Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Program

Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Program
Name	Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Program
Type	Graduate conservatory program
Location	Providence, Rhode Island
Established	2002
Degree	Master of Fine Arts

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Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Program

The Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Program is a three-year professional program in acting and theatre-making based in Providence, Rhode Island, administered jointly by Brown University and Trinity Repertory Company. The program combines conservatory training with university resources and produces actor-scholars who work across Broadway, Off-Broadway, Royal Shakespeare Company, Kennedy Center, and international festivals such as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Avignon Festival.

Overview

The program offers a Master of Fine Arts degree with intensive training in acting, voice, movement, dramaturgy, and production, integrating practical work at Trinity Repertory Company, academic study at Brown University, and partnerships with institutions including Shakespeare's Globe, National Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, CTG (Center Theatre Group), and the Public Theater. Students perform in productions at Perishable Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Actor's Shakespeare Project, Prospect Theatre Company, and collaborate with visiting artists from The Wooster Group, Anne Bogart, SITI Company, Complicite, and The Royal Court Theatre.

Founded in 2002 through a formal affiliation between Brown University and Trinity Repertory Company, the program emerged from Providence's long theatrical lineage traced to Theatre Royal, Benefit Street, and the regional resurgence associated with institutions like RISD and the Providence Performing Arts Center. Early curricular models referenced conservatory templates from Juilliard School, Yale School of Drama, Tisch School of the Arts, and European models exemplified by L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq and École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Techniques du Théâtre. The partnership formalized artistic exchange and residency initiatives that connected Providence to touring circuits including Lincoln Center Theater, Shubert Organization, and Roundabout Theatre Company.

Admissions are competitive and evaluated by faculty panels including artistic directors and guest directors; applicants submit audition materials and academic records evaluated alongside portfolios of work and recommendations from institutions such as The Juilliard School, New York University, Carnegie Mellon University, California Institute of the Arts, and conservatories like Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and Guildhall School of Music and Drama. The curriculum integrates studio classes, scene study, text analysis, rehearsal labs, movement workshops, voice clinics, and pedagogy seminars with cross-registration opportunities at Brown University for courses in comparative literature, performance studies, and music. Students undertake productions at Trinity Repertory Company, internships with ART (American Repertory Theater), and exchange residencies with companies like Guthrie Theater and Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Faculty have included artists and scholars with ties to August Wilson, Tony Kushner, Suzan-Lori Parks, David Mamet, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, and practitioners from Peter Brook's lineage, as well as directors and teachers associated with Anne Bogart, Viewpoints, Michael Chekhov, Uta Hagen, Stella Adler, and Meisner Technique traditions. Artistic leadership has featured collaborations with artistic directors from Trinity Repertory Company, guest artists from Broadway League, and visiting professors affiliated with Harvard University, Princeton University, Yale University, Columbia University, and Brown University departments. Residency artists have included directors and performers from Martha Graham School, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Merce Cunningham Trust, and playwrights connected to New Dramatists.

The program uses performance spaces and production facilities at Trinity Repertory Company's complex, rehearsal rooms on Brown University's campus, and technical shops connected to Warren Alpert Medical School buildings repurposed for performance labs. Affiliations extend to regional and national venues including Providence Performing Arts Center, AS220, RISD Museum, Gamm Theatre, National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, and networks like Association of American Universities-linked arts initiatives. Students access libraries such as John Hay Library, archives like the Harold Clurman Collection, and digitized collections from Library of Congress and New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Alumni have gone on to perform in productions at Broadway, West End, Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre, London], venues and in films and television series produced by Netflix, HBO, AMC, ABC, NBC, and PBS. Graduates have created original work presented at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Festival d'Avignon, Victory Gardens Theater, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, The Public Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and festivals like Sundance Film Festival and SXSW. Notable alumni have been associated with productions nominated for Tony Award, Laurence Olivier Award, Obie Award, Drama Desk Award, and Emmy Award.

The program and its artists have received recognition from institutions including the National Endowment for the Arts, MacArthur Foundation, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, Dramatists Guild Foundation, and awards linked to Tony Awards, Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Laurence Olivier Awards, Obie Awards, and regional honors from the Providence Arts Council and Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.