrate their studio work by taking on roles in live performances for the public. They are also introduced to on-camera acting for film and television, motion capture, and voice-over training to expand their notions of performance. The opportunity to bridge to the profession is given by working with professional companies and by learning about the business of performance through professionally-related electives. For example, they can choose to focus on entrepreneurship to learn more about marketing, promotion, and new venture startups. Electives are also available in performance history, performance theory, Black creative expression, musical theatre, and more.

Required Courses

  • THF 120 Music I: Introduction
  • THF 121 Music I: Advanced Introduction
  • THF 111 Creative Performance Studies I
  • THF 112 Creative Performance Studies II
  • THF 100 Anatomy of Movement and Lifestyle I
  • THF 101 Elements of Production I
  • THF 200 Timelines of Performance History I
  • THF 201 Timelines of Performance History II

Liberal Studies

Required Group 1

Two courses from the following, based on student's program:

  • THA 100 Fundamentals of Tech I: Acting
  • THA 101 Fundamentals of Tech II: Acting

Required Courses

  • FPN 200 The Moving Image in Performance I
  • THF 230 Music II: Introduction to Singing
  • THF 231 Music II: Intermediate Singing
  • THF 221 Creative Performance Studies III
  • THF 222 Creative Performance Studies IV

Liberal Studies

Professionally-Related

Required Group 1

Three courses from the following:

  • THA 200* Intermediary Tech I: Acting
  • THA 201* Intermediary Tech II: Acting
  • THF 403 Landmarks in Canadian Theatre

Required Courses

  • THF 331 Creative Performance Studies V
  • THF 332 Creative Performance Studies VI
  • THP 500 Conceiving the Production

Liberal Studies

Professional

Professionally-Related

Required Group 1

Three courses from the following:

  • THD 300 Performance Tech I: Dance
  • THD 301 Performance Tech II: Dance

Required Courses

  • THF 400 Creative Performance Studies VII
  • THF 401 Independent Study Seminars

Liberal Studies

Professional

Professionally-Related

Required Group 1

Two courses from the following:

  • THA 400 Adv Performance Tech I: Acting
  • THA 401 Adv Performance Tech II: Acting

  

Admission Requirements

Academic

Academic Requirements

Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or equivalent with a minimum of six Grade 12 U or M courses including the following program specific requirements.

Typically, a minimum overall average of 70% establishes eligibility for admission consideration; subject to competition individual programs may require higher prerequisite grades and/or higher overall averages:

  • English/anglais (ENG 4U/EAE 4U preferred).
  • The minimum grade required in the subject prerequisite (normally in the 65-70% range) will be determined subject to competition.

Academic admission requirements for all other applicants are available at:
Admission Requirements.

Non-Academic

Submit a recent 8x10 photograph of yourself.

 Please save the image as a .pdf file and upload it per the submission instructions below.

Toronto Metropolitan University’s audition panel uses your personal statement to learn more about you as an individual and gain a sense of who you are beyond your application, transcript, and audition.

Please describe your artistic goals and why you have decided to become an actor. We are not asking for an academic essay, rather we are asking you to frankly share the heart of who you are and your creative ambitions in this personal statement. We encourage you to write about your relationship to performance and why you think it’s necessary to perform in today’s world. Consider pointing towards your passion for people, community, politics, different forms of art, or anything that is of great importance to you. We want to see YOU in your writing.

Your statement should be 400 words, typed and in English. It must be your own original work.

 Please save your personal statement as a .pdf file.

Stage 1: Online Audition

Use YouTube or Vimeo to show us your work. Please provide a link to your work in a .pdf file and upload this file (see Submission Instructions below). Ensure the link does not expire. Make the link public or be sure to include the password in your .pdf file. Confirm that your link works. Your application will not be considered if the link you provide does not work.

You are to include Speech A and Speech B (see below) in one video. Introduce each speech with your full name, pronouns if it is safe for you to do so, age, and the name of the high school or last program you attended. Include the name of the play the speech is from, the writer of the speech, and the name of the character you are playing (if applicable).

  • Background: If possible, choose a wide-open space that you can move around in for your speech. Some people find a neutral background useful.
  • Lighting: Try to ensure that you are lit in such a manner to avoid stark contrast and dark shadows. 
  • Sound: Please check your digital recording to make sure that you can be heard.
  • Size of shot: Use a full shot for your poetic speech and full or medium shot for your contemporary speech. Please refrain from using close-up shots. 
  • Length: Your video should be no longer than five minutes. The panel may stop watching if your recording exceeds this time. 

