MFA in Directing

The Master of Fine Arts degree in Directing is intended for the artist-scholar who plans to direct professionally, work as an artistic director, and/or pursue a career in university theatre education. Admission to the program is highly competitive. Students should have a solid background in dramatic literature and theatre history as well as practical experience in directing, play analysis, visual composition, and design collaboration. MFA students have numerous opportunities to direct during the three year program, practicing their craft in a diversity of styles, genres, and spaces. The program culminates in an MFA thesis production.

The Department of Theatre Arts is dedicated to the formation of professional directors who are artist-scholars. We deliver a specialized and thorough curriculum correlated to nationally recognized standards and designed to prepare qualified students for success in professional theatre, educational theatre, and university teaching. The Master of Fine Arts Degree in Directing is the only terminal degree in theatre offered at any Baptist university in the world.

Goals and Objectives

Upon completion of our curriculum, the student will demonstrate:

• The ability to imagine, articulate, and implement an overall conceptual approach to a variety of plays and to develop and realize a directorial concept in a fully mounted production from its inception through public performance.
• A broad knowledge of dramatic literature and theatre history and demonstrated research ability to draw upon the cultural context in which the plays were generated.
• The ability to collaborate with actors in their process of creation and performance.
• An understanding of basic design principles and demonstrated competency in effectively utilizing these principles in the staging of a play.
• An understanding and critical judgment of all the theatre arts and crafts which serves as a basis for communication with other theatre artists and decision-making.
• The ability to communicate with and collaborate effectively with such contributing theatre personnel as designers, voice and movement coaches, dramaturges, technicians, publicists, and administrators.