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January, 2012 Dear Resident Ensemble Candidate, Thank you for your interest in the LSU Department of Theatre’s M.F.A. Acting Program, a two-year residential program affiliated with Swine Palace, the department’s professional Equity Theatre. In order to be considered for this prestigious program, you must first apply online to the LSU Graduate School: http://appl003.lsu.edu/grad/gradschool.nsf/index In addition, we request that you return the attached application, a photo/resume and your Statement of Purpose to: Nick Erickson Associate Head, M.F.A. Acting Program Department of Theatre Louisiana State University 105 Music and Dramatic Arts Building Baton Rouge, LA 70803 [email protected] (225) 578-4331 If you have any questions regarding our program or the application process, please do not hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, George Judy Head, M.F.A. Acting Program THE MASTER OF FINE ARTS IN THEATRE/ ACTING LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY The Louisiana State University invites auditions for our Master of Fine Arts in Acting. Ten extraordinary artists will be chosen to form the Swine Palace Resident Ensemble in 2013. MFA Candidates will: Experience world class training in physical theatre, voice and acting Create significant roles in two full seasons with our Equity Theatre Complete a terminal degree in six challenging semesters over two years Perform and train with distinguished faculty and guest professional artists Develop in-demand skills in teaching, producing, creating, and marketing Explore fresh approaches to classics as well as devise original theatre texts. Every two years ten exceptional actors are invited into our program based on artistic potential, demonstrated ability and skill, vocal/physical range, and a passionate desire to work as a collaborative ensemble engaged in the creative process. Actors grow into artists when their mastery of practical performance skills come together with an original, specific and personal point of view that reveals theatrical truth about themselves and the world we all inhabit. Candidates are encouraged to practice theatre as a collaborative and communal art, looking for parallels to and connections with the work of the entire artistic team as well as the audience/community in the exploration of fresh approaches to classic dramatic texts and the development of significant new works. What we strive for, as faculty and directors, is to design a process that allows your work to grow from a natural and honest base that embraces a sense of freedom and individuality. We believe that our approach will enable actors, through training and throughout their life in the theatre, to transform their unique sense of self into a range of compelling characters and discover genuine theatrical life moment-to-moment within the imaginary world of the play, no matter the style, the culture, or the medium. Our training will strive to empower actors to reveal in the most personal, specific and expressive manner, the human condition. That revelation is what makes our work enduring and necessary for both artists and audiences. MISSION The M.F.A. in Theatre (Acting) at the Louisiana State University is an intensive, conservatory-style program designed to prepare actor/artists for careers in professional theatre, television, film and allied professions with emphasis on fresh approaches to classical performance and the creation of original dramatic works in a variety of mediums. Our goal is to foster expressive, informed, articulate, and daring actor-artists. Combining a six continuous semester sequence of acting classes with extensive voice and physical training, as well as practical exploration as teaching artists, candidates will combine rigorous training with performance opportunities at Swine Palace, our professional theatre. All classes are held in the newly renovated Music and Dramatic Arts (M&DA) building in state of the art rehearsal and teaching spaces. The M&DA complex also houses the beautiful art-deco proscenium Shaver Theatre and a flexible black box Studio Theatre. Those spaces along with the Reilly Theatre, a larger flexible space, are all used in our Swine Palace season and offer an opportunity to play in a variety of theatre configurations. The M.F.A. class constitutes the core of the professional company, works with accomplished guest artists, and for those not already Equity members, earns membership points in Actors’ Equity Association (AEA). While our program is theatre focused, MFA candidates get fundamental training in a variety of mediums and many students have chosen to remain in the region after graduation and work in the exploding Louisiana film industry. As a Right-to-Work state, Louisiana has become number one in the nation for film production outside of Los Angeles and New York. CURRICULUM Acting Studio The acting component of the program will integrate fully with vocal and physical training to discover the unique and authentic artist