Design
M.F.A. and Certificate
The purpose of the Design department is to develop theatre artists who are masterful designers in set, costume, lighting, and sound for the theatre. The department encourages its students to discover their own processes of formulating design ideas and to develop a discriminating standard for their own endeavors. Above all, it prepares them for creative and meaningful professional lives in the broad range of theatre activities.
In the belief that theatre is a collaborative art, it is hoped that, through their Yale School of Drama experience, design students discover a true sense of joy in working with other people, especially directors, and realize the excitement of evolving a production through the process of collaboration. Finally, the department seeks to create an atmosphere conducive to creative experimentation, tempered by honest, open criticism and disciplined study.
Theatre is an act of transformation, and for designers it is the transformation of words into visual and musical imagery. Set, costume, and to a certain extent, lighting designers must have the capacity for visual expression, with its foundation set firmly in the ability to draw and sketch clearly and expressively. Drawing is not merely a technique for presentation; it is the language that reveals one’s thoughts and thus creates a dialogue among the director, the designers, and their colleagues. Through drawing, one observes and records one’s world. Drawing informs and clarifies one’s vision and is an integral part of the formulation of a design. Drawing should be as natural to the visual designer as speaking; therefore, to keep their drawing skills honed, all design students are required to take a weekly life drawing class offered by the department.
Students are admitted to the department on the basis of their artistic abilities as shown in their portfolios, as well as their commitment to the theatre and their ability to articulate their ideas.
Each entering class is unique, with the ratio of set to costume to lighting designers varying according to the qualifications of the applicants. Approximately ten students are admitted each year. With two full-time teachers in each design discipline, there is a high faculty to student ratio. The faculty make a strong, personal commitment to each student who is accepted. There is no second-tier status. All students participate at the same level and are expected to complete the program of study.
The student’s training is accomplished through approximately equal parts classroom work and production experience. It is understood that, with certain exceptions, students of visual design will study scenic, costume, and lighting design in all three years. The culmination of this training is the Master Class in Design, taken by all visual design students in their third year, in which a number of unified projects and a thesis project are presented to the combined faculty in the course of two terms.
It is recognized that some students are stronger in some areas than in others, and allowances are made for this fact in production assignments. For the first year, and to a limited extent in the second year, students are assigned to assist a designer without regard to such strengths. When assignments are made as principal designer of one aspect of a production, chiefly in the second and third years, such an assignment usually reflects the student’s strengths and career aspirations.
Preparing a Design Portfolio
The portfolio is the most important part of the application to the Design department. Please adhere closely to these guidelines.
No cds, slides, or videos are accepted as part of the portfolio. All such materials are returned, unreviewed, to the applicant.
Every piece in the portfolio must be marked with the applicant’s name, the name of the play, the date of creation, and whether it was realized in production. The portfolio should be packed with care, using a corrugated board over a flat portfolio, taped on all edges, and bound with strapping tape. Crates and large, cumbersome boxes should be avoided. A handling fee of $15 must be sent with each portfolio to cover the return shipping unless the applicant brings his or her portfolio to an interview and retrieves it in person. Special shipping instructions, if they are required, should be clearly explained in a letter which arrives with the portfolio, and any additional shipping charges over the $15 included. Portfolios are returned after the review process is completed. Please refer to Admissions Guidelines for specific information regarding scheduling an interview.
The portfolio is not an advertisement and should not be “dressed up” to “sell” oneself. Please avoid large mats, acetate covers, busy graphics and other forms of “eyewash.” Such dressing does not make up for weak drawing and design. Also, the added material increases the cost of shipping.
Although the Design department expects students to take courses in all three disciplines – costume, lighting, and scenery – it is not expected that the applicant’s portfolio will be balanced equally among the three. Acostume designer’s portfolio should be mainly costume designs, a lighting designer’s mainly light plots, but it is essential that some work be included which shows that the applicant understands the other areas of design. The portfolio should convey information about the applicant’s ability to express himself or herself visually, and how he or she reacts to musical and dramatic materials. It should include a broad spectrum of work from the last several years. If in doubt about a par ticular item, include it, as an applicant often unwittingly leaves out valuable work. It should also include, if possible, rough preliminary sketches (not computer generated) and sketchbooks, as they show an applicant’s thought process and design journey. Production photos must be accompanied by sketches (originals preferred). A limited amount of non-theatrical work such as graphics or painting (not oils) may be included. Costume sketches should be swatched wherever possible. Photos of scene painting which the applicant has done, or props, masks, or similar items the applicant has built, may be included.
Lighting designers should send four or five plots, showing a range of experience. Each plot should be accompanied by a lighting section and all paperwork (except cue sheets): hook-up, instrument schedule, and magic sheet. Plots sent without hook-up and magic sheet will not be considered. Photos of the set under full light are encouraged. Photos of cues can be submitted as well.
If possible, include a few examples of drafting. Ground plans should accompany each set sketch where possible. Technical (rear) views of scenery are not as useful. Costume designers may include some pattern drafting.
