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MFA Acting (PATP)

Curriculum – PATP

Curriculum – PATP

Our PATP actors spend 5-6 mornings a week in intensive training. Afternoons and evenings are set aside for rehearsal and performance with PlayMakers and Ground Floor productions, as well as periodic workshops and master classes.

First Year: Foundations

Acting (Drama 720): Use of self; presence, impulse and play; being and doing, actions and objectives; attention to the world of the play and the building of a character, including moment-to-moment awareness and given circumstances.

Voice/Speech/Text (Drama 722):  Inspiration (integrating thought, breath, phonation, resonance, and articulation in expressive vocal actions); vocal expansion; vocal care and stamina; emotional susceptibility; rhythm, pace, pitch and stress work for clarity of thought through language; introduction to International Phonetic Alphabet; American English pronunciation in varying contemporary and classical styles; text/rhetorical analysis.

Movement (Drama 724): Body as Instrument: corporeal awareness and presence, releasing tension, knowing and breaking habitual patterns, strength and flexibility, psychology manifested in the body, character transformation, ensemble building. Utilizing Yoga, Lecoq (neutral and basal mask) Grotowski’s physical metaphor, Laban and Viewpoints.

Rehearsal and Performance (Drama 726): Roles with PlayMakers as cast through auditions with the director or as assigned by PlayMakers; roles with Ground Floor as cast by PATP faculty or as initiated by the actor; readings; auditions.

Second Year: Variation and Transformation

Acting (Drama 721): Application of acting process to a variety of classical and formal texts including Shakespeare.

Voice/Speech/Dialects (Drama 723): Application of advanced vocal technique to scene study and classical texts; character voice and character perspective; dialect work beyond personal dialect.

Movement (Drama 725): Body in Space and Time: a physical approach to periods and styles to gain specificity and increase imaginative range; Contemporary Farce, Clown, Comedic Application to Text

Rehearsal and Performance (Drama 727): Continuing work at PlayMakers, Ground Floor, readings, and auditions.

Third Year: Ownership

Acting (Drama 728A): Continued and advanced scene work; the business of acting; showcase preparation and presentation; continued work with PlayMakers and Ground Floor.

Voice/Speech (Drama 728V): Continued application of a free and expressive voice to varying contemporary and classical work; camera work; voice-over; individual coaching and tutoring to address specific challenges and interests.

Movement (Drama 728M): Actor as Creator: devising work; creating, producing and performing a solo show.

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Ground Floor Productions

Ground Floor productions are designed with the actor in mind and chosen for specific PATP actors. They are rehearsed and performed in studios with little-to-no production values, with a focus solely on the acting. Recent Ground Floor productions include:

  • Circle Back and Kill Me Please, world premiere of an original commissioned piece by PATP alum Rishan Dhamija, directed by guest Raghav Puri
  • Den of Thieves directed by guest Kristy Dodson
  • Grand Concourse directed by PATP Faculty Tia James
  • The Mountaintop directed by guest Phillip Bernard Smith
  • The Kritik directed and written by Brenda Withers – written specifically for PATP actors
  • Top Dog Under Dog directed by guest artist Tyler Dombrowski
  • Beast on the Moon directed by UNC faculty Aubrey Snowden
  • Pavilion directed by guest artist Dana Marks
  • Time Stands Still directed by PlayMakers Producing Associate, Alejandro Rodriguez
  • Real Estate directed by guest artist Talya Klein
  • Good Girls: A Play in Five Fabulous Acts devised by PATP actors with director and guest faculty, Maria Enriquez
  • Space Plus Time written and directed by guest artist Kevin Vavassuer
  • Mud by Maria Irene Fornes, directed by guest artist Ron Menzel
  • References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot by Jose Rivera, directed by Aubrey Snowden
  • Antigone, a devised project created and directed by UNC faculty Aubrey Snowden
  • The Brothers Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney, directed by guest artist Jameeka Holloway
  • Gloria by Branden Jacobs Jenkins, directed by guest artist Daniel Wilson
  • A Doll’s House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath, directed by guest artist Beth Gardiner
  • Stop Kiss by Diana Son, directed by guest artist Jackson Gay
  • Constellations by Nick Payne directed by PATP faculty Tia James

Guest Workshops and Master Classes

The PATP’s Course of Study is occasionally supplemented by workshops and special classes taught by distinguished guests.  Recent workshops include:

  • Workshops and panel discussions with casting directors, such as: Erica Hart; Jennifer Liestman of Guthrie Theatre; Paul Davis at Calleri, Jensen and Davis Casting; Pat McCorkle; Erica Arvold; Heidi Griffiths of New York’s Public Theater; and Capelleriotis Casting
  • Workshops and panel discussions with agents from: : Jordan Parente and Nicole Wichinsky at Stewart Talent Agency;David Gretchko at Harden Curtis Kirsten Riley Agency, Professional Artists; Boals & Winnett; Harden, Curtis; and ICM

Specialty Movement, Voice and Acting Workshops:  Lucid Body – Fay Simpson, Thiago Felix; Maria Enriquez; Zachary Fine; Scott Miller; Rebecca Guy; Andrew Borba; David Hyde-Pierce and Brian Hargrove

We host career conversations with visiting artists whenever possible as well as panel conversations with PATP alumni. 

PRC’s Mobile Unit

  • The Tempest, A Mobile Shakespeare production directed by PATP Faculty, Tracy Bersley
  • Measure for Measure, a Mobile Shakespeare production directed by guest artist Katie McGerr
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a Mobile Shakespeare production directed by PlayMakers Artistic Associate Mikey Perlman
  • Macbeth, a Mobile Shakespeare production directed by PATP faculty, Tia James
  • Wilder by Wilder, Mobile production directed by Alejandro Rodriguez