Theatre - Letter to Acting Students

Dear Actors,

First and foremost, I hope this letter finds you all well. As you know, we’ve been working out the details of how to move forward with your education during this COVID-19 crisis. We recognize the particular issues this poses to the Acting Concentration, which is perhaps of all the Theatre Concentrations the most compromised by these challenging times. To this end, we have reconfigured your time at Columbia along the lines that you have proposed to us. 

For the class of 2020, this means participating in a virtual Alumni Actor’s Showcase this fall; for the Class of 2021, it means moving the production elements of your Research Arts year to 2021/22; and for the Class of 2022, it means working with your faculty via Zoom in 2020/21, resuming the traditional second year of training in 2021/22, and completing your third-year production-related work in 2022/23. This is, in a nutshell, what we are prepared to do. With these broad strokes in place, let’s walk through the specific changes on a class by class basis, beginning with:

CLASS OF 2020

James is in the midst of solidifying a streaming version of the Showcase. We have enlisted videographer Adam Elder and director Cynthia Silver to help produce it. As James has informed you, this is the way most of the major MFA Acting programs are presenting their Showcase, and he is very excited by the work of Adam and Cynthia.  Pre-production planning is underway, filming begins July 27th and will continue through August 24th.  It is expected that the Showcase will be ready to stream this September. James is providing participants with a more detailed production schedule.

CLASS OF 2021

In 2020/2021 you will work with your faculty via Zoom. A specific schedule of Zoom sessions will be available later this month. Your thesis production, the Actor’s Showcase, Young Company, and Proof of Concept, will be held in 2021-22, during a Thesis Completion year, as safety and production conditions and protocols allow. The calendar and sequence of these production elements will be worked out in consultation with the Acting faculty and our production staff. 

CLASS OF 2022

In 2020/21 your training will be conducted via Zoom and will constitute your Research Arts year. This will keep you in shape and prepare you for your second year of training and productions, which will be scheduled for the 2021-22 academic year. Thus, your thesis production, Actor’s Showcase, Young Company, and Proof of Concept will be held in 2022-23, which will constitute your Thesis Completion year.

Thesis Completion status is a special status created for students whose thesis level productions were interrupted or delayed due to COVID-19; it grants students full-time status with access to thesis advisement and production resources. The details of Thesis Completion registration, provided by the Dean’s Office, are as follows:

• Tuition and the thesis fee will be waived. University-wide fees cannot be waived. 
• As with any other registration, to be eligible to register for Thesis Completion, a student cannot have a balance of over $999.99, as such balances result in the placement of a registration hold by the University’s Office of Student Financial Services.
• Students must be registered continuously until graduation (students who have withdrawn from the program are not eligible to re-enroll for Thesis Completion status).
• The University requirement to maintain health insurance cannot be waived. Students who wish to request a waiver from being enrolled in health insurance through the University must do so through Columbia Health. Waivers require proof of comparable insurance.
• With full-time status, US citizens and permanent residents will be eligible for federal loans
• Students will not be eligible for service or instructional (Teaching Assistant or Teaching Fellow) positions. 
• Students will remain eligible to apply for casual positions at the University as usual.

In Conclusion

Again, I would like to thank you all for your input into these plans, which has been invaluable.  I would also like to acknowledge how much we all appreciate your grace and patience as we worked together to make this happen. Please direct whatever questions you have regarding the curriculum and production related work to James or me. Questions regarding Research Arts or Thesis Completion registration, fees or status should be directed to the Office of Student Affairs at [email protected].  

I hope you will be able to use these remaining weeks of the summer to rest and prepare yourself for the work ahead.  I, for one, am very proud of this plan that we have forged together, and think this is a very realistic way for the Acting Concentration to move forward in these challenging times.  I look forward to seeing you all both on Zoom and eventually back in the rehearsal room and on the stage where you all belong.

Sending you my very best,

Brian