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Theater Arts Graduate Academic
Programs Choose one of the following concentrations to learn more information about it:
Master of Fine Arts Program in Acting Classes are limited in size in order to promote individual growth and to develop each student's unique and special gifts. All students are carefully monitored by the entire faculty, and only those students whose work meets unanimous approval by the faculty may proceed to the next level of the program. The MFA Acting Program requires a three year, full time residency and a minimum of 70 credits. The program consists of intense and continuous studio work in acting, speech, voice, and movement as well as supplementary work in theory and script analysis, ensemble techniques, auditioning, stage combat, and dialects. The program also trains the inner emotional instrument in order to produce an actor who has total mastery of both external and internal emotional techniques. All classes are conducted by outstanding master teachers and professional artists who have extensive professional reputations. The program is dedicated to developing the total actor who will be equipped to cope with not only the demands of television, film, and contemporary stage acting, but who will also have acquired the requisite skills to deal with classical repertory. After the first semester, MFA actors perform extensively in both studio and fully produced Rutgers Theater Company productions. Equal emphasis is placed on both developing professional level skills in the studio and applying these skills in rehearsal and production. Year I - The first year of study is devoted to developing a truthful, vibrant, emotionally alive acting instrument. This is accomplished through a process of improvisational exercises and textual work derived from William Esper's 17 year association, as a teacher and director, with Sanford Meisner. Students also take theatrical makeup and classes in ensemble techniques. All first year MFA students take The Theatrical Genome, a two-semester theater history, theory and script analysis sequence. Year II - The second year of study is devoted to using the acting instrument for interpretive purposes. This year focuses on developing tools necessary for sophisticated character work and incorporates extensive textual analysis of plays. Students add physical acting, corporeal styles, and dialects to the core program and begin monologue work. All second year MFA students study one play per week in a two-semester dramatic literature course. Year III - The third year is devoted entirely to classical repertoire, with the previous two years of intense work in acting, speech, voice, and movement as a foundation. The actor deals with segments of work in the Victorian, Edwardian, Restoration, Baroque, and Elizabethan periods. This year's study is augmented by intense monologue development and the development of auditioning skills. About the Rutgers Actors Showcase The program places major emphasis on career preparation, and classes in auditioning receive feedback from active New York casting agents. At the end of the third year, graduates perform in special showcases for New York and Los Angeles agents, managers and casting personnel. A majority of graduates sign with major agencies and management firms. About Rutgers Theater Company The Mason Gross School of the Arts' Theater Arts Department combines rigorous studio class work with a demanding production schedule to provide students with in- depth training and practice in theater. The Rutgers Theater Company is a resident company of student actors, designers, directors, playwrights, stage managers and technicians whose work is guided by master teachers and accomplished professionals. Rutgers Theater Company fully produces a seven-play mainstage season consisting of classics, modern dramatic and new works each year. Each play runs for 8 to 14 performances in one of our two main 335 seat theaters. The Jameson Project presents a series of plays directed by the MFA directing students in an eight to ten play season that includes provocative and relevant contemporary, full length plays and one acts as well the world premieres of three one act plays each year. The plays are fully rehearsed and produced on a set of aluminum and wood modules for a total of 6 performances. In addition there are numerous studio projects performed in the department's three acting studios. Guest Faculty Classroom work is also enriched by guest master-teachers who have included Lloyd Richards, Anna Sokolow, Pierre LeFevre, Joseph Chaiken, and Marjorie Barstow. In addition, the faculty is joined as often as possible by the presence of artists-in-residence, which have included: Lloyd Richards, Kevin Klein, F. Murray Abraham, Michael Warren Powell, and John Going.
For further information please contact: Deborah Hedwall Telephone: 732/932-9891 Ext. 30 The Theater Arts Department participates in the University/Resident Theater Association (U/RTA) National Unified Finals. Interviews are also held by appointment at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Admission to all programs requires an interview and a portfolio review. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is dedicated
by law and by purpose to serving all people on an equal
and nondiscriminatory basis. | ||
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The acting program at the Mason Gross School of the
Arts at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey,
is designed for the dedicated student who wishes to
undertake the kind of rigorous and demanding work necessary
to compete successfully in the professional theater.
The program is dedicated to the proposition that acting
is a creative art, and true excellence in its practice
may be obtained only through mastery of technical craft.