18-MONTH DISTANCE AND BLENDED PROGRAMME
Theatre Directing: Advanced Diploma Programme
A part-time theatre directing programme for working professionals
For theatre directors and teachers who already stage productions and want to study while they keep working. Over 18 months, about 10 hours a week, you build your directing method on your own productions, with written feedback from your tutor on every assignment. You finish by organising and directing your own graduation production.
Write to us about your work through the form or at info@nipai.org. In a personal consultation by email we look at how the programme could fit your production and your working week, and we send you the programme presentation with tuition and the next start dates.
DURATION
18 months, part-time, about 780 hours
STUDY TIME
About 10 hours a week
FORMAT
Distance learning, or blended with two 5-day in-class sessions in Berlin
FEEDBACK
Individual and written, on every assignment
LANGUAGE
English
TUITION
In the presentation we send with your personal consultation
Since 2000 · Berlin, Germany · Distance & Blended · Students from 25+ countries
Who this programme is for
The programme is for people who already lead rehearsals and want a directing method they can name and repeat.
01
You teach theatre and direct your students
You teach in a school, college or university and stage productions with your students. Here those productions count: they become the material for your weekly assignments.
02
You learned directing on the job
You have built up directing credits with your own company, on independent stages or in community theatre. Over 18 months you turn that experience into a method you can explain to performers and venues.
03
You act, choreograph or write, and you have started to direct
You have directed your first productions as an actor, choreographer or dramaturg. The programme works on what changes when you answer for the whole stage, from the ground plan to the rehearsal schedule.
04
You lead an independent company
You founded or run a company and direct its work. Your tutor responds every week to your work on your own productions, and in the blended format you work in a studio with artists from many countries.
Applicants hold at least a bachelor’s degree and have at least 2-3 years of experience in theatre. The programme is taught in English.
If you are preparing your first full production, or you are applying without a bachelor’s degree, start with the 12-month Theatre Directing Certificate.
How distance learning works, week by week
Each week follows the same cycle, and you choose when to study within it.
1
You receive a short lecture with sources and a practical assignment.
2
You apply the assignment to your own production or a working scenario, test it in rehearsal and write down what you did and why.
3
You submit your work.
4
Your tutor reads it and replies with individual written feedback on your project.
Written feedback on your own work
Your tutor writes to you about your production and the decisions you made: what already works and what needs more work. Each reply builds on what you submitted before. The feedback stays with you in writing, so you can come back to it during the programme and after it.
5
You revise your material and take the feedback into the next week.
NIPAI calls this Learning by Doing: each tool goes into your rehearsal room in the week you learn it.
Plan for about 10 hours a week, for example in the evenings and at weekends, around rehearsals and teaching. If a production period or a busy term is coming, tell your tutor in advance and you can agree an adjusted submission date.
“The feedback was thoughtful, detailed, and genuinely helped me grow as an artist.”
Rahel Miteku
Contortionist and choreographer, Ethiopia · Google review
How the programme is built
For the first twelve months you take four three-month modules by distance learning. The final six months go to your graduation production.
You choose the four modules together with our admissions manager, to fit your experience and what you want to work on. Each module is taught by its own tutor. The programme presentation describes every module in detail.
The programme draws on the European directing tradition and on the approaches of Stanislavski, Meyerhold and Chekhov. You apply these tools within your own aesthetic and theatre culture.
To receive the presentation, write to us through the contact form or by email at info@nipai.org.
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Who created the programme
Sergei Ostrenko and Gennadiy Ostrenko created the programme. Your modules are taught by experienced tutors who work under their direction, with a new tutor for each module. Your tutor reads every assignment you submit and replies in writing about your own project.
Together they developed the psychophysical approach on which NIPAI’s training is built.
“I was just starting out as a director, and I was directing more based on instinct. After 2 international workshops with the Ostrenko brothers I started using more of Michael Chekhov’s Psychological Gesture. This was the first time I started considering directing actors outside-in, and using actions - doing more and explaining less.”
Mike Savuica, Romania, director and choreographer
Distance learning or blended format
You can study entirely by distance learning, from your own city. The blended format adds two in-class sessions, currently held in Berlin.
At the sessions you join NIPAI’s international community of professionals and pre-professionals from many countries. You work together in the studio, get to know each other and can find partners for future projects, including your graduation production.
In the distance format you stay in touch with other students through NIPAI’s student community on WhatsApp.
The programme presentation describes the in-class sessions in detail.
Your graduation production
In the final six months you direct a production or a laboratory showing. You organise it yourself: the venue, the performers and the schedule. This is part of the training. Today a director often has to create the conditions for the work as well as direct it.
You can stage it in your own city or internationally, for example with artists and fellow students you meet through NIPAI.
Your tutor guides you stage by stage. NIPAI connects you with its international network of artists and stays with the work up to the premiere or showing. Blended students meet this network at the in-class sessions in Berlin, distance students through NIPAI’s student community on WhatsApp.
Graduation productions by NIPAI students
Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck · directed by Mike Savuica, Romania
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet · directed by Ivy Kabarokore, Rwanda
John Ford’s ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore · directed by Cody Ganger, USA
What you finish with
01
A way of working from text analysis to staging that you can explain to performers and use again on your next production.
A method you can name
02
A documented portfolio
Your director’s notes, blocking plans, rehearsal structures and the documentation of your graduation production, ready to show when you apply to venues or funders.
03
A production of your own
A production or laboratory showing that you organised and directed, with written feedback from your tutor at every stage.