in each M.F.A. candidate. Your first training sequence will focus on intensive work in exploring the actor’s sense of “self,” and developing the basic tools to bring specific and personal truth to life within the imaginary circumstances of a play. Drawing on the foundational discoveries of Stanislavski, and influenced by the work of Meisner, Michael Chekhov, and other masters, we will seek to design a process together that consistently allows the discovery of truth that is compelling, exciting and theatrical. The fundamental work areas include: Freedom and Release, Identity, Place, Relationship, Given Circumstances, Objective/Goal, Obstacle/Conflict, Tactics/Communication, Importance/Point of View, Event, and Preparation. Special emphasis will be placed on developing new work and exploring cutting-edge contemporary authors as well as modern masters such as Chekhov, Ibsen, and Williams. Your second training sequence will build on our discovery of fundamental theatrical truth to explore rehearsal tools and performance demands in playing classical texts through the Greeks (Sophocles…), Commedia Dell-Arte, Elizabethan/Jacobean (Shakespeare…), Neoclassic (Moliere…), Restoration and following (Congreve…Sheridan), to the Late Victorian/Edwardian (Wilde…Shaw) eras. Our exploration will focus on traditional approaches to the classical repertoire, but also on innovative approaches that can make these texts fresh and alive for contemporary actors and audiences. Your final training sequence allows the actor to focus more fully on Swine Palace with the expectation of significant professional roles. Production responsibilities will be supplemented with classes to prepare for transition into the profession: on-camera and multi-media applications of acting technique, cold readings, commercial audition and interview technique, professional issues seminars and preparation of an audition portfolio using computer technology and resources. Students will complete a M.F.A. thesis project, and have the opportunity to audition for professional casting agents and directors. Our core curriculum is supplemented by workshops and production opportunities with a wide range of significant professional artists and scholars from theatre, film/TV, musical theatre, and multi-media performance. Recent resident guests include: Actors Theatre of Louisville, Adam Rapp, Deb Alley, Jim Sullivan, Roger Rees, Ping Chong, Anne Bogart, and Tina Packer among many others. Movement Studio The movement component of training emphasizes: The Diagnostic Body. An intensive examination of the habits of physical use of the body through principles of T’ai Chi, Alexander Technique, Yoga, and Sports Fitness. Exercises are used that point to habits of use in pedestrian, everyday movements and how they can be addressed through conscious awareness and physical techniques for correction, release, and ease. Etudes used to enhance the application to performance. The Expressive Body. Neutral, Character, and Commedia Masks used to enhance the actor’s awareness of body language and non-verbal communication. To expand the actor’s approaches to character through external physical choices. Techniques include Laban and Meyerhold. Etudes used to enhance the application to performance. The Combative Body. Basic stage combat in unarmed and rapier. Foundation in conditioning through stretching and tumbling with rolls, dives and falls. Scene presentations used to apply techniques to performance. The Inventive Body. Physical approaches to the creative impulse in interpretive and generative work. Techniques used include Sound & Movement, Viewpoints, Contact Improvisation, Lecoq and Authentic Movement. Etudes used to apply techniques to individual approaches to the creation of new work. The Athletic Body. This class focuses on the actor’s need to stay physically fit and active as they approach the free-lance world beyond conservatory training. Various warm ups will be used. Exercises that tax the body in flexibility, endurance and strength while staying within the world of the theatrical. Improvisations and etudes used to focus the work on performance. Voice and Speech Studio The Voice and Speech program focuses on the components of effective vocal technique, particularly in relation to finding adequate breath support via dissipation of physical and vocal tension. While utilizing the work of Catherine Fitzmaurice, Patsy Rodenburg, and Chuck Jones, students will assess their own habitual voice use and professional vocal choices. The first training sequence will emphasize a heightened awareness of one’s own vocal and physical instrument, in order to address common habits and tendencies that get in the way of fully inhabiting character. During this year, the speech component of the program includes the learning and application of the International Phonetic Alphabet, as well as an exploration of one’s own personal articulation challenges. The second training sequence includes advanced explorations in extreme voice use via Greek and Shakespearean text, as