The faculty is made up of successful theatre professionals who are inspired to teach. We recognize the importance of ensemble work, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the necessity of entrepreneurial skills in developing a versatile, evolved actor.
The training day is from 9 AM to 5 PM, followed by evening and weekend rehearsals and performances. Our program is structured to immerse students in the vocabulary and practices set down by Konstantin Stanislavski and informed by the individual professional experiences of the faculty. Over the three years of study, our students are exposed to cutting edge material as well as work in the established canon of western dramatic literature.
They also practice devising original performances. During their course of study, each student appears in at least seven productions, two self-written solo shows, and extensive scene and technique classes. Students are in class full-time, 40 hours or more a week, for about 44 weeks. Since , the ACA has been graduating between 12 and 18 students each year who are helping transform the way classical theater is performed on Broadway, in regional theaters and on teaching faculties around the country.
Visit the program website for additional information. For more information on the admission process, please visit the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences Frequently Asked Questions page. Contact for questions: askccas gwu. Send Page to Printer. Download Page PDF. At the ACA, our twelve-month graduate program offers both artistic and practical advantages that set it apart from other MFA acting programs.
Many actors desire additional classical training but cannot devote three years to a conventional MFA program. Such programs take them out of the field for a very long time and, most significantly, only focus marginally on classical acting. Our curriculum consists of six full days of classes and rehearsals for twelve consecutive months, including performances of fully-staged ACA repertory productions. Beginning in late August and finishing in mid-July, the training involves roughly 44 weeks of instruction, with classes usually beginning at 8 a.
This credit degree is divided into three terms: Fall, Spring, and Summer. In the Fall and Spring semesters, Academy actors will rehearse and perform one-hour devised Shakespeare productions, directed and staged by artists from the Shakespeare Theatre Company and the D.
Rehearsals take place in the evenings after classes, and on Saturdays. During the Summer term, actors are cast in two full-length classical plays, which rehearse on an Equity schedule Monday through Saturday.
The goal of the acting curriculum at the ACA is to join the emotional, physical and imaginative life of a role with the technical skills needed to express that character to its fullest.
This is achieved through rigorous foundation work and applying the basic tenets of acting to the acting of plays in verse; making strong choices that are grounded in the text, establishing a connection to the scene partner, listening and responding to what is happening in the scene. A thorough and detailed process is established in order to bring the language to life through thoughtful text analysis, attention to the intricacies of meter and punctuation, clarity of changes in action shifts or beat changes and freeing up the imagination to create a wider variety of available choices.
Using scenes and monologues, the students work closely with the instructors to bring their physical and vocal instruments to meet the demands of the material, and integrate the work done in other classes. In the fall term, the scenes focus on the tragedies and history plays; in the spring, comedies are introduced.
Throughout the year work continues on monologues from all of the plays. The ACA faculty in Voice, Alexander Technique, Text, and Mask attend acting classes regularly in order to gain a greater awareness of progress and address aspects of the work in an integrated manner. Additional focused text classes provide the foundation and tools for that work.
Scansion begins as a technical skill supporting clarity and ease with the verse, but becomes a resource for character and situation as well. Rhetoric is another fundamental, one far more central to Elizabethan and Jacobean speech than it is to our daily language. In Shakespeare, rhetoric is a mode of thought, not simply decorative language.
Finding that rhythm of thought is essential to the clarity and life of the prose. The resulting agility with text provides a firm foundation for confident performance of classical roles. We work with the actor to develop vocal support, resonance, capacity, range, spontaneity and flexibility. The speech professor attends classes to give notes, identifying ways in which the student might communicate more meaningfully and effectively, and works with directors when the students are doing their table work for the repertory plays in the last term.
As with all other classes at the ACA, speech classes are fully participatory and interactive. Students learn to be highly proficient in the International Phonetic Alphabet, scansion dynamics and various other forms of text analysis, so there is a significant amount of material handed in and returned with comments. This way, students are always aware of their level of work and the advancements they are making.
The mask has a very practical use and a profound purpose: to make the body the primary instrument of expression rather than the face, and to develop the physical presence needed to inhabit a role. Mask work guides us to eliminate inhibiting habitual patterns, encourages clarity of movement and fosters a greater command of stillness.
In distilling action down to essential rhythms, we comprehend the space and force of gesture. The actor discovers greater depths of expressiveness, how to move with power and presence and deeper understandings of spatial dynamics. During the program, the participant will explore in-depth the principles of Hand-to-Hand Combat, Broadsword, Rapier, and Rapier and Dagger. ACA actors will develop the skills to master the safe use of these weapons on stage.
The class explores training methods of footwork, hip relationship, blade actions and grappling. Special emphasis is given to acting the fight, bringing meaning and intent to the physical actions and how to develop a fight to serve the play. Learn About Our Programs. Practical Students work closely with a faculty of professional actors, directors, producers, and playwrights who are actively working in theater, film, and television.
Learn About Our Competitive Prices. Accredited NCDA complies with rules and regulations from the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges and the USDE , which means that students are eligible to apply for government financial aid in the form of grants, subsidized loans, etc.
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