Shakespeare and Performance

Mary Baldwin University, in partnership with the American Shakespeare Center, offers the degree of Master of Letters (MLitt), leading to the terminal degree of Master of Fine Arts (MFA). The program is non-residential and open to all qualified students. Offers of admission are extended to the strongest candidates. Firmly grounded in the liberal arts tradition, the program offers a combination of stagecraft and scholarship, with interdisciplinary emphasis on acting, directing, dramaturgy, and teaching. Study proceeds from a common group of required courses, grounding students in the history, theory, and practice of the performance of early modern plays, then and now. Many classes follow the traditional semester format, with intensives and directed inquiries available; the MFA adopts a distinctive integrated structure with coursework built into the company’s practice. Each student works closely with the faculty and with a faculty advisor on the Mary Baldwin campus, and courses combine traditional academic scholarship with practical experience. All students have access to the American Shakespeare Center’s Blackfriars Playhouse, the only modern reconstruction in the world of Shakespeare’s Blackfriars. Resident faculty instruction is augmented with internationally recognized visiting scholars and artists.