Casting of actors during the three-year production cycle is based on careful consideration by the acting faculty, and plays are chosen to allow each actor to develop their technique in a variety of styles. Guest instructors, actors and directors also provide students with worldwide perspectives and expertise in specialized areas such as stage combat and dialects. In preparing students for careers as theatre artists, the PTTP's intensive acting curriculum focuses on the development of each individual actor. Constant interaction with faculty and renowned guest artists allows students to experience, first hand, the high level of skill and discipline required for the professional theatre. In their first year, actors concentrate on acting, voice, speech, verse speaking, script analysis, body training and Alexander and Feldenkrais techniques.
Instructors encourage actors to investigate and develop their resources and imaginations.
First semester workshops prepare actors for second semester mainstage roles. Actors also engage in body training and focus their scene work on Chekhov, Ibsen and Strindberg. During the second year, acting in Shakespearean and complex verse plays is emphasized while instructors focus on developing the actor's individual resources through expanded production work. Classes and scene work center on technique, and workshops stress special skills. In the final year of the program, actors concentrate on individually tutored projects and production work by performing in up to eight fully mounted shows.