The M.F.A. degrees offered by the School of Theater are professional degrees. The Professional Actor Training Program and the Professional Director Training Program each require a minimum of 135 credit hours over a nine-quarter (three-year) residency period. The M.F.A. in production design and technology is a professional degree and normally requires a minimum of 135 credit hours over a nine-quarter period, but may also be, with approval of the faculty, a six-quarter program with a 90 credit-hour requirement. The M.F.A. in playwriting is a professional degree and covers 90 credit hours of study. The Theater General M.F.A. Program requires a minimum of 90 credit hours.
The Professional Actor Training Program (PATP) seeks to train and prepare students for fulfilling careers as actors. The school offers an intense practical program that develops vocal, physical, and imaginative capacities and a reliable process for approaching a role; strengthens the working technique; and gives you constant exposure to the techniques of audition, interview, and self-presentation that are necessary for employment in the professional world.
The program consists of a five-day week, with six- to seven-hour time blocks divided among acting, voice, movement, and auxiliary courses designed to meet students' specific needs. The first year focuses on action and character, the second on acting styles in various periods, and the third year involves an internship at a professional theater. Students are eligible for a one-year internship at the Cleveland Playhouse. Third-year PATP students compose the core of the Cleveland Playhouse Lab Company. Literature and history courses are encouraged, as well as singing, voice, dance, physical education, and others as determined by your advisor.
Production opportunities abound. There is no casting for students during the first quarter of the first year, as the faculty believes in spending that quarter diagnosing and addressing your needs. Thereafter, the school's mainstage productions and the many offerings in the laboratory theater provide constant opportunities for applying the studio work to a performance situation. There is also the opportunity for an intense summer of performing through the university's prestigious Monomoy Theater on Cape Cod.
There is constant communication among the PATP faculty to advance the training of each student. Quarterly evaluations are scheduled to determine progress and specific areas of strength and weakness in technique. Only those students showing consistent improvement will be invited to continue in the program.
The PATP faculty firmly believe that our students must be constantly challenged to reach for the highest standards of the profession. Therefore, we sponsor the school's visiting artist program and expect at least one quarter of acting opportunity with a leading regional theater to be a part of your experience in the program. Most students spend the third year at the Cleveland Playhouse on acting internship.
Admission is by interview and audition. The PATP is open to a limited number of talented, mature, and motivated candidates.
Minimum requirements for the M.F.A. include 72 credit hours in acting training, 10 credits in acting practicum, two credits in technical or management practicum, 15 credits of internship, 10 credits in history/criticism, literature, and introduction to graduate studies, and 12 credits in thesis production. Electives comprise the remaining requirements for a total of 135 credits.
Sample Program
First Year
Fall Quarter
Winter Quarter
Spring Quarter
Second Year
Fall Quarter
Winter Quarter
Spring Quarter
Third Year
Professional Internship
The Professional Director Training Program proposes to train directors who will meet the demands of commercial, educational, or community theater. Your talents and background will determine the specific program. Of necessity, the number of candidates admitted is limited to three students per year. Admission is granted only upon recommendation by advisors and/or observers of your previous work and a personal interview with the program head.
The three-year course of study is based on the belief that time and meaningful opportunities are prime ingredients in any training program. The directing sequence is structured to provide a general orientation in the first year, with emphasis on fundamentals. The second year concerns itself with extended emphasis on process, with several laboratory experiences principally dedicated to experimentation, exploration, error, and analysis. The third year is designed to test conclusions in a more public arena through a major production in residence (the thesis) and to expose you to professional realities via internship with a major LORT theater or equivalent producing organization. Finally, a quarter of internship with a British theater company is provided by way of extending and deepening your cultural perspective.
Minimum course requirements for the three-year M.F.A. include 78 credits in directing, four credits in acting, eight credits in production design, 12 credits in history and criticism, four credits in administration, 17 elective credits principally outside the School of Theater, and 12 practicum credits for production work for a total of 135 credits.
The M.F.A. in Production Design and Technology is a three-year program that strives to prepare students for professional careers. The first year of the program deals primarily with fundamental design principles. The second year focuses on skills, such as drafting, draping, or painting needed to execute these designs. During the third year, emphasis is placed on the ability to work independently and to integrate and implement all aspects of the training.
Admission to the program requires either a B.A. or B.F.A. degree and is based on an evaluation of your portfolio, resume, and recommendations, as well as a review of your academic qualifications for graduate work. A visit to inspect the facilities and an interview with the design staff is encouraged.
Total credit hour requirements are based on a normal load of 15-18 credit hours per academic quarter for nine quarters of residency. Participation in a specified production activity each quarter is required. It is expected that these activities will relate directly to your major interests and that, during specified times, they will consist of major production responsibilities such as designing or technical directing for a mainstage production. A thesis project (a complete design project in the student's major and secondary areas of interest) is required for graduation.
At least one quarter of the third year is expected to consist of an internship at a major LORT or commercial theater in the U.S. or Great Britain.
Minimum course requirements for the three year M.F.A. include 70 hours of core courses and at least 65 hours of specific area requirements for a total of 135 hours. Any course may be waived at entry depending upon your background.
