REACHING HIGHER

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Reaching Higher

Jesse Perez, University of San Diego program director

By Benjamin Lindsay

Nona Truong in the Old Globe’s production of “Our Town”

SINCE ITS FOUNDING IN 1987,

the Old Globe and the University of San Diego’s joint venture, the Shiley Graduate Theatre program, has established itself as one of the nation’s very finest means of classical training. Program director Jesse Perez answered our Reaching Higher questionnaire to reveal all you need to know about what goes into the curriculum for graduate students, how to apply, and what makes an auditioning performer stand out from the pack. (Acceptance, after all, is capped at just seven students annually.)

What makes your graduate program different from other top-performing arts programs in the country? Walk us through it: What are its guiding tenets, and what’s it all about?

The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre program is a joint venture of the Old Globe and the University of San Diego. The master of fine arts in acting program recruits seven students each year to participate in an intensive two-year, yearround course of graduate study in classical and contemporary theater. The master of fine arts program utilizes, as primary training tools, the professional performance opportunities at the Old Globe and studio productions at the University of San Diego. Students have performance assignments continuously throughout the program, and their work is carefully mentored by voice and speech, movement, and acting faculty advisors. We strive to be a classical professional training program where all in our community can find a safe space, bring their complete selves, and find the freedom and support to take artistic risks. We believe that a 21st-century classical acting program is one that is in concurrent conversation with innovative actors of all backgrounds, the cultural history of where we come from, and the future possibilities of the American theater.

Since I started the job of program director two years ago, we have been making strides in redefining “classical.” This is a place where we are and will [continue to] have transparent conversation, debate, and discourse about the classical and contemporary theater canon. Why Shakespeare? Why now? What is our American Shakespeare for the 21st century? This is the beginning of our journey, our laboratory, our experience, our investigation as artists to challenge, inspire, teach, and learn from each other about who we are, who we were, and where we will go. We are also making EDI (equity, diversity, and inclusion) training a core value of our program and are learning how to practice anti-racist theater-making. We are very interested in best practices moving forward.

What advice do you have for

the audition room? The advice I would love to give any artist auditioning for graduate programs is: Come in prepared to play and investigate the work right in front of us. I am greatly interested in artists who are on the verge of discovery and are engaging the full capacity of their imagination. What that means is taking risks with the material, full commitment, and the ability to be curious; [be transparent about] where you are in your process as an artist. I am interested in the artist standing in front of me. The more the artists are themselves, the more I’m pulled in. And this means artists of all backgrounds, cultures, gender identities, sexualities, classes, and abilities.

What are some of the main qualities you look for in your

incoming class? Curiosity. Playfulness. Empowerment. Confidence. Vulnerability. Irreverence. Highly imaginative. Adventurous actors who are ready to grow and transform. Someone who is fully present and flexible in a rehearsal hall. Actors who are ready to participate in conversation and debate about our work and expanding our vision of the American theater, helping us lead the way to becoming a more inclusive training program. Actors who want to build ensembles and support their communities. Actors ready to wrestle with Shakespeare and find themselves in heightened text. Actors who want to be leaders in the profession.