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The following text was submitted to Towson University in the fall of 2004 as part of the application process for my acceptance on the MFA Theatre program.
Application for position on the MFA Theatre Program at the
College of Graduate Education and Research at Towson University
From February 2002 until July 2005 I worked for P&O Cruises, now a division of Carnival, the world's leading cruise line. In my capacity as Deputy and Acting Production Manager, I was jointly in charge of lighting and sound provision for all entertainment venues and performances throughout the ships that I was based on. During my time with P&O I worked in a variety of diverse genres with many world class performers including in-house show companies and cabaret artists, dancers, singers, choreographers, magicians, lecturers, other technicians and numerous, talented, professional musicians.
The diversity, scope and sheer volume of professional performance work that I was involved with in this job has provided me with remarkable opportunities to continue my own education and methodology in performance. I was able to consciously and actively contextualize a lot of my undergraduate learning while observing and providing technical support for other forms of performance beyond my previous education and experience. I have been able to employ the system of performance utilized on-board P&O ships to my own experimental writing while my observations of different theatrical styles and technical techniques have expanded my aesthetic vocabulary and given me the opportunity to continue my personal interest in audience psychology. Unfortunately, it can not be denied that I had little opportunity to create much of my own performance work or to facilitate any of my own creative work while working at sea. My technical skills in AV, film editing, sound engineering, live sound recording, live sound mixing, lighting design and operation have increased immensely and I am eager to utilize these new skills and ideas in my own creative postgraduate work.
While at sea I was able to explore and expand my work in artistic mediums other than performance. I have used painting as a graphical means of expression and have been privileged to be able to experiment with top of the range photography equipment. I have continued my play and poetry writing and am currently working on two new musicals. I am nearing the completion of researching my first full length play. I recently had an article published in the summer 2004 edition of the South Eastern Theatre Convention magazine - the full article can be viewed here. I hope that this article may shed further light on my artistic aesthetic at this time.
I hope to gain two things from attending the MFA in Theatre Arts at Towson University
Firstly (and, at this time, most importantly) I want to create new and exciting and powerful art!
The benefit of doing this at Towson is the academic inference that the MFA program places on collaborative, experimental and interdisciplinary work.
- Secondly (and with a long term career focus in mind) I want to teach.
It has always been my intention to continue my education to Ph.D. level and to ascertain a lectureship at an accredited university. I believe that by attending the MFA in Theatre Arts at Towson University I will be well placed to facilitate my academic interests and contextualize my own creative processes within a framework that is practicable to my long term goals.
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