Charlie Benton

Entertainment Editor

The MUW Theater Department offers a Master of Fine Arts in physical theatre.

The program, which is offered through the Accademia Dell’arte in Tuscany, Italy, and is the only graduate program currently offered in the MUW Theatre Department, encompasses two and a half years of study in Europe.

All the [MFA program] students are MUW students. They spend two and a half years in Europe, during which time the students spend time studying at two cities in Italy and [spend their] summers in Berlin and Prauge," said Peppy Biddy, director of graduate studies in theater.

The program is divided into seven distinct modules, each with a different focus. These are designed to mold the student into an individual performer/creator, according to the program’s website.

The program culminates in Prauge, where students produce their own work under the guidance of Pavel Stourac.

According to Biddy, this type of program is a new concept in the United States, and is not something that every theatre student would be interested in.

“The number of people who want an MFA in physical theatre is very limited,” he said.

He went on to say that the type of student who would be interested in the program is the type called an actor-creator, and that they would want to do the type of theatre that only they could do.

According to Scott McGehee, the founding director, the program is "a community of performing artists, musicians, scholars, and students working in an environment dedicated to realizing individual goals and collaborative projects.”

It is located in Arezzo, Italy.