well as the integration of dialect work into extreme characterization and comedic material. The final training sequence will continue with dialect and character voice in order to support an extensive exploration of Voice Over, resulting in a voice demo. In addition, students are offered the opportunity to lead vocal work and may be selected to train to teach introductory level voice. CORE FACULTY: George Judy (Professor, Head of M.F.A. Acting and Artistic Director of Swine Palace) George is a member of Actors Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild, Society of Directors and Choreographers and the Dramatist’s Guild. His credits as an actor, writer, director and educator include work with the Royal National Theatre Studio, London, The Asolo Theatre, Kentucky Shakespeare Festival, Pennsylvania Centre Stage, Illinois Shakespeare Festival and twelve seasons with the Tony award winning Utah Shakespearean Festival where he performed such favorite roles as Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night, and Polonius in Hamlet and was producer and director for USF’s Plays in Progress, which develops important new works and playwrights for the American theatre . Most recent credits include Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Richelieu in The Three Musketeers and Alonso in The Tempest at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival under the direction of Deb Alley and the title role in KING LEAR for Swine Palace. His many regional credits include musical roles such as Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Joe in Damn Yankees, Frederik in A Little Night Music, and Mack the Knife in Three Penny Opera as well as a stint as a Singing Ringmaster with Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey. Professor Judy taught for more than twenty years at Florida State University before coming to LSU and his students are currently appearing on Broadway, at regional theatres across the country and in the film and television industry. Undergraduate students who studied with Professor Judy have been accepted into graduate programs at Julliard, Yale, NYU, Rutgers, Penn State, The Professional Theatre Training Program at the University of Delaware and many other fine conservatory programs across the country. He has been honored with a number of University Teaching Awards and is a charter member of the President’s Council for Excellence in College Teaching. His adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone, published by Pioneer Drama, has been anthologized and performed across the country and he is currently completing a new book, Designing Life: A Practical Approach to Acting and Living. His highly praised adaptation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House as well as a new musical version of Shakespeare’s Loves Labours Lost have premiered on the Swine Palace stage where he also has directed most recently August: Osage County and a new stage version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Nick Erickson (Assistant Professor, Stage Movement; Associate Head, M.F.A. Acting) Nick received his B.A. at the University of Washington and his M.F.A. at CalArts. A professional actor in over fifty plays, films, and TV appearances, Mr. Erickson performed at such places as the Intiman and Empty Space Theatres in Seattle, at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. At Swine Palace, Nick has performed in King Lear, The Metamorphoses, Macbeth, The Exonerated, and You Can’t Take It With You. In film, he starred in the Taiwanese feature film Mahjong by the filmmaker Edward Yang. He has also been seen in G.I.Joe2, K-Ville, Death Toll, Hood Hostages, Torn Apart, A Perfect Day, The Staircase, and College. For seven years, Professor Erickson was a founding member of Diavolo Dance Theatre and has co-choreographed and performed in all of the company’s pieces on three national tours, abroad, and on national television. As a Movement coach/Choreographer/Stunt Coordinator, Mr. Erickson has worked for Shakespeare Festival/ LA, the Los Angeles Opera, the Indiana Rep, Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, Occidental Children’s Theatre, and for the films The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond and Brightness among others. He was Maintenance Choreographer for Disney’s California Adventure Park. Throughout the 90s, Erickson taught Stage Movement at CalArts and Occidental College in Los Angeles. Mr. Erickson takes a student generated physical theatre production as an Academic Program Abroad to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe every other year since 2008. Joanna Battles (Assistant Professor; Voice, Speech and Acting) Joanna is a professional actor and director, as well as a voice, speech and dialect coach for theatre and film. She is an Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework, as well as a practitioner of Chuck Jones Vocal Production. At Louisiana State University, Joanna serves as the CoHead of the Undergraduate program of Theatre; teaches