Through ongoing scene and monologue study of contemporary texts, this course offers a deepening of the student's relationships to the many facets of acting. Our investigation into the craft of acting will include intention, objective, emotional life, behavior, listening responding, body and voice as an instrument, and thoughtful character development.

This course explores scenes and monologues from plays, using the tools of research, analysis, and conceptual thinking. Students learn to respond truthfully to dramatic texts written in heightened language which require elevated style of movement.

The production of sound and speaking is a full body event. Voice and Speech is designed to connect students to their embodied voice as an instrument. Students will expand their existing knowledge to broaden vocabulary, self-awareness, and access to their individual instrument.

This course deepens exploration of the vocal instrument begun in Voice 1 and expands instruction with focus on analysis and execution of heightened language.

This course is designed to increase the students' physical awareness of themselves and the world around them. This awareness supports the development of ensemble and character, and enables the practical applications of movement to the creative process.

Movement and Physical Awareness 2 deepens the actor's understanding of the mind-body connection in the creation of character and story. Theater makes the intangible, tangible. In this course, students expand their kinesthetic and physical vocabulary, and investigate how the physical form tells stories.

Professional seminar courses provide an opportunity for students to engage in master classes with theater professionals who are experts or authorities in their craft. These classes are designed to be interactive and immersive areas of specialized focus. Students will gain exposure to and concentrated engrossment in areas of study outside of but complementary to the cohesive program curriculum.

Professional Seminar courses provide an opportunity for students to engage in master classes with theater professionals who are experts in their craft. These classes are designed to be interactive and immersive in areas of specialized focus. Students will gain exposure to and concentrated engrossment in areas of outside of, but complementary to, the cohesive program curriculum.

An experiential learning course that involves exploration of theatrical hypotheses about the nature, purpose, and application of the dramatic arts in our local and global communities. In Drama Lab, students experiment through the creation and development of new works as individuals and an ensemble.

An experiential learning course that involves exploration of theatrical hypotheses about the nature, purpose, and application of the dramatic arts in our local and global communities. In Drama Lab, students experiment through the creation and development of new works as individuals and an ensemble.

Since the first plays were performed in the 5th century B.C.E., human beings have expressed the greatest depths of human emotion, experience, and conflict in the art of theater. This class is designed to help students develop the skills of close-reading drama as both a literary and a theatrical art form with its own methods for creating meaning. Readings, discussions, writing, and performance assignments will help students build their understanding of how playwrights create meaning while also opening interpretive choices for actors and audiences.

Since the first plays were performed in the 5th century B.C.E., human beings have expressed the greatest depths of human emotion, experience, and conflict in theater. This class is designed to help students develop the skills to identify and interpret a variety of styles and types of drama from a diverse range of global backgrounds and ethnic, racial, gender, and sexual identities; an understanding of the historical, cultural, and political contexts that shaped these plays; and the ability to engage in close reading, understanding how playwrights create meaning, while also leaving interpretive choices for actors and audiences. Class time will include both discussion and brief student performances of the plays being read, giving students the opportunity to explore these texts with their bodies and voices as well as their minds.

Theater can be an incendiary device for revolution, a tool for critical reflection, and a practice of critical resistance. In this course, students will explore the radical potential of theater and performance to effect positive social and political change in the world and in their own communities. We will consider theater artists and movements focused on the potential of performance to effect social change. Students will investigate the ways in which theater has served as a forum to rethink and rehearse notions of community, citizenship, justice, power, authority, and responsibility. Readings and projects will explore what forms and examples of theater best inspire political action; which tactics have had the greatest impact; and in what ways performance might intervene in contemporary crises at home and abroad. Students will experiment with developing scripts and performances based on current events and may collaborate with community groups on performative projects.

This course is designed to provide students with practical experience and working knowledge of the skills required when performing for a camera.

In collaboration with MFA 622 and MFA 632, this course strengthens the students' relationship to the voice and body as an instrument while maintaining the integrity of objectives and truth in performance.

Voice and Speech 3 continues study of the artist's instrument, focusing on the transformative powers of sound and the sound of transformation. This course is a deeper dive into the study and application of dialect as well as the use of dramatic digressions such as choral ode, song, or silence.

Voice and Speech 4 examines how artists apply their skills in other media including voice over, film, and public speaking. This course expands on the training of Voice 1-3 to broaden the possibility of performance and storytelling through vocal technique.

Movement and Physical Awareness 3 deepens the actors understanding of form and content as it relates to the creation of performance. Students explore how the elements of theatrical narrative (movement, sound, light mood, etc.) communicate stories that move us emotionally, viscerally, and sensorially.

This course explores composition and staging in traditional and non-traditional performance venues.

Professional Seminar courses provide an opportunity for students to engage in master classes with theater professionals who are experts in their craft. These classes are designed to be interactive and immersive in areas of specialized focus. Students will gain exposure to and concentrated engrossment in areas of outside of, but complementary to, the cohesive program curriculum.

Professional Seminar courses provide an opportunity for students to engage in master classes with theater professionals who are experts in their craft. These classes are designed to be interactive and immersive in areas of specialized focus. Students will gain exposure to and concentrated engrossment in areas of outside of, but complementary to, the cohesive program curriculum.

Professional Seminar courses provide an opportunity for students to engage in master classes with theater professionals who are experts in their craft. These classes are designed to be interactive and immersive in areas of specialized focus. Students will gain exposure to and concentrated engrossment in areas of outside of, but complementary to, the cohesive program curriculum.

Professional Seminar courses provide an opportunity for students to engage in master classes with theater professionals who are experts in their craft. These classes are designed to be interactive and immersive in areas of specialized focus. Students will gain exposure to and concentrated engrossment in areas of outside of, but complementary to, the cohesive program curriculum.

An experiential learning course that involves exploration of theatrical hypotheses about the nature, purpose, and application of the dramatic arts in our local and global communities. In Drama Lab, students experiment through the creation and development of new works as individuals and an ensemble.

Students will be involved in a Kavinoky Theatre production in some capacity. Students will understudy at least one role during their 2-year program and will be in at least one substantial role during their candidacy. Other opportunities in production may be, but are not limited to, apprenticeship in: Design/Tech; Directorial; Stage Management; Administrative/Box Office; House Management. Performance or apprentice opportunities outside of Kavinoky Theatre in partnership with other WNY professional theatres.

This course is designed to deepen the understanding of the collaborative efforts required in the creation and production of theater.

This course addresses the existing literature of musical theater with a special focus on diversity and inclusion. We will focus not only on the books and scores but also on how artists influence and impact interpretations and change.

Creative Thesis Project is the capstone for all MFA students. In this instructionally guided seminar, students will synthesize research and creative activity into performance of their work. A significant portion of class time will be spent discussing student projects and engaging in creative critique workshops. Creative Thesis Project includes a public performance as well as an in-depth, rigorously researched written analysis.