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Overview of the Professional Actor Training Program (PATP)
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The UW Professional Actor Training Program (PATP) is a highly regarded three-year conservatory training program, leading to a Master of Fine Arts in Acting degree. We prepare carefully selected actors for the professional world of theatre, film, television and newer digital media. Our training is based on the time honored traditions of Stanislavski combined with extensive practice in Suzuki based physical training and the Viewpoints.
Program of Study
The primary focus of PATP training is to provide our actors with the practical tools and sensibilities to become outstanding theatre actors who are comfortable and effective in all media. The faculty is made up of successful theatre professionals who are inspired to teach. Over the course of the three year course of study, every student appears in at least seven productions, two self-written solo shows an in-depth dialect project and extensive scene and technique classes. Recognizing the challenges and opportunities of acting in film, television and digital media, we provide our students with screen acting, voice-over and audition coaching to prepare graduates for work in all venues. We provide the means, equipment and expertise to make professional quality videos to showcase our students’ talents. During the third year, classes and projects focusing on career and business become part of the curriculum. At the end of the third year we prepare a professional showcase for Seattle, Los Angeles and New York. Each actor in the program leaves with a professional quality audition “reel”.
Our training day is from 9am to 5pm followed by evening rehearsals and performances. The program is structured to immerse our students in the traditional vocabulary and practices set down by Konstantin Stanislavski and informed by the individual professional experiences of the faculty. The program is also designed to increase the actors’ expressiveness through “instrument classes” in voice, speech, dialects, coordination (Alexander Technique), Viewpoints and Suzuki based movement. Over the three years of study, our students become well versed in the established canon of western dramatic literature.
The program also strives to inspire life-long exploration and inquiry into the creative spirit that informs the actor's work. We recognize the importance of ensemble work and the necessity of entrepreneurial skills in developing a versatile, evolved actor.
Every year PATP actors audition for northwest theatres including the Seattle Repertory Theatre, Intiman Theatre, ACT (A Contemporary Theatre), Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, as well as for summer theatre festivals from around the region and country, several of whom come to campus to see UW PATP actors. Many of our students find summer acting work and many of our third year actors begin working immediately after graduating.
PATP students receive a great deal of individual mentoring and are evaluated by the entire acting faculty at the end of each quarter. Students are admitted with the expectation that all will graduate, although dismissal is possible for unsatisfactory progress.
What We Look For
Our program seeks naturally talented individuals who possess qualities that include: receptivity, transparency, inventiveness, expansiveness and coordination. We also seek those who have the curiosity, hunger, discipline and courage necessary to become actors who can make significant work. We expect our students to consistently strive to expand their skills and physiological conditioning while developing their own identity as creative individuals. We expect professionalism in our students’ behavior and work ethic. We value, model and encourage collaboration, self-reliance, critical thinking and the creative imagination.
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