Voice, Speech & Acting classes in the MFA and Undergraduate Acting programs; and is the professional Vocal Coach on staff at Swine Palace Productions. In addition to her work at Swine Palace, Joanna has worked as a Voice and Text coach at several Louisiana professional theatres, including, Tulane Shakespeare Festival, and Southern Repertory Co. Most recently, Joanna served as the dialect coach on the Lionsgate film, The Haunting In Georgia. At Swine Palace, Joanna directed the regional premiere of Adam Rapp's play, The Metal Children, as well as Carson Kreitzer's, Self Defense,Or death of some salesmen. On the LSU main stage, Joanna directed the new play, Shapeshifter, and Wedekind's, Spring Awakening. Before relocating to Louisiana in '08, Joanna was a faculty member and/or presented workshops at New York University, Playwright's Horizons Theatre School, Brooklyn College, Brown/Trinity Consortium, and Stonesoup Theatre Company. As a stage actor, favorite credits include: On the Verge (Public Stage); The Long Christmas Ride Home, Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V (Trinity Repertory Company); Twelfth Night (Perishable Theatre); Sylvia (American Heartland Theatre); Departure (Irish Arts Center); Two Gentlemen of Verona (Trinity Summer Shakespeare); and Courting Vampires (McCormick Theatre at Brown University). Joanna holds an M.F.A. in Acting from the Brown/Trinity Consortium, and a B.F.A. in Acting from Tisch School of the Arts, at New York University. Richard Holden (Associate Professor, Acting and Directing; Film/TV) Rick comes to LSU after many years as a working professional actor, director and teacher. As an actor Rick has made scores of appearances on stage, television, and film. He was a member of the Broadway company/ national tour of Glengarry Glen Ross. Regional theatre credits include Hoagy, Bix and Bunkhaus, A Tale Told and Beatific Poets at The Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and Joined at the Head and Down an Alley Filled With Cats at the Pasadena Playhouse. He was one of only two American actors to tour in a live, improv show with the Monty Python British comedy troupe. Other roles include Lennox in Macbeth, Sebastian in Twelfth Night, King Phillip in Lion in Winter, Wilbur Larch in The Cider House Rules, and Charles Bukowski in Love, Bukowski. His many film and television credits include The Grifters (John Cusack, Annette Benning), Little Nikita (Sydney Poitier), and scores of television guest starring and recurring roles including Boston Public, LA Law, The Practice, as well as a recurring role on 24. Rick taught a professional acting class in Los Angeles for years as well as acting and critical studies at California State University Long Beach, acting and directing at Loyola University New Orleans and the University of Arkansas, and acting at El Camino College. He holds a BS in Comm Arts/Theatre from Xavier University and an M.F.A. in Acting and Directing from California State University Long Beach. Molly Buchmann (Professional-in-Residence; Head of Dance) Molly is co-artistic director of the Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre (BRBT), an Honor Company in Regional Dance America Southwest.Her choreography for BRBT includes works in both classical and modern idioms and she has choreographed over 50 musicals for professional, community, and university theatres. Her original ballets for both San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet and BRBT have been selected for gala performances of Regional Dance America Southwest. She has served the Louisiana State Department of Education as a professional clinician for dance instructors across the state and as a contributor to Dance and Fine Arts Survey Curriculum Guides. Her training in New York has included the Vaganova Teacher's Course in Classical Ballet and she has studied and performed with ProDanza Italia in Toscano, Italy. She has received an Artist Fellowship in choreography from the State of Louisiana, the Mayor-President’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, and an LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching. She has helped train many dance students who have gone on to dance on Broadway and in major modern dance and ballet companies. Kristin Sosnowsky (Associate Professor; Chair, Department of Theatre, Arts Administration; Managing Director -- Swine Palace) Kristin joined Swine Palace Productions and Louisiana State University in June 2001, after three years as Executive Director of Brandywine Ballet Company, a regional ballet ensemble located in West Chester, Pennsylvania. While at Brandywine Ballet, Ms. Sosnowsky collaborated with internationally renowned choreographer Eddy Toussaint and Artistic Director Donna L. Muzio to create Brandywine Ballet Theatre and a Certificate in Ballet Program with West Chester University of Pennsylvania. In 1997, Ms. Sosnowsky received her Master of Fine Arts Degree from the Yale School of Drama, where she served as Associate Managing Director and Assistant Director