Education – Otto Falckenberg Schule

Application

We value diversity and therefore welcome all applications – regardless of gender, nationality, ethnic and social background, religion/belief, disability, sexual orientation and identity.

Prerequisites for the training course are:

– exceptional artistic talent
– sufficient command of the German language
– graduation from secondary education
– at the beginning of the school year, applicants should be between 17 and 24 years old (for acting) or between 21 and 28 years old (for directing).

All applicants must take an entrance exam. Passing the exam is a prerequisite for admission to the school. Candidates who fail the entrance exam twice will not be admitted.
ACTING

The application window is closed. It is currently not possible to apply.

First Round of the Entrance Exam
3–8 June 2024

Second Round of the Entrance Exam

All day from 11 to 14 June 2024 (all candidates must attend full 3 days!)

Preparation of Role Slips

Please rehearse independently:

1. Three excerpts from plays of your choice (including one classic play)

2. A self-invented scene/monologue

3. A song/poem of your choice

Approx. 3 minutes per role.

Videos

The videos do not have to be high-quality: filming them with a webcam or mobile phone camera will suffice. Editing, additional lighting, adding titles etc. are not necessary.

For the videos for the first round of the preliminary exam, please choose two roles from your role slip and add a self-interview (of approx. 3 minutes) in which you introduce yourself to the selection committee, for example, by explaining why you want to become an actor. Alternatively, you could tell us about an incident that you think describes you well as a person. You can approach the ‘interview’ format in a creative way. You should be alone in the video and be filmed in a full-length view. You must upload the videos to the application portal. The files must be uploaded in .mp4, .mov or .avi format with a maximum size of 100 MB. Please do not use any special characters or umlauts in your video file names! Please upload three separate videos.

First Round of Preliminary Exam

Your videos will be viewed by the selection committee in the first round of the preliminary exam. One positive vote by one committee member is enough for you to be invited to the second round of the preliminary exam. The invitations for this will probably be sent out by email in mid-May 2024.

Further Exam Process

You must pass the preliminary exam to be invited to participate in the first round of the entrance exam. Anyone who passes the preliminary exam takes part in the first round of the entrance exam and performs their rehearsed roles again in front of an extended selection committee. The results of the first round of the entrance exam will be announced by telephone at the end of the examination week, i.e. probably on 8 June 2024.

At all stages during the examination process, the committee may set you tasks relating to your prepared roles or new tasks that you will be asked to undertake spontaneously.

Additional Documents

We require the following documents for inspection. Please bring the originals with you to the second round of the preliminary exam:

1. Birth certificate (in the original or an officially certified copy or transcript).

2. School graduation certificate and/or most recent school or qualification certificate (in the original or an officially certified copy or transcript).

3. Medical certificate confirming health and suitability for physical training (the form is available for download on our website).

4. Police clearance certificate (not older than 3 months. It takes around 14 days for this form to be issued so please apply in good time!).

5. For applicants under the age of 18: a declaration of consent from a parent/legal guardian.

Data Protection

Your personal data will be stored by us until the application process is complete. Following the application process, we will only retain the personal data that we require in order to check for multiple applications.

If you are admitted to the Otto Falckenberg School, we will not request your personal data anew but we will send the data we already have on you to the school administration for further use.

Start of Training

If you pass the entrance exam, the training course begins on 10 September 2024.

Links

→ 24-25_2_Acting-Application_Information

→ Vorlage ärztliches Attest
DIRECTING

The application window is closed. It is currently not possible to apply.
The training course lasts four years. Participation in classes is compulsory.

→ directing training course
In the fourth year of the training course, students take a final examination which consists of a practical and a theoretical part. Upon successful completion of this examination, students receive a certificate of professional qualification. The degree from the Otto Falckenberg School’s acting department is equivalent to a university degree.
Training at the Otto Falckenberg School is free of charge. No fees are charged for the training, examinations or admission.
Frequently asked questions and answers about our acting or directing training:

→ Acting
→ Directing

Acting

WHAT YOU WILL – or: acting training at the OFS.

The professional profile of an actor is constantly evolving due to the diverse and various styles and methods deployed in contemporary productions in theatres as well as on the independent scene, in the visual arts and digital media. This diversity – alongside a focus on international networking – forms a key part of today’s actor training.

The training at the Otto Falckenberg School instructs in and reflects on acting and production techniques, teaches solid craftsmanship and promotes in its students the development of an independent artistic personality whose ability to perform is shaped by the desire to deal with complex socio-political contexts.

The basic training in the first year of the programme teaches dramatic, technical and theoretical skills which enable the students to recognise the means of expression at their disposal, reproduce them and individually utilise them. Improvisation, dramatic exercises and the engagement with theatrical texts are the focus of acting lessons and serve to help the students think about the body and language as important means of expression, to experience them with all the senses and to utilise them.

Body work, speech training, voice training and singing become the foundations of the students’ basic technical skills. A third essential component is the theoretical instruction during the training which is intended to mentally and conceptually enrich and support the students’ access to practical dramatic work and to support their political education.

In order to push the students into developing an independent artistic practice, after the basic training in the first year, study at the Otto Falckenberg School is characterised by a self-organised approach to learning and to the implementation the curriculum. The modular structure of the course gives students the chance to design their curriculum largely by themselves. The variety of opportunities ranging from cross-year stage work and independently developed projects to workshops by acclaimed guest lecturers and numerous cooperations with the Münchner Kammerspiele and other theatres and cultural institutions, present the ideal framework for this.

Directing

The work of a director is grounded in the desire to tell a story. An individual perspective on people and the world should be conveyed to the audience via the director’s personal aesthetics of expression. The school therefore sees itself as a source of inspiration and a trainer, as a field for experimentation and a free space in which the directing students can undertake the search for their individual style.

The four-year course is based on the following corresponding key concepts: individuality, engagement, skilled crafts and support.

In addition to having a creative personality, we expect prospective directing students to have had several years of professional and/or training experience. A special feature of the directing training at the academy is the close link to the Münchner Kammerspiele. Students can gain practical experience during internships, assistant directorships and work placements in the various theatre crafts (set design, costume design, lighting et al). In the second year of training, directing students are expected to undertake two assistant directorships at the Münchner Kammerspiele. These are coordinated between the academy and the theatre in accordance with the wishes and availability of the directing students.

At the beginning of their training, the directing students participate in the classes of the acting students, becoming familiar with the actors’ means of expression and learning how to describe them. The theoretical and practical development of concepts, dramatic exercises with actors and drama students and closely supported themed projects are the focus of the first two years of training. In addition, by staging their own productions from the second year onwards and with their graduation project in the fourth year, the directing students have the opportunity to develop their individual and independent style of storytelling.