Honors in Directing

The Honors in Directing Program provides the opportunity for Drama majors to concentrate on the study and practice of stage direction. Honors in Directing students study basic and advanced directing techniques, participate in the directing studio classes with graduate Directing students and direct two full plays in the Director Class Project series. Honors students also have the opportunity to receive credit as an assistant director to a Drama Department Main Season show or as a production intern with a professional theatre company.

Admission to the Honors in Directing Program is competitive. Candidates must first complete Drama 184 (Directing) and receive instructor approval to enroll in Drama 185 (Advanced Directing). Candidates must apply, as a director, for Drama 198 (Director Class Project) by submitting a proposal to direct a play in the Director Class Project series. If the proposal is accepted, the candidate must declare to the Head of Directing that the production is to be counted as an audition for admission to the Honors in Directing Program. A committee of three Drama faculty members, including the Head of Directing, will then see and evaluate the production for clarity of interpretation, unity of style, strength of acting, and ensemble performance, and will examine the candidate's self-evaluation and the evaluations of the director by members of the cast. The Head of Directing will inform the candidate of the committee's decision as to whether or not the candidate is admitted to the Honors Program.

Undergraduate Drama majors can be admitted into the program as early as the winter quarter of their freshman year but no later than the spring quarter of their junior year.  Students may be admitted to the program retroactively if all the requirements for Directing Honors have been met by their final year, but only if a faculty committee of three has seen their workshops and agrees to admit the candidate.

To achieve the Honors in Directing distinction, students must fulfill all the courses required of the regular Drama major, with an overall GPA of 3.2 or higher. In addition, students must complete the following courses with a GPA of 3.4 or higher:

1.   Drama 184 (Directing).

2.   Two courses in Drama 185 (Advanced Directing). In this course, undergraduate Directing students enroll and participate in a Graduate Directing studio class.

3.   Two Director Class Projects, one of which must be taken as Drama 198 (Drama Workshop) with the candidate serving as director. The candidate must stage a second Director Class Project as Drama 199 (Projects in Theater), for which a letter grade is earned.

4.   Four additional units to be satisfied by any of the following: Drama 199 (as a summer internship, approved by the Head of Directing, with the candidate serving a professional theatre company as director, assistant director, or production assistant); Drama 199 (as an independent Project); Drama 100 (as assistant director to a faculty director); or Drama 199 (as assistant director to a graduate director's thesis production).

Honors candidates meet with the Head of Directing at the beginning of every quarter to evaluate their progress and to check that all grade and course requirements are being satisfied. Successful graduating seniors will receive the "Honors in Directing" notation on their official transcript and will receive a nomination and recommendation for national University/Resident Theatre Association (U/RTA) interviews.

NOTE: All of the above courses are open to all students even though they may not qualify for the Honors Program.

For more information, refer to the Drama section of the UCIrvine General Catalogue or contact Professor Juliette Carrillo, Head of Directing, at juliette.carrillo@uci.edu

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