of Development for the Yale Repertory Theatre. In addition, Ms. Sosnowsky worked with the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Stage Company in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Karli Henderson (Resident Equity Stage Manager) Karli has been Swine Palace’s resident Stage Manager for the last six years. She took a brief leave from Louisiana to study at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, where she received her M.F.A. in Theatre Technology. Previous credits include work with the Missouri Repertory Theatre, The New Theatre Restaurant, The Seem-to-be-Players, and Shakespeare Santa Cruz. John Fletcher (Assistant Professor, Theatre History, Theory, and Criticism) John holds a Ph.D. in Theatre Historiography from the University of Minnesota. His research interests include community-based theatre, theatre for social change, democratic theory, religion, queer theory, and Spanish Golden Age drama. Dr. Fletcher teaches undergraduate classes in theatre history and literature as well as PhD seminars in historiography and gender/queer theory. He regularly participates in national and international conferences such as the American Society for Theatre Research and Performance Studies International. His published work includes articles in Theatre Topics, Laberinto, Theatre Survey, and the anthology Querying Difference in Theatre History. Currently he serves as cocoordinator of the Theatre History symposium for the 2008 Mid-America Theatre Conference, and he chairs the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Focus Group of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. His production credits include directing (Crisis Point Theatre in Minneapolis), dramaturgy (Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles), and acting (LSU Studio Theatre). Visiting Faculty and Guest Artists Deb Alley Doris Baizley Anne Bogart Chris Boneau Ben Cameron Artistic Director, Illinois Shakespeare Festival playwright (Shiloh Rules, A Christmas Carol, Glass Mountain,GUNS, Catholic Girls) Artistic Director, SITI Company Boneau/Bryan-Brown Theatrical Press Agency, New York Executive Producing Director, Theatre Communications Group Performance Artist Associate Artistic Director, Actors Theatre of Louisville Stage and Film Actress Ping Chong Sean Daniels Olympia Dukakis Dah Theatre, Belgrade Dale Girard Fight Master, SAFD Spalding Gray Performance Artist; Actor John Guare Playwright Danny Hoche Performance Artist Roald Hoffman Nobel Prize-winning playwright Holly Hughes Performance Artist Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Geoffrey Kent Fight Director, SAFD Jennifer Martin Period Movement Director, UMKC Ed Morgan Former Associate Artistic Director, Milwaukee Repertory Theater Arthur Oliver Costume Designer, Shakespeare and Company Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Performance Artist Pilobolus Dance Theatre Michael Rafter Broadway musical director Adam Rapp Internationally acclaimed playwright Roger Rees International stage and screen star; Director/Producer Paul Russell National Casting Director, Director/Producer Wade Russo Broadway musical director Jim Sullivan Artistic Director, Pearl Theatre, NYC Debra Stein Director/Playwright Actors Theatre of Louisville Resident artists November, 2009, 2010 Doug Varone Dance Company, 2009 Notes on Auditions Please prepare two monologues, one contemporary and one classical (preferably verse),each no more than two minutes in length. Both selections should offer us a look at your acting range as it is now. They should be selected with contrasts in mind: differences in tone (humorous or serious), language, style, and character. Avoid “stretch” characterizations such as old age, heavy dialects, and so on. We want to see you, clearly and honestly in material with which you have a vivid connection. We might ask you to take some adjustments to incorporate into your monologues. We also advise you to have a third audition piece available in the event that we need to see more of your range. Also, please prepare a song that you can sing without accompaniment. Choose something well within your range that reveals something about yourself, and that you take pleasure in sharing with us. Please sing even if don’t think of yourself as a singer! Just for fun! Afterwards, we may wish to ask you some questions about your career and training goals and give you an opportunity to ask us questions as well. Statement of Purpose In about 500-words, please state why you are applying to LSU, what you expect the experience to be like, and what you would like to accomplish. In addition, please tell us something about you (i.e., your life, how you get along with people in and out of the theatre? What are your likes, dislikes (in theatre, literature, music, food, etc.). We do not want a psychological profile. We do not want to invade your privacy. Look at it this way: if admitted to our intense acting program your teachers will get to know you (and you them). The work is personal by nature. As such, we