Break a Leg! Pursue a Career in Drama

The most wonderful aspect about studying drama is the networking opportunities that you get. It might require a lot of discipline & concentrated efforts, but it is equally true that with good practice & skills, you can get ample opportunities to reach your creative peak. This blog talks about how you can pursue a career in drama after 12th in arts stream or any other discipline.

If you think the stage is where you belong, you might want to check out the career options that you have in the field of ‘Drama’. Gone are the days when a career in Drama was looked down upon as something not-so-realistic. Contrary to popular belief, there are plentiful prospects nowadays in the field of drama. So if you are passionate about acting & theatrics, you should not let the naysayers rule off this career for you by claiming it risky or a back-up plan or not-so-practical.

In fact, this is one field where you meet passionate young people every day who are chasing their dreams with utmost determination. There are indeed a lot of option in a career in drama and you just need to find your perfect place either:

• ‘On the stage’ or
• ‘In the classroom’ or
• ‘Behind the curtain’ or
• ‘At the desk’ or
• ‘On the sets’.

It is true to the extent that people wanting to be on the center stage might go through extreme highs & lows that this profession has to show. There might be times with no work and there might be brief intervals where you get totally worked up.

While formal training is not a compulsory requirement to pursue a career in drama, a degree might be a good idea to hone your skills and learn tricks of the trade directly from established artists & professional thespians.

The number of schools providing formal education in drama & performing arts is increasing rapidly with industry experts taking a keen interest in nurturing future actors & trade technicians. In India, directors like SubashGhai& actors like Anupam Kher have opened up their own schools for acting & performing arts.

Indian Institutes offering a degree in Theatre

Institute	Courses	Famous Alumni	City	Website
Film & Television Institute of India	Graduation, Post-graduation	Danny Denzongpa, John Abraham, Jaya Bachchan, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Shabana Azmi, VidhuVinod Chopra	Pune	http://www.ftiindia.com/
National School of Drama	Graduation, Post-graduation	Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Anupam Kher, NawazuddinSiddiqui, Piyush Mishra, Irrfan Khan, Seema Biswas	New Delhi	http://nsd.gov.in/delhi/
Barry John Acting Studio	Certificate, Diploma	Shah Rukh Khan, Manoj Bajpai, Shiney Ahuja, Freida Pinto	Mumbai, New Delhi	http://www.bjas.in/
Actor Prepares	Certificate, Diploma	Prachi Desai, Preity Zinta, Ali Zafar, Varun Dhawan, Deepika Padukone, MugdhaGodse	Mumbai	http://www.actorprepares.net/
Whistling Woods International	Diploma, Graduation	Abhishek Jain, SamvednaSuwalka, NakulSahdev, Anil Mange, AruVerma	Mumbai	http://www.whistlingwoods.net/
Asian Academy of Film and Television	Certificate, Graduation, Post-graduation	Arjun Kapoor, Luv Ranjan, Neha Chauhan, HasleenKaur, Ajay Behl,	Noida	http://aaft.com/
Roshan Taneja School of Acting	Certificate	Karishma Kapoor, KimiKatkar, Kiran Kumar, Kunal Kapoor, Manisha Koirala, Madhuri Dixit, Mithun Chakraborty	Mumbai	http://www.roshantaneja.com/

International Institutes offering a degree in Theatre

Institute	Tuition Fees(£)	Famous Alumni	City, Country	Website
Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts	14,700	Sir Paul McCartney (Patron), Sir Ian McKellen, Alan Rickman	Liverpool, UK	http://www.lipa.ac.uk/
Juilliard School	22,790	Kevin Spacey, Robin Williams, Val Kilmer	New York, US	http://www.juilliard.edu/
National Institute of Dramatic Art	15,610	Cate Blanchett, Mel Gibson, Hugo Weaving	Sydney, Australia	https://www.nida.edu.au/
Guildhall School of Music & Drama	17,850	Ewan McGregor, Daniel Craig, Orlando Bloom	London, UK	http://www.gsmd.ac.uk/
Tisch School of the Arts	27,350	Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alec Baldwin	New York, US	http://tisch.nyu.edu/
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School	18,800	Daniel Day-Lewis, Gene Wilder, Patrick Stewart	Bristol, UK	http://www.oldvic.ac.uk/
The New School for Drama	23,544	Marlon Brando, Jesse Eisenberg, Bradley Cooper	New York, US	http://www.newschool.edu/drama/
Oxford School of Drama	14,925	Catherine McCormack, Christina Cole	Woodstock, UK	http://oxforddrama.ac.uk/
Drama Centre	13,800	Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth	London, UK	http://www.arts.ac.uk/csm/drama-centre-london/
California Institute of the Arts	27,806	Ed Harris, Katey Sagal	California, US	https://calarts.edu/

Skills Required

It is an established fact that this field requires a lot of hard work & steadfastness. The picture below enlists all the required skills that would help you excel in the theatrical world:

Other talents like singing, dancing or playing musical instruments would be of additional value.

Job Opportunities

India houses a staggering array of different forms of performing arts. Just for theatre, there are more than 40,000 companies nationwide including amateur theatre groups, professional repertory, commercial as well as alternative theatres. A lot of these theatre companies are provided with grants & support from the government. You might get into any of these theatre companies as a fresh graduate.

Opportunities in films, TV serials & Ad industries are also open for acting students. With the advent of the internet, YouTube channels have also opened up massive employment opportunities in this field. Indian theatre companies have recently witnessed increased international tie-ups and exposure. This has resulted in a moderate to a sharp increase in the income of these companies and subsequently that of the artists.

As a graduate in drama, you can get into directly related jobs like:

• Actor
• Dancer
• Theatre Director
• Musician
• Community arts worker
• Producer

Or you can get into jobs where your degree would be more useful, like:

• Stage Manager
• Arts Administrator
• Broadcast Presenter
• Lecturer
• Costume Designer
• Sound Technician
• Script Writer
• Choreographer
• Set Designer
• Props Manager
• Wardrobe Technician
• Stagehand
• Lighting Technician
• Special Effects Technician

Or you can also get into alternate career options such as:

• Announcer
• Radio Jockey
• Television Presenter
• Interviewer
• Video Jockey
• Party Anchor

Salary Structure

As fresh graduates, if you are employed in theatre companies, your salary can range from anywhere between INR 10,000 to INR 40,000 depending on your expertise. However, it increases with experience. You can also freelance without actually committing to a particular group. And there are ample entrepreneurial opportunities as well if you wish to set up your own theatre company and produce your own plays. The sky is the limit for good artists.

Conclusion

Dramatics is not just a pastime or an extra-curricular activity anymore. The techniques are being improvised every passing day and even studied in a scientific manner. A number of students who pursue a career in drama usually end up in extremely high-end careers such as TV, Films, etc. Therefore follow a career in drama only if you are passionate about it, as it requires a lot of patience and practice to make it big in this field.

Also Read:

• Career in Dance
• Career as a Singer
• Career in Modelling
• Career in Photography
• Career as a Choreographer
• Career as a Flim Maker
• Career as a Flim Editor
• Career as an Actor
• Career as a Production Designer
• Career as a Flim And Video Designer