The Theatre School at DePaul University Announces New Two-Year MFA Acting Program

The Theatre School has reviewed and modified the curriculum of the current MFA Acting program to make the change from a three-year program to a two-year program. The faculty adapted the curriculum to include courses that will propel graduates into the ever-changing entertainment industry. Through elimination of the third year of the MFA Acting program, The Theatre School can reduce tuition for the students and allow graduates to re-enter the profession more quickly. The Theatre School will accept 14 students into the MFA acting program each year, with the first class entering this fall. All accepted students will receive scholarship assistance.

"The new two-year MFA in Acting represents a major revision of a celebrated program that has graduated top talent for over fifty years," explained Dexter Bullard, head of the MFA Acting program. "Compressing and intensifying the work makes the program more inclusive, innovative, much more affordable, sustainable, and specifically focused on the field for the 21st century." Graduates of the MFA Acting program include Karen Aldridge, W. Earl Brown, P.J. Byrne, Celeste M. Cooper, Ann Dowd, and Larry Yando.

Graduate actors study a progression of active and rigorous movement, voice, speech, and acting that synthesize training with intelligence, imagination, and ethical practice. Courses capture experiences in the work of improvisation, anti-racism and equity, dramatic writing, acting on camera, digital media, critical studies in dramatic literature and performance, networking, self-producing, activism, talent management, and personal branding.

Actors will have many opportunities to collaborate on productions on The Theatre's School's varied stages and performance spaces. Professors, industry specialists, and working artists will connect the coursework to practical application in the field. The program philosophy is to develop singular voices based on intersectional identities that will multiply stories that reflect America as a place of truth, humanity, and openness. The two-year program will launch early-career actors into the national and international theatrical and entertainment landscape.

Dexter Bullard is a Chicago-based theater director and head of the graduate acting program at The Theatre School at DePaul University. His recent credits include Grace (Broadway); Sucker Punch, Circle Mirror Transformation (Victory Gardens Theater); Big Meal (American Theatre Company, Jeff-nominated); Odradek (The House Theatre of Chicago); Mistakes Were Made (Barrow Street Theater Off-Broadway, A Red Orchid Theatre); The DIALogues (Links Hall, MCA); Reverie (The Second City at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal); Lady (Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre Off-Broadway); and Gas for Less (Goodman Theatre). In 2004, Dexter was awarded the Lucille Lortel Award for Tracy Letts's Bug at The Barrow Street Theater, as well as a Drama Desk Nomination. In 1995 Dexter co-founded Plasticene, a physical theater company whose critically-acclaimed experimental works were featured at The Steppenwolf Studio, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Storefront Theatre, Performing Arts Chicago, MCA, and in New York City. With Plasticene, he directed and collaboratively created 14 original works over 15 years including doorslam (1995), The Palmer Raids (2003) and From A Fading Light (2010). Since 1996, Dexter has also directed with The Second City, leading a National Touring Company and developing revues at E.T.C. and at Second City Detroit. Dexter also founded The Next Lab at The Next Theatre where he directed Bouncers, for which he received a Jefferson Citation and an After Dark Award. As Associate Artistic Director at Next Theatre, he directed and/or created eight shows for mainstage and Lab as well as producing the world premiere of Tracy Letts's Killer Joe. He has also directed projects for Steppenwolf's First Look, Famous Door Theatre, Northlight Theatre, American Blues, Hartford Stage Company, Links Hall and several times for A Red Orchid Theatre. He studied acting and theater at Northwestern and received his MFA in Performance from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

theatre.depaul.edu

To post a comment, you must register and login.