would like you to express now, in your own way, what we should know about you. This will help us consider your audition work more carefully. Your essay will be held in strict confidence; it will be read only by the program head and designated faculty. LSU Department of Theatre Supplemental Application M.F.A. in Theatre (Acting) Name:________________________________________________________ Current Address:______________________________________________________ Street _____________________________________________________________ City State Zip Telephone: ( Cell: ( )_________-__________ )_________-__________ Email:________________________ Permanent Address:______________________________________________________ Street _____________________________________________________________ City State Zip List all Colleges and University Training Programs Attended -- degree(s) awarded and date(s): _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Honors, Awards, Academic Distinction: _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Date of Birth: _____________________________________________________________ In addition to your online application and your audition, we require three letters of recommendation, copies of official transcripts (from all institutions you’ve attended), a photo/resume and your statement of purpose. Please mail to: Nick Erickson, Department of Theatre, Louisiana State University, 105 Music and Dramatic Arts Building, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 Audition Sites (Please choose one): SETC fall auditions, 2012 URTA: Chicago, IL, 2013 Louisiana State University: Baton Rouge, LA –by appointment before February 1, 2013 REQUIREMENTS FOR THE M.F.A. Degree in Theatre (Acting) Requirements for admission to the acting program include an undergraduate degree, 3.0 GPA (in last two years of undergraduate study), three letters of recommendation, and an audition/interview. GRE scores are not required for admission. The University pays all tuition and awards graduate assistantships to ten M.F.A. candidates, a total compensation package in excess of 40,000 dollars (including a 15,000 dollar assistantship) for each year in residence. Two places in each class are held open for candidates who qualify and choose to pay their own tuition and expenses. The total resident ensemble is never more than twelve artists. Specific requirements for completion of degree: 1. Two consecutive years of residency; six semesters 2. 71 graduate credit hours exclusive of thesis credit 3. Minimum of six credit hours in THTR 8000 (thesis research) 4. M.F.A. Thesis Project and Paper Teaching Generally all candidates after their first summer have the opportunity to teach Introduction to Acting THTR 1025 (undergraduate). Teaching will allow you to articulate and strengthen your own acting process as you communicate it to others. All teaching is supervised and mentored by the faculty. Exceptional students may also train to teach first level classes in voice and movement. Assistantship All candidates will be allocated hours (typically 10 per week) working in support of the program in a variety of areas, including marketing and management, production, design, and technology as well as teaching. This is a requirement of your assistantship and offers opportunities to learn practical skills that will serve you in your work and to gain appreciation for theatre as a collaborative art, craft and business. We encourage the resident ensemble to think of Swine Palace as their own theatre and learn what it takes to create and produce your own season. Thesis Project All candidates will complete a Thesis project and paper, typically focused on the preparation, rehearsal and performance of a significant role. The thesis project is most typically an original solo performance (30-40 minutes) devised and performed by the candidate as a showcase which could be produced professionally in a variety of venues. Criteria for Student Assessment: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Attention to the Instructors and to the work. Ability to test personal limits as defined by instructors. Adaptive and flexible to the changing demands of the work in class, rehearsal, performance and assistantship assignments. Endurance to maintain commitment to exercises and tasks assigned in or for class, rehearsal and performance, including assistantship assignments. Ability to remain open, free, and flexible physically, vocally, and imaginatively in class, rehearsal and performance; open to testing your boundaries as identified by instructors and directors. Creative Passion, Participation and Preparation; abandoning self-consciousness and selfcenteredness as defined by instructors and Directors in commitment to the work. Ability to arrive on-time and prepared for class, rehearsal, performance and assistantship duties. Openness and receptiveness to instructor/director feedback and assignments. Demonstration of a growing ability to constructively self-assess your work, conduct, and obstacles in class, rehearsal, and