Dramaturgy and Drama Studies
Dramaturgy and Drama Studies (DDS) integrates creative and scholarly approaches to theatre through a common emphasis on dramaturgy. The DDS program includes courses that examine theatre history, dramatic literature, critical theory, playwriting, devising, and intermedial performance, among others.
Honours Bachelor of Arts
Program Plans
Plan your degree with these academic and co-curricular program overviews.
Tip Sheets
Learn more about further education, applying to jobs & more!
- Stage Actor
- Art Historian
- Screenwriter
- Drama Critic
- Stage Manager
Admission Requirements
Regional Requirements
Admissions RequirementsLife in Dramaturgy and Drama Studies
Buzz Around Campus
University of Toronto Mississauga alumnus George Alevizos wants to ensure actors with disabilities are supported and represented in the Canadian entertainment industry. Alevizos, who uses a wheelchair, is working with the actors’ union ACTRA (the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) to audit the accessibility of casting facilities in Toronto.
Playwright David Yee (HBA, 2000) took notice of the Cecil Hotel before he’d even heard a whisper of its sordid past. When creative research directed Yee to finally take a peek into the lodging’s long history, he found a trail of deaths, disappearances and other eerie happenings stretching from its opening in the 1920s right to the present day.
The University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College are working to ensure students in its Theatre and Drama Studies program can practise their craft in a safe and comfortable way. For its season-opening production of Metamorphoses, UTM’s Theatre Erindale hired an intimacy director to provide guidance on performing in physically intimate scenes in ways that involve respect for personal boundaries. The theatre produced a video on the experience of staging intimacy for the play.
Sample Courses
A survey of the history of theatre in Canada, with particular emphasis on developments since the mid-twentieth century.
An introduction to the techniques of dramaturgical analysis, through the study of a range of texts to which students might be exposed as theatre practitioners and audience members.
A practical introduction to acting and performance, for students with little or no experience.
Other Programs to Consider
English
This program specifically focuses on how literature in English has developed through the centuries, all over the world, and in a rich variety of different forms and modes, from oral recitations to digital media. Students will be introduced to the full range of literary genres and traditions.
Canadian Studies
Canadian Studies explores the Canadian nation, imagination and experience from an interdisciplinary perspective. The courses offered as part of the Major and Minor programs present a wide-ranging and diverse view of Canada from both humanities and social science perspectives, including Anthropology, Communications, Drama, English, Economics, Environment, French, Geography, History, Political Science and Women and Gender Studies.
Art & Art History
Art History offers students an exciting forum for developing critical skills in interpreting visual imagery and understanding the significance of art in a variety of cultures and historical periods, including the contemporary moment. Courses span the history of art from the ancient to the contemporary worlds, and investigate art from Europe.