Schauspielschule Bochum

The drama school was founded in 1939 as the Westfälische Schauspielschule Bochum by Saladin Schmitt, then intendant of the Schauspielhaus Bochum. It was originally a municipal school. Up to the 1970s, the intendant was also the artistic director of the drama school. In 2000, it became a state school of North Rhine-Westphalia and a Bochum location of the Folkwang-Hochschule.

In 2014, the main location of the drama school changed to the new Folkwang-Theaterzentrum (Folkwang theatre centre) in Wiemelhausen, close to the centre of Bochum.^[1] It has two stages, the Großer Saal and the Black Box (in the former Thürmer-Saal), as well as classrooms and rehearsal and meeting rooms.^[2] Now part of the Folkwang University of the Arts, the drama school is a member of the Ständige Konferenz Schauspielausbildung.

The curriculum is planned for eight semesters, four of them for fundamental training of voice, speech, and body movement. Students take part in a production of Schauspielhaus Bochum during their third year in order to achieve insight into theatre practise. During the last semester, students are offered practical work at various German-speaking theatres. They also receive courses in acting in front of a camera, in collaboration with the broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln. The second-year students give a performance in the summer at Haus Weitmar. Traditionally, a play or scenes by Shakespeare are presented.