performance. Demonstration of a growing ability to work with attention to detail and specificity in your moment-to-moment acting work in class rehearsal and performance to create a convincing emotional life and truthful characterization. Willingness and ability to address and overcome problems with your acting or professionalism as defined by your Instructors and Director. Demonstration of a growing ability to transform your physical, vocal, and imaginative life to adapt to the sometimes unpredictable changing assignments and demands of class, rehearsal and performance. Demonstration of emotional, mental, and physical reliability and consistency in your work, conduct, and behavior in class, rehearsal and performance. Proactively and respectfully discussing any problems, issues, complaints, or concerns with your Director or other MFA faculty members about your work, the curriculum, assignments, projects, casting, productions, and any other issue directly affecting positive progress in the program. M.F.A. Faculty will: • • • • • • • • Respect the students, individually and as an ensemble. Be attentive to the concerns of the students and to the work. Lead the students to reach or exceed their personal limits. Adaptive and flexible in changing the course of classes as needed to most benefit students’ work or progress while giving students enough advance notice to prepare and adjust effectively. Monitor the length of exercises and tasks designed to enhance or increase the students’ endurance both physically and mentally without injury or undue duress. Support a safe and creative environment for students to remain open, free, and flexible physically, vocally, and imaginatively in class, rehearsal and performance. Monitor and guide each student to develop an ability to dive into the work abandoning self-consciousness and self-centeredness in order to expand personal and creative limits. Arrive to class on time and fully prepared to share the work and offering feedback and grading of assignments in a timely and respectful manner. • • • • • • • • • • • • Participate in class and rehearsal with creative ideas and options about the students’ acting choices within the boundaries of the role, scene, and play as defined by the instructor or director. Demonstrate an ability to constructively self-assess one’s own work, conduct, and obstacles relating to class. Critique and guide students with attention to detail and specificity in the students’ moment-to-moment acting work in class. Encourage, guide, and expect convincing emotional life and truthful characterization from the students. Maintain objectivity and sensitivity to address student problems with acting or professionalism while offering solutions and options. Engage in the work with enthusiasm, passion, and full commitment to the spirit of the work. Encourage, guide, and inspire the development and demonstration of students’ ability to transform their physical, vocal, and imaginative life to adapt to changing assignments and demands. Set clear boundaries and limits in the work so as to enable the students the best opportunity to safely and effectively test those limits for growth and development through assignments and projects. Listen to the students with sensitivity and generosity. Provide a supportive classroom environment for the free and respectful exchange of ideas, praise, and criticism among the students toward each other. Be available outside of class for any student who wishes to discuss any matter relating to their progress, quality of work, or any issue or problem relating to the work. Advocate for students in their matriculation regarding curriculum, assistantship, and personal concerns directly relating to student’s positive progress in the program. Course of Study: First Year Summer Session A 12 hours (*Voice and Movement may teach 5-6 week intensives/dividing the summer session A) 3 hours *THTR 7233 Movement Studio I (2 hours daily M-F) The Diagnostic Body. An intensive examination of the habits of physical use of the body through principles of T’ai Chi, Alexander Technique, Yoga, and Sports Fitness. Exercises are used that point to habits of use in pedestrian, everyday movements and how they can be addressed through conscious awareness and physical techniques for correction, release, and ease. Etudes used to enhance the application to performance. 3 hours THTR 7220 Acting Studio I (2 hours daily M-F) Intensive work in actor's basic process and tools; text analysis; Introduction to Contemporary realism; Introduction to Shakespeare 3 hours THTR 7930—Production Studio/Teacher Training (production assignment in Swine Palace summer season) 3 hours *THTR 7227 Voice Studio I (2 hours daily M-F) Getting to know your vocal instrument; Release & Relaxation; Basic Articulatory work; Vocal Hygiene; Resonation work using techniques from Chuck Jones, Kristin Linklater, & Patsy Rodenburg; Intro to Fitzmaurice Destructuring explorations; Textual discoveries via contemporary monologue work. First year (Fall Semester) 14 hours 3 hours THTR 7234 Movement Studio II The Expressive Body. Neutral and Character Masks used to enhance the actor’s awareness of body language and non-verbal communication. To expand the actor’s approaches to character through external physical choices. Techniques include Laban and Meyerhold. Etudes used to enhance the application to performance 3 hours THTR 7228 Voice Studio II Introduction to the International Phonetic Alphabet; Intro to Baseline American Dialect via Dudley Knight / Gillian Lane-Plescia; Fitzmaurice Restructuring Explorations; Acting scene work crossover. 