History

History of Yale School of Drama

Yale University founded a Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts in 1924 through the generosity of Edward S. Harkness, B.A. 1897. In 1925, while the University Theatre was under construction, the first class of students was enrolled. George Pierce Baker, the foremost teacher of playwriting in America, joined the faculty to serve as the first chairman of the department, and the first Master of Fine Arts in Drama was conferred in 1931.

In 1955, by vote of the Yale Corporation, the department was organized as a separate professional school, Yale School of Drama, offering the degrees of Master of Fine Arts, Doctor of Fine Arts, and Certificate in Drama (for those students who had completed the three-year program without having the normally prerequisite bachelor’s degree).

History of Yale Repertory Theatre

In 1966, under the leadership of Dean Robert Brustein, Yale Repertory Theatre was formed as part of Yale School of Drama, establishing a complementary relationship between conservatory and professional practice.

A hallmark of Robert Brustein’s artistic leadership of Yale Repertory Theatre from 1966 to 1979 was his insistence on a resident company of artists. Brustein’s dream of a permanent repertory company became an inspiration to the emerging field of nonprofit theatre. The model of Brustein’s programming choices, emphasizing the production of new plays and classics of the world theatre in vivid and inventive interpretations, has remained the centerpiece of the work of Yale Repertory Theatre.

During the tenure of Lloyd Richards, dean and artistic director from 1979 to 1991, the theatre increased its emphasis on the production of new plays. Athol Fugard, Lee Blessing, and August Wilson were among the playwrights who premiered their work at Yale Rep during Richards’s leadership. Yale Rep was one of the first resident theatres to regularly transfer serious work to the commercial theatre, developing a model of professional producing that changed the course of new play development in the American theatre.

Stan Wojewodski, Jr., dean and artistic director from 1991 to 2002, was notable for his commitment to the individual artist. Wojewodski made long-term commitments to Suzan-Lori Parks, Len Jenkin, and Ralph Lemon, as well as numerous actors, directors, and performance artists.

James Bundy, appointed dean and artistic director in 2002, emphasizes the production of new works and bold interpretations of the classics that make immediate connections to contemporary audiences. His tenure has included regional, American, and world premieres of plays and translations by Henry Adam, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Kia Corthron, Amy Freed, Marcus Gardley, Kama Ginkas, Rolin Jones, Sunil Kuruvilla, Elizabeth Meriwether, Richard Nelson, Bruce Norris, David Rabe, Sarah Ruhl and August Wilson; as well as the introduction of Will Power!, an educational initiative designed to engage middle- and high-school students from Greater New Haven in the world of Shakespeare and the theatre.

Yale Repertory Theatre has produced nearly 100 world and American premieres, two of which have received the Pulitzer Prize. The theatre has sent ten productions to Broadway earning nine Tony®Awards and 37 Tony® nominations. Yale Repertory Theatre itself received the Tony® for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1991, and it has been recognized for its outstanding contribution to the development of creative talent with the Jujamcyn Theaters Award. In 2002, Yale School of Drama/Yale Repertory Theatre received the Governor’s Arts Award in recognition of its remarkable achievement and contributions to the arts in Connecticut.