04
Professional Diploma in Theatre Directing
A non-academic professional qualification that NIPAI awards as a private institute. A supplement lists your modules, hours, assessed work and graduation production.
Graduate voices
Mike Savuica, Romania
Director & Choreographer | Graduate of NIPAI “Theatre Directing: Advanced Diploma Programme”
“All the diploma program modules helped me build this performance. ... I always had support, and a team of people to guide me, and answer my every question. The diploma program was the necessary foundation I needed to make my first steps towards a directing career.”
Cody Ganger, USA
Director & College Theatre Professor | Graduate of NIPAI “Theatre Directing: Advanced Diploma Programme”
“When I was hired as a College Theatre Professor, I felt the need to refine my directing skills further. ... I especially credit NIPAI for teaching me how to be truly prepared before starting rehearsals, with strong script analyses, paper blocking, storyboarding, and other tools for preparation.”
You can contact both graduates through their stories on our website.
Tuition and funding
Tuition and payment options are in the programme presentation, which we send with a personal consultation by email. Tell us a little about your work, and in our reply we look at how payment could work for you and which funding you could apply for.
Scholarships and funding
Partial scholarships may be available through NIPAI’s partner organisations. We tell you about them in a personal conversation, and the partner organisation makes the decision.
If your school, college or theatre funds professional development, we provide an invoice, a programme description and a letter of admission.
Continuing at NIPAI
If you have completed another NIPAI programme, it can be reviewed as part of your pathway, and tuition alignment can be discussed during admissions.
The only programme of its kind in Europe
Theatre Directing: Advanced Diploma Programme is the only English-language theatre directing programme in Europe that brings these conditions together:
You study part-time for 18 months, about 10 hours a week, and keep working.
You build your directing method on your own productions, with individual written feedback on every assignment.
You choose distance learning or the blended format, with in-class sessions in Berlin in an international group.
You organise and direct your own graduation production, in your own city or internationally.
Based on our review of directing programmes in November 2026.
Start with a personal consultation
Before you apply, we look at your situation with you. Send us a few lines about your work, and we reply personally by email.
What we look at with you
Your production or project: which of your productions you could use for the weekly assignments, and what your graduation production could be.
Your working week: how your study time, about 10 hours a week, could fit around your rehearsals and teaching, and when you could start.
Your modules and format: which four modules suit your experience, and whether distance learning or the blended format with sessions in Berlin fits you better.
Tuition and funding: how payment in instalments could work for you, and which funding you could apply for in your country or through your employer.
What you receive
You receive a personal reply by email and the programme presentation with tuition and payment options. We also send you the next start dates. Afterwards you decide whether to apply.
What to send us
Your role, your country and the production you would like to make. A CV or links to your recent work help us answer in more detail.
You can also write to us directly at info@nipai.org.
How to apply
Admission is selective. We look at your directing practice and the project you want to make.
1
Application Form
2
Registration Form
3
Study Contract
4
Final Enrolment Documents
5
Programme Start
Your application includes a personal statement and a conversation with our admissions team. A specific artistic question and evidence of your current practice matter more to us than a perfect portfolio.
Entry requirements: at least a bachelor’s degree and at least 2-3 years of experience in theatre.
When you are ready, send the application form.
Frequently asked questions
How many hours a week does the programme take?
About 10 hours a week, around 780 hours over 18 months. You can spread them over evenings and weekends.
Can I keep working while I study?
Yes. You apply each assignment to productions you are already making, and when a busy period is coming, you can agree an adjusted submission date with your tutor in advance.
How does the feedback work?
Your tutor replies in writing to every assignment, with individual feedback on your own project. You keep the feedback and can return to it after the programme.
Who teaches the programme?
Each of the four modules is taught by its own experienced tutor. Sergei Ostrenko and Gennadiy Ostrenko created the programme, and the tutors work under their direction.
Do I need to come to Berlin?
Only in the blended format, which has two 5-day in-class sessions, currently held in Berlin, Germany. We agree the dates with you individually. In the distance format you study entirely from your own city.
What do I need for the graduation production?
You need a production or a laboratory showing that you organise yourself: the venue, the performers and the schedule. You can stage it in your own city or in another country, with your tutor guiding you stage by stage.
How much does the programme cost, and what is included?
Tuition is in the programme presentation, which we send with a personal consultation by email. It covers your training: four three-month distance modules with written feedback on every assignment, and the assessment of your graduation production. In the blended format it also covers access to both in-class sessions in Berlin; travel, accommodation, meals and insurance for the sessions are separate.
What happens when I write to you about the programme?
We reply personally by email. We look at your situation: your production or project, your working week, and the modules and format that suit you. With the reply you receive the programme presentation with tuition and payment options, and the next start dates. Afterwards you decide whether to apply.
Can I pay in instalments, and are there scholarships?
Yes. Instalments are available after admission, and we agree the schedule before you sign the study contract. Partial scholarships may be available through NIPAI’s partner organisations: we tell you about them in a personal conversation, and the partner organisation makes the decision.
What are the entry requirements?
At least a bachelor’s degree and at least 2-3 years of experience in theatre. Your application includes a personal statement and a conversation with our admissions team.
How is this programme different from the 12-month Theatre Directing Certificate?
The 12-month Certificate is for people at the start of their directing path and ends with a Director’s Book on a play of their choice. The Advanced Diploma is for people who already direct and ends with a production they organise and direct.