Program Requirements
Core Courses: Introduction to Graduate Studies, Scene Design, Costume History, Lighting Design, Historical Bases of Design.
Area Requirements: (Some of these courses are offered by
departments other than the School of Theater)
Costume Design: Costume Design; Pattern Drafting, Draping, Crafts;
Figure Drawing, Watercolor, Media; Script Analysis or Directing;
Electives.
Scene Design: Scene Design; Costume Design; Drafting, Modelmaking, & Painting; Watercolor, Figure Drawing, Media; Script Analysis or Directing; Electives.
Technical Production: Technical Production; Drafting; Skills (Metals, Plastics, Props, Special Effects, Furniture); Construction, Crafts, Painting, Soft Goods, Modelmaking; Lighting Production; Electives.
Lighting Design: Lighting Design; Lighting Production/Tech Production; Drafting; Sound Design/Sound Production; Script Analysis or Directing; Electives.
Sound Design: Sound Design & Production (including Music Acoustics, Audio, Recording); Tech Production/Light Production; Lighting Design; Drafting; Script Analysis or Directing; Electives.
The Professional Playwriting Program at Ohio University leads to the M.F.A degree with the completion of a minimum of 90 credit hours of study. The program of study may include 135 credit hours of coursework (three years) where appropriate. The minimum requirement of six quarters of residency may be waived if one quarter is spent in an internship with a professional company.
Courses within the School of Theater will generally include selections from the theater history sequence, the dramatic criticism series, and available seminars in directing and acting. You are expected to fulfill occasional production assignments and may audition for university theater productions. Courses outside the School of Theater may include seminars in dance, music, literature, etc., and creative writing courses in the Department of English. All candidates for the M.F.A. are expected to complete successfully at least eight hours of Advanced Playwriting (THAR 750 and 759).
You will be expected to work with second-year students in the Directing Program in THAR 550 for a minimum of three hours of credit (the course may be taken more than once), during which an original script is brought to the point of public reading and perhaps production. The production of school-generated original scripts is not normally a part of the school's production program (although it has happened) but numerous opportunities for public exposure of original work exist through an active laboratory theater program.
Minimum standards for acceptance include a 3.0 grade-point average for undergraduate work and the submission of sample manuscripts that need not be, but usually are, in dramatic form.
Sample Program
Introduction to Graduate Studies
Theater History Sequence: Greek Theater and Drama; Roman and Medieval Theater; Renaissance Theater and Drama; Restoration and 18th-Century Theater; Baroque European Theater; 19th-Century European Theater; Contemporary Theater; American Theater and Drama.
Dramatic Criticism Series: Dramatic Criticism I; Dramatic Criticism II; Seminar in Theater History; Seminar in Dramatic Criticism; (Available Seminars in Directing).
Advanced Playwriting
Playwrights Workshop
Electives: Seminars in dance, music, literature; creative writing courses in Department of English.
The Theater General degree is intended for exceptional students with demonstrated ability and intellectual maturity who wish to design their own program to satisfy particular academic and/or career goals. This degree program allows you to study in two or three areas within the School of Theater. If you wish to pursue arts administration or stage management, for example, you may find this degree particularly useful. Various options are available. (NOTE: If you have additional interests outside the School of Theater, please see Individual Interdisciplinary Programs of Study in this catalog.)
You may receive an M.A. or an M.F.A. upon completion of study.
Program Requirements
M.A. in Theater General
Requires a minimum of 45 credit hours. If two areas of emphasis are
chosen, then each area must include a minimum of 20 credit hours with
the appropriate number of elective hours. If three areas of emphasis
are chosen, then each area must include a minimum of 15 credit hours.
M.F.A. in Theater General
Requires a minimum of 90 hours with the possibility of 135 hours for
a three-year program. If two areas of emphasis are chosen, then each
area must include a minimum of 30 credit hours with the appropriate
number of elective hours. If three areas of emphasis are chosen, then
each area must include a minimum of 20 credit hours with the
appropriate number of elective hours.
Both M.A. and M.F.A. Theater General
Both degrees require the completion of a final project that may be
chosen from these options: (a) written thesis, (b) comprehensive
examination, or (c) performance project.
Because of the independent nature of the program, you must work very closely with your advisor at each stage of the program. This unique advisor-advisee relationship encourages inquiry, originality, and determination in the pursuit of the degree.
You must apply initially with an earned 3.0 g.p.a. in an appropriate undergraduate degree. In addition to the usual application materials, you must submit a plan of study and a statement of goals describing your intent and rationale for pursuing the degree. A visit and interview are strongly encouraged, though not mandatory. You must have achieved a minimum g.p.a. of 3.3 during the first quarter of residency and have an approved plan of study before the end of the second quarter of residency.
The initial advisor for the degree is the Director of Graduate Studies; another advisor may be chosen or assigned at a later date.
University Publications and the Computer Services Center revised this file (http://www.ohiou.edu/~gcat/95-97/areas/theater/mfa.html) April 13, 1998.
Please e-mail comments or suggestions to "gcat@www.ohiou.edu."