Oh, the Drama!

Past, present, and future… After diving deep into the eight unique disciplines that make up the David Geffen School of Drama, this final episode brings them all together to look to the next hundred years. What are the greatest challenges facing the Geffen School and the arts community writ large, and what is there to be hopeful about? This episode features a roundtable conversation between former...

Behind the glitz and glamor, the craft of acting requires intense vulnerability and connection. The embarrassment of an audition, the humiliation of clown class, the yielding to a character’s emotional landscape… actors fight through it all to get to the heart of human experience. Actors like HBO’s The Pitt star Patrick Ball, four-time Oscar-winner Frances McDormand, and Tony-nominated Juliana Can...

Critics can get a bad rap amongst artists. But imagine having a critic with savvy research skills and extensive knowledge of theater history at your side throughout production to help make your show the best it can be. Learn how Oscar-winning actor Frances McDormand, HBO showrunner Rolin Jones, and Bad Robot Productions executive Rachel Rusch Rich have each been influenced by dramaturgs, and how d...

Ideas are one thing. Reality is another.  It takes tools, materials, and feats of engineering for clever people to translate those ideas into 3D reality on stage. TD&P students confront ever-changing technologies and unchanging laws of physics. They translate artistic concepts into tangible production elements, keeping teams safe onstage and backstage as they do. *** This episode features Sham...

Sets. Lighting. Costumes. Sound. Projections. Designers create everything you see and everything you hear at the theater. What goes into bringing impossible worlds to life on stage? And what happens when there is no stage? *** This episode features Oana Botez (Faculty), Jill BC Du Boff (Faculty), Wendall K. Harrington (Faculty), Riccardo Hernández (‘92), Donald Holder (‘86, Faculty), Camilla Tassi...

The show must go on! Or must it…? After the director and the designers all leave and the house lights go down, the theater is the stage manager’s domain. They’re an air traffic controller and flight attendant in one. And without them, a production can quickly go south. When glass shatters on stage, when the stage floor must stay a spotless white night after night, when the director is re-blocking...

What makes a good director? Bringing a play to life from the page to the stage is the spiritual work of a lifetime. Follow Yale directors as they unearth life in a text, inspire and guide actors’ performances, and translate visions from imagination to reality. Plus, hear the story of a subversive take on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew starring a young Lupita Nyong'o (‘12).  *** This episode...

Art shapes culture, so theater managers are often at the forefront of change. That’s because the business of theater is the business of people, from the cast and crew to the audience. At DGSD, students craft AI policy, uphold institutional promises of anti-racism, and shape the theater landscape. In this episode, Carmen Morgan gets a call from Dean James Bundy. DGSD was about to change. *** This e...

A good script  is powerful: it can change hearts and open minds. The secret? Playwriting is a team sport. Learn how Yale playwrights like Sarah Ruhl, Marcus Gardley, and Interview with a Vampire showrunner Rolin Jones use workshopping and collaboration to sharpen their scripts and hone their artistic voices. *** This episode features Emily Breeze (‘26), Marcus Gardley (‘04, Faculty), Rolin Jones (...

Change is a constant at Yale's David Geffen School of Drama. Legendary leaders, restless students, and a midnight meeting that led to the birth of Yale Repertory Theatre - this is the story of how DGSD became what it is, as told by actor Courtney B. Vance ('86). *** This episode features James Magruder ('88, D.F.A. '92), Catherine Sheehy ('92, D.F.A. '99), and Irene Lewis (...

Celebrate 100 years on stage with an original ten-part podcast from David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. Host Courtney B. Vance ('86) takes you behind the curtain, exploring how the Geffen School has trained a century of artists across theatrical disciplines. Hear sensational student stories, learn from Geffen School faculty, and listen to award-winning alumni reminisce on Oh, the Drama! The...