We encourage you to use the full capacity of your body and to move freely within the architecture of your space when making your digital recordings.

Speech A – Poetic Monologue (approximately 2 minutes)

The audition piece should be in poetic form using heightened language. This is a piece in which words are chosen for their sound and suggestive power as opposed to a naturalistic speech. While it need not be originally written in English, we ask that you perform an English translation for your poetic monologue. There is no boundary in time period, culture, or form (as long as it’s poetic) in which you choose this speech from. For example, Shakespeare, Tang Zianzu, Kate Tempest, Aleshea Harris, The Mahabharata, Suzan-Lori Parks, and Joseph A. Dandurand are all appropriate choices.

Speech B – Contemporary Monologue (approximately 2 minutes)

The contemporary piece should provide a clear contrast to your poetic piece. It ideally uses naturalistic speech and was written after 1960.

Speech C - Alternative Contemporary Speech (approximately 2 minutes)

We request that you have an alternative contemporary speech prepared for Stage 3. You may or may not be asked to share this alternative speech.

 The same parameters of Speech B apply.

 Stage 2: Call-Back Audition

Only select applicants will receive an invitation (by email) to participate in a call-back audition. 

The call-back will occur on campus with the audition panel. For those who live out of province, arrangements can be made for the call-back to occur on Google Meet or Zoom. Further details will be provided in an invitation.

You will be asked to repeat Speech A and Speech B. 

You will also be required to sing a short unaccompanied song (one chorus only). 

There may be a short interview component of the call-back, where we try to learn more about you beyond what you shared in your speeches and personal statement.

 Final Stage: Workshop Day

Candidates who are successful in Stage 2, will be invited to participate in an in-person workshop weekend with other applicants to the program.

There will be two Final Workshop dates for two different callback groups:

  • Saturday, April 1, 2023 from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
  • Saturday, April 15, 2023 from 10 a.m. - 5p.m.

The workshop will utilize Speech B from earlier rounds. We may ask to see Speech C. The workshop will include opportunities to get to know other applicants, faculty, and a student from the program. You will work individually, in pairs, in groups, and as an ensemble. Training may include sessions in movement, voice, performance creation, and redirection of your speech. It is our hope that the workshop will be relaxed and fun for all applicants. We want you to have a rewarding experience regardless of the outcome.

The non-academic requirements assessment fee is $50 CDN and must be paid in order for your submission to be reviewed. Here’s how to pay:

  1. Access your ChooseTMU Applicant Portal account (instructions to access the portal can be found below under Submission Instructions).

  2. Click on the button to link to the eForms Centre.

    eForms Centre button highlighted in the applicant portal account
  3. Next, click on the eForms Centre tile.

    eForms Center tile indicated at bottom-left corner of Student Homepage
  4. Then click on the Non-Academic Fee Form link.

    Non-Academic Fee Form indicated on left navigation of eForms Center page

Applicants are required to submit all components of their non-academic requirements via the ChooseTMU Applicant Portal. Due to the volume of applications received and our system performance, we strongly encourage you to submit your documents well in advance of the noted deadlines.

Admission decisions are provided via the ChooseTMU Applicant Portal. The selection committee’s decision on admission is final. Unfortunately re-evaluation/reassessment of the non-academic requirements or individual feedback will not be available. Consider seeking feedback from a teacher or mentor who knows you more deeply than we can in our short time together.

Here’s how to access your ChooseTMU Applicant Portal account:

  1. Get your TMU Student Number in the email acknowledgement of your application
  2. Activate your TMU Online Identity. Fill in the Activation Form on the Accounts website. When asked for your Student/Applicant ID, enter your nine-digit TMU Student Number. Keep a record of your user name and password
  3. 24 hours after activating your TMU Online Identity, visit the ChooseTMU Applicant Portal

Instructions on how to upload documents, as well as common questions and answers, can be found on our Ready to Submit Your Documents? web page.

If you are applying for readmission or reinstatement, you may not be required to submit non-academic requirements. You must inform Undergraduate Admissions of your intentions.

 Contact ServiceHub at 416-979-5036 and ask to speak with the admissions officer by February 1, 2023, or 10 business days from your application submission date (whichever comes later).

  

You belong at
The Creative School

As a Performance student, you'll be part of The Creative School, a dynamic faculty offering 26 degree programs in media, design and creative industries. Through global experiences and transdisciplinary opportunities, our students emerge as some of the most in demand and employable graduates anywhere.

Ready to apply?