Yale School of Drama

The Yale School of Drama is a graduate professional school of Yale University located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in every discipline of the theatre: acting, design , directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, technical design and production, and theatre management.

The school traces its roots to the Yale Dramatic Association, the second-oldest college theatre association in the US, founded in 1900. The "Dramat" produced the American premieres of Albert Camus's Caligula and Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, as well as original works by Cole Porter, Stephen Vincent Benet, and Thornton Wilder written when they were students. This dramatic tradition led to the provision of funds in 1924 by Yale benefactor Edward S. Harkness to establish the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts and for the construction of the University Theatre, designed by Clarence H. Blackall and then later renovated by James Gamble Rogers in 1931. George Pierce Baker, a teacher of playwriting, was the first chairman of the department. The first class of students was enrolled in 1925 while the University Theatre was under construction and the first Master of Fine Arts in Drama was granted in 1931.

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