Graduating actors perform at Guthrie Lab

The first graduating class of the University of Minnesota and Guthrie Theater Bachelor of Fine Arts actor-training program.

From eNews, April 29, 2004

Students from the first graduating class of the University of Minnesota and Guthrie Theater Bachelor of Fine Arts actor-training program will culminate their college careers with Two-Part Invention, two free one-act plays that run through this Sunday, May 2, at the Guthrie Lab in Minneapolis.

Established by the U's Department of Theatre Art and Dance in 2000, the program has become of one of the most coveted of its kind in the country--auditioning 400 to 500 people a year in cities across the United States for only 20 freshman spots.

"This first graduating class is truly made up of a group of pioneers," says Judy Bartle, program managing director. "They made a leap and trusted that the program they were about to commit the next four years of their lives to would be all that we all hoped it would be. Their influence in helping to shape everything from curriculum to the relationship with the Guthrie has been instrumental in making this program what it is today."

The Guthrie Theatre specifically commissioned the upcoming plays for the graduating class. In Untold Crimes of Insomniacs, an offbeat comedy directed by Casey Stangl, seven people traipse the concrete jungle--meeting on the Internet and in cars and planning strange crimes and daring escapes--in search of life's meaning. In Six, directed by Leo Geter, six students and two instructors in an environmental studies and wilderness survival course learn the importance of becoming activists for their own lives.

The performances are at 7:30 p.m. from Thursday, April 29, to Saturday, May 1, and at 11 a.m. on Sunday, May 2. Seating is limited and reservations are required; call the Guthrie at 612-377-2224 or 1-877-447-8243. The Guthrie Lab is located in the Warehouse District of Minneapolis at 700 N 1st St.

To learn more about this actor-training program, read "Class Acts" in M, spring 2003.