California Institute of the Arts

Dedicated to the development of new voices and new forms, CalArts is one of the preeminent theater training grounds in the country, designed to educate the whole person and to prepare fully equipped theater artists to transform the field. The School of Theater offers students an educational experience that is experimental, interdisciplinary, international, and diverse. Each unique Program gives students the flexibility, skills, and critical thinking tools to navigate a rapidly changing field and to pursue their professional goals with maximum agency. Our educational mission is to forge a community of citizen artists who are rigorously trained in their respective métiers and who are able to work effectively and innovatively across a broad spectrum of artistic settings, media, and technologies. As the School is based in Los Angeles, the epicenter of film and media production, the training gives considerable attention to students having the versatility to succeed in a variety of arenas. Theater students are especially encouraged to build professional experiences and relationships while in school, mining every opportunity for them to create effective careers after graduation. The CalArts Center for New Performance, the Institute’s professional producing arm, embodies the School’s firm commitment to open exactly such possibilities for talented, ambitious students.

Program Areas

Performance

• Acting BFA/MFA
• Directing MFA

Experience Design and Production

• Experience Design and Production BFA
• Applied Arts MFA
• Costume Design MFA
• Interactive Media for Performance MFA
• Lighting Design MFA
• Producing MFA
• Production Management MFA
• Scene Design MFA
• Sound Design MFA
• Stage Management MFA
• Technical Direction MFA