LSU Department of Theatre's M.F.A. Acting Program is a two-year residential program affiliated with the 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 application (available in the download MFA Packet 2012 link below), 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
nickwe@lsu.edu
(225) 578-4331
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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We are currently accepting applications for Fall 2012.
The LSU Department of Theatre is proud to be one of the few departments in the country to offer the M.F.A. in Theatre: Specialization in Properties Technology. The course of study includes a detailed examination of the many and varied items considered properties, and different techniques and materials that can be used to create them. The intention of this course of study is to develop advanced skills in woodworking, metalworking, paper-mâché, mold making & casting, foam carving, upholstery, and sewing. The curriculum is augmented with classes in scenic and costume design, painting for the theatre, CAD, and dramaturgy. All students will undertake production positions on LSU Mainstage and Swine Palace productions. Teaching, Design and management opportunities exist for the qualified student.We are currently accepting applications for Fall 2012.
The M.F.A. in Theatre: Specialization in Scenic Technology and Design prepares the theatre artisan to undertake positions with a wide scope of responsibility. The intention of the course of study is to develop skills in scenic technology and design especially in the areas of structural analysis and design, entertainment rigging, theatre machinery and automation, set and lighting design, and theatre safety. In addition, the student will be required to complete advanced foundation courses in other production areas of theatre. All students will undertake production positions on LSU Mainstage and Swine Palace productions. Teaching, Design and management opportunities exist for the qualified student.
Requirements for Admission
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