Welcome to the Noblest of Professions
Searching for the best training program to fit your needs can be as confusing as it is exhilarating. And as there are a dizzying number of great schools, conservatories, professional internships around the globe, we applaud your meticulous search and would like to share with you the unique and powerful training at ASF.
The single important principle that ASF embraces is one of Professional Actor Training by professionals on the professional stage. We have structured the M.F.A. Program to involve you directly in the artistic life of the theater. In addition to class work and studio projects, you will be working with actors, directors, designers, playwrights, choreographers and coaches who have and continue to spend their lives working in professional theatre throughout the country. You will collaborate with these artists and be thrust into the midst of professional play-making. Could there ever be a better classroom than the rehearsal hall, or the stage of a 750-seat theatre? What course could we possibly offer that would illuminate the same understanding you receive when a costume designer inspires a moment in the play for you–all discussed in a fitting-room? Witnessing and participating in the collaboration is what we expect and what we know to be the most direct and transformational learning experience possible.
Of course, we won’t be throwing you into a creative maelstrom without a dedicated faculty supporting your every move. Formal classes are demanding and individually crafted to expand your range of expression physically, vocally, intellectually, and imaginatively. You will exact your skills in the foundations of acting and put those skills to immediate practice on the professional stage. Theory no longer stays theory when you are using it and it works.
Please read further for specific information about our curriculum, faculty, and admission requirements. If you like what you read, feel free to download our application, or e-mail me with further questions.
The professional theatre is not for the weak. It is bold, demanding, exhausting, terrifying and thrilling. It is a collaborative art that pushes your limits and expands your soul. So may your training be as well.
We hope to hear from you.
Ray Chambers
MFA/PAT Program Director
The University of Alabama/Alabama Shakespeare Festival Master of Fine Arts/ Professional Actor Training Program offers a unique opportunity for acting students to train and work at one of the nation’s most prestigious regional theatres. The program, which leads to a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, is a concentrated two-year program. Students are in-residence at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery for the duration of the training with a short break in late summer between the first and second years. Our mission is to create an experiential-based program of training founded in the belief that actor training is most effective when integrated with working professionals in a professional environment. The curriculum, which focuses on the performance of classical texts, is designed to develop skilled, creative artists who can articulate and practice an ethic of theatre as well as succeed in the business of theatre.
Up to eight students are accepted each year into the training program. Successful applicants range from recent college graduates to professional actors who are seeking advanced training. The program’s structure is balanced in class work, private coaching, rehearsing, understudying and performing. Core classes conducted by the program faculty in voice, movement, theatre history and acting are supplemented by master classes and workshops conducted by ASF Associate Artists and guest professionals. Students understudy and perform supporting roles as members of the ASF Acting Company, as well as perform in their own Graduate Company productions. Students may elect to join the Actors’ Equity Association Membership Candidate Program and graduate with professional weeks toward Equity membership. If a program candidate is a current member of Equity, a temporary withdrawal should be obtained after being accepted into the program.
continue to Curriculum and Grading/Evaluation
