Directing - Artist Diploma
Directing at Folkwang - Creating worlds!
The directing course at the Folkwang University of the Arts comprises a well-founded training in theater directing that is oriented towards current events and the personality of the individual student. The Folkwang University of the Arts with its variety of artistic degree programs provides the framework. In this environment and in the natural cooperation with the other arts, the directing students develop an open concept of art.
The directing course is open to all talented individuals. We have been open to inclusion for several years, both in teaching and in projects, collaborations and in our natural engagement with inclusive theater. We welcome guest students with disabilities and expressly encourage people with disabilities to apply to study directing.
The directing course is guided by a value-based code of conduct.
The directing class consists of eight students - two new students are accepted each year. Students study both individually, in pairs, and as a whole class. In the four standard years of study, students learn the central aspects of the complex profession. The course is structured both practically and theoretically.
"Directing at Folkwang" stands for an in-depth examination of acting as the basis for directing: in the first year, directing students complete the basic acting course. From the second year onwards, students concentrate on their future profession as directors.
The understanding and precise comprehension of text as material for a production is another central component of the course. In addition, students learn skills in the areas of actor management and communication, space and stage design, body awareness, costume design, literature, dramaturgy, theater forms and theater theory, theater history, aesthetics, project acquisition and speech training.
The directing students at Folkwang regularly work together with students from the drama department. At the end of each semester, an internal directing project takes place for the directing students. There is also regular collaboration with students from physical theater, musical theater and opera. From the 3rd year onwards, directing students work on external projects outside the university. The final year of study is dedicated to the transition into the profession. The students realize their first fully-fledged production and are supported in their individual applications.
Almost without exception, our graduates gain a foothold as directors in the theater scene and are able to establish themselves successfully. Some work in related professions: as dramaturges, script writers or performers.
The directing course at Folkwang is aimed at young theater people with a burning interest in the world around them. A willingness to engage in the profound personal and aesthetic processes that artistic studies entail is essential. It is desirable that applicants have already had previous experience with theater.