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November 10, 2006
Andreas Manolikakis, Chair, Actors Studio MFA Program at Pace University, and member of the Acting and Directing Faculty; and Edward Allan Baker, Playwriting, Actors Studio MFA Program at Pace University, 11-10-06
The Actors Studio MFA was born of the decision to train students carefully selected for their talent and potential in the system practiced at the Studio. Over three years in a full-time program, all MFA candidates study and practice together—beginning at the same place as they learn a shared “language” and technique. On parallel tracks to that “ensemble” experience, every student, actor, director, writer, is undergoing intensive—and intense—training in his or her own discipline, at the hands of one of the most distinguished acting, directing and writing faculties ever assembled.
From the beginning, all students participate in Craft Seminars, where the most accomplished members of the Actors Studio share their knowledge and experiences. Many of the Actors Studio artists also teach in intensive Friday Workshop sessions. While the Actors Studio is a private space, accessible only to members, MFA candidates have the rare privilege of attending a number of the Studio’s closed-door sessions as observers. Each year, on from 14 to 20 occasions, the program's students spend an evening with some of the world's most distinguished creative and performing artists in the Inside the Actors Studio seminars.
Andreas Manolikakis was chair of the Directing Department at the Actors Studio Drama School, where he taught acting and directing from 1995 to 2005. He has taught workshops in acting, directing, and script analysis in Athens, Berlin, and Paris (at the French National Film School LA FEMIS; the Conservatoire National Superieur d’Art Dramatique; and at L’Escalier 4). He has translated into Greek and published in Athens in 1997 Nikolai Gorchakov’s Russian classic The Vakhtangov School of Stage Art, which became a required text for the Theatre Department of the University of Athens.
Mr. Manolikakis has also given lectures on “Stanislavski and Vakhtangov,” “The Actors Studio,” “Method Acting and Greek Tragedy”, and “Method Acting and Directing” at L’Escalier 4 in Paris; the University of Athens; the National Theater and the University of Northern Greece; the Drama School of the National Theater of Greece; and the National Organization of Theater Studies in Athens. As a director and as an actor, he has worked in the United States and Europe. Among his directing highlights are: Porte Close, by N. Darmon, at the National Theatre of East Paris; Elektra, by Sophocles, at the Actors Studio; Liliom, by F. Molnar, in Athens. Among his acting highlights: on Broadway opposite Sir Derek Jacobi in Hugh Whitemore’s Breaking the Code; and a leading role in the feature film Ice House, opposite Melissa Gilbert. He directed and acted in numerous plays from the Greek and international repertoire for the New Hellenic Stage of New York, which he founded in 1983. He is also the author of The Classmates, a 13-episode television series produced by the National Greek Television ET3.
Mr. Manolikakis holds a B.A. in acting from the Greek Art Theatre Drama School in Athens, founded by Karolos Koun, and an M.F.A. in theater from the University of Paris VIII-Vincennes. He also studied with Marcel Marceau at his International School of Mime in Paris. At the Actors Studio, he is a Lifetime Member and a member of the Board of Directors.
Edward Allan Baker is a published and frequently produced New York City playwright, with 32 plays to his credit — most notably, Dolores (which starred Joan Allen and is included in The Best Short Plays of 1989), North of Providence, Prairie Avenue (which starred Ed Harris), Rosemary with Ginger, and Face Divided (which starred Sam Rockwell). He has written for HBO and Showtime, attended Sundance Film Institute, and taught playwriting for more than 20 years.
Mr. Baker was recently presented with the 25th Anniversary Award for Theatrical Excellence by the Ensemble Studio Theatre of New York.
Posted by David Lemberg at November 10, 2006 12:22 PM Return to ARTSCAPE home page