SchauspielFolkwang Universität der Künste

The study program aims to train actors who, through their personal development and acquired skills, are capable of independently meeting the acting, physical, and vocal-speech demands of the theater profession, film, television, and media work. The goal is to develop artist personalities who are playful, curious, and team-oriented, possessing the ability to develop their own stance on a character and a topic. Students will be empowered to confidently and competently engage with other art forms and navigate new fields of work. The broad-based training in traditional theater forms and in film, television, radio, as well as in performing arts, takes into account the changing theater and cultural landscape.

In the first year of study, interdisciplinary teaching on the Essen campus with the study programs Schauspiel, Regie, Physical Theatre, and Musical fosters early connections with other study programs, their students, and lecturers. These experiences with different forms of expression from the initial phase carry through the entire course of study and form the foundation for later projects. Graduates of the Schauspiel program remain active in the profession for many years, win awards, and have been recognized multiple times at the Schauspielschultreffen.

From the second year of study, the training takes place primarily in the new Folkwang Theaterzentrum on the Bochum campus. In addition to intensive deepening of the craft through individual and group instruction, the study continues to be characterized by mentored projects and independent student work with students from the Regie and Physical Theatre programs.

The unique combination of the three study programs (Schauspiel, Regie, and Physical Theatre) creates a theater education with its own "Folkwang signature" that is pioneering for its graduates. In line with the Folkwang idea of cross-genre collaboration of the arts, students can present their interdisciplinary projects in the new Folkwang Theaterzentrum and research artistic/scenic forms of expression. The Folkwang Theaterzentrum is intended not only to provide a platform for students of Schauspiel, Regie, and Physical Theatre but also to invite encounters and artistic engagement with other study programs at the Folkwang University of the Arts.

Through close collaboration with long-standing cooperation partners, students gain opportunities to gather new experiences through encounters, discussions, and joint productions. For several years, Folkwang University of the Arts has had a partnership with the Drama Academy Ramallah. The traditional Shakespeare Festival, involving international institutions and universities from the Palestinian territories, the Czech Republic, Israel, Uzbekistan, the Netherlands, Romania, Great Britain, China, the USA, Poland, and Australia, creates a platform to encounter diverse theater forms and different approaches. Regular film projects are created with students from the FH Dortmund. Close cooperation with the Schauspielhaus Bochum allows students to experience the transition into professional practice with their own theater productions.

In the new Folkwang Theaterzentrum in Bochum, the various study programs present their project work and studio productions to the public in a regularly scheduled program, gaining valuable stage experience. The Theaterzentrum also strengthens the Folkwang Campus Bochum. Through concerts, performances, exhibitions, and presentations, it offers insights into the diverse arts such as theater, music, dance, design, and science that Folkwang unites under its roof. With the well-known concert hall (formerly Thürmersaal) and the newly built studio stage – the Black Box – two performance venues with a total audience capacity of 570 people are available.