Pursuing an MFA in theater is becoming a common practice for American artists. With many relying on jobs in theater education, an MFA is often a prerequisite. In addition to allowing students to further pursue and hone their craft, perhaps the presence of an MFA adds a further legitimacy to the field, mirroring the training processes of other fields.
However, unlike other pursuits, a life in the American theater is inherently shaky, changing, and unpredictable. Despite what some may say, with a growing number of programs and with the open-ended nature of theater, an MFA applicant should be creative in carving a path.
As an education director of a theater company, chairperson with the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, teacher, and incoming graduate candidate/graduate teaching assistant in an MFA directing program, here are some thoughts on how to do just that.
1. Forget the hype and think financially.There is a lot of hype in theater and yet there are no tests, assessments, or empirical protocols to examine an artist’s value. Graduating from a “prestigious” program with a lot of debt doesn’t make you a working artist, it just makes you an artist with debt.
Most Actors’ Equity members earn, on
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