3 hours THTR 7221 Acting Studio II Applied basic process and text analysis; Realism to Lyric Realism Ibsen, Chekhov, Williams; scene work with selected texts 0 hour THTR 7000 Daily practice. 1 hour THTR 7001.02 Independent Projects in Performance Training Individual projects in performance training / dance. 1 hour THTR 7001.03 Independent Projects in Performance Training Individual projects in performance training / musical theatre. 3 hours THTR 7130 Script Analysis and Dramaturgy Methods of studying play-scripts in preparation for their production on stage, through Aristotelian, modern, and postmodern approaches. First year (Spring Semester) 14 hours 3 hours THTR 7235 Movement Studio III The Combative Body. Basic stage combat in unarmed and rapier. Foundation in conditioning through stretching and tumbling with rolls, dives and falls. Scene presentations used to apply techniques to performance. 3 hours THTR 7229 Voice Studio III Baseline American & IPA review; Advanced Fitzmaurice Explorations; Epic Monologue (Greek or Shakespearean); Acting scene work crossover. 3 hours THTR 7222 Acting Studio III The Tragic Impulse. Applied basic process and text analysis explored in Greek, Shakespearean and Jacobean Tragedy; scene work with selected texts. 3 hours THTR 7436 Period Styles and Costume A Historical survey of theatre with emphasis on the development of visual design from the Greeks to the present with particular focus on the work of the actor in relationship to costume, movement and space. 0 hour THTR 7000 Daily practice. 1 hour THTR 7001.02 Independent Projects in Performance Training Individual projects in performance training / dance. 1 hour THTR 7001.03 Independent Projects in Performance Training/Individual projects in performance training / TBA. Second year Summer Session A 9 hours 3 hours THTR 7226 Camera Studio I An active, in-front-of-the-camera, studio class designed to introduce the committed actor to the skills and techniques needed to be truthful, interesting, and affecting when acting in television and film. Students will work regularly on-camera in order to develop these skills and an elemental comprehension of film and television terminology, technology and process. 3 hours THTR 8000 Thesis research/creation 3 hours THTR7223 Acting Studio IV applied basic process; The Comic Impulse. Basic process and text analysis explored in Commedia, Shakespeare, Moliere, Restoration, Sheridan and Shaw; scene work with selected texts. Second year (Fall Semester) 14 hours 3 hours THTR 7224 Acting Studio V New Plays and Devised Drama. The Solo Performance. 3 hours THTR 7922 Seminar in Performance Theory 3 hours THTR 7236 Movement Studio IV The Inventive Body. Physical approaches to the creative impulse in interpretive and generative work. Techniques used include Sound & Movement, Viewpoints, Contact Improvisation, Lecoq and Authentic Movement. Etudes used to apply techniques to individual approaches to the creation of new work. 3 hours 0 hour THTR 7230 Voice Studio IV Intro to Dialects; Extreme Voice Usage; Roy Hart explorations; Acting scene work crossover. THTR 7000 Daily practice. 1 hour THTR 7001.02 Independent Projects in Performance Training Individual projects in performance training / dance. 1 hour THTR 7001.03 Independent Projects in Performance Training Individual projects in performance training / TBA. Second year spring semester 14 hours 0 hour THTR 7000 Daily practice. 1 hour THTR 7001.02 Independent Projects in Performance Training Individual projects in performance training / dance. 3 hours THTR 7237 Movement Studio V The Athletic Body. This class focuses on the actor’s need to stay physically fit and active as they approach the free-lance world beyond conservatory training. Various warm ups will be used. Exercises that tax the body in flexibility, endurance and strength while staying within the world of the theatrical. Improvisations and etudes used to focus the work on performance. 3 hours THTR 7231 Voice Studio V Advanced Dialect work; Character Voice explorations; Voice Over techniques; Radio Play 3 hours THTR 8000 1 hour THTR 7225 Professional Issues 3 hours Thesis Performance/Writing Acting Studio VI--Audition/Interview Techniques and THTR 7239 Camera Studio II Further development of skills and principles introduced in Camera I ; exercises and scene work focused on special acting challenges, characterizations, and more demanding texts; creation and production of final DV/film project.