Resources

The University of Texas at Austin provides an unparalleled breadth and depth of resources for the student playwright. In addition to a diverse student body, state of the art facilities for health, entertainment and well being — the university also houses one of the top research libraries in the nation. The Harry Ransom Center will provide student access to collections and papers from Stella Adler, Samuel Becket, Sarah Bernhardt, David Hare, Lillian Hellman, Arthur Miller, John Osborne, Harold Pinter, George Bernhard Shaw, Tom Stoppard, and Tennessee Williams, among others.

The College of Fine Arts, which is the home for the Department of Theatre and Dance, regularly hosts traveling productions of Broadway shows and musicians of international acclaim.

The Department of Theatre and Dance regularly gives students access to state of the art equipment and contemporary training in movement and performance. Within the department you will have opportunity to develop relationships with faculty who represent the best designers and directors working today, and a student body who represents the best theatre professionals of tomorrow.

The Master of the Fine Arts in Playwriting also shares resources with the Michener Center for Writers. In most cases, playwrights will have equal access to the visiting artists and faculty at the Michener Center.

Every other year the Department of Theatre and Dance produces The University Co-op / Cohen New Works Festival which celebrates and showcases an astonishing variety of student work including new plays, ensemble performances, solo and site-specific work. In the 2009 Festival 31 student productions were featured in over 100 performances attended by over 8,000 people. Nineteen guest artists from all over the country provided one on one feedback to each creative team. This is the largest student initiated and implemented new works festival in the world.

Together with the Department of Theatre and Dance and the Michener Center for Writers our M.F.A. playwrights have had access to rehearsal, readings and professional development workshops with Wendy Goldberg (O'Neill Theatre Center), Mark Bly (Alley Theatre), Kevin Kling , Mac Wellman (Brooklyn College), Seth Rozin (InterAct Theatre Co.), Meghan Monahan (Lark Play Development Center), Charles Otte, Sherry Kramer (Bennington College), Alice Tuan (California Institute of the Arts), Naomi Iizuka (UCSD), Ruth Margraff, and Lee Blessing.