Tarell Alvin McCraney Education/Degree: BFA Acting The Theatre School at DePaul University MFA Playwriting Yale

How do you use your training from The Theatre School professionally, or in life? The acting training honed at TTS is used everyday in my work as an artist. I am constantly testing the balance of dramatic and deep stories and their ability to be created in the empty space as well as keeping the theatrical traditions of open and story theatre rooted in the foundations of my work.

Was there a specific class or project that stands out in your mind from your time at The Theatre School that you feel impacted your training, craft, or artistry in a unique or powerful way? Working with Ric Murphy (now Professor Emeritus) on The Selfish Giant and Other Wilde Tails began to open my eyes to what theatre could be for not just children but for those of us who seek a rich and connected experience in the theatre. The notion of the fourth wall become important in the tool to win over new audiences as well as invigorate change in the season'd patron.

Working with Lisa Portes on Polaroid Stories began to speak to me and still does, about how the theatre, a place for exploration, can often leave marginalized people out, She and other artists that she introduced me to spoke about the tradition of the theatre and how, if we weren't careful, it would become an elitist art form, codified and contextualized with stories of kings, queens, and people in Russia. She lit in me a fire to tell stories I felt were neglected in the theatre and to bring the personal life of my village to the podium known as the theatre. To help give voice to the voiceless.

Was there a specific faculty or staff member at The Theatre School who particularly inspired you or impacted your work? Who, and in what way? The voice and speech department, headed by Phyllis E. Griffin at the time sincerely inspired a rich love and honor for the aural world that the theatre can evoke. It is a staple that the theatre must hold onto. The human voice in our ears without technological affectation is a tool, an event, that the theatre must nurture and protect.

What advice would you give to young professionals training to enter your field? Make a pact with yourself: that you are only in it for the love of it. There is no other reason to do it. If you find that you fall out of love then you will leave it, to give space for someone who does. Neither you nor the theatre can afford anything less than love.

What’s on the horizon for you? Currently I am the International Artist in Residence at the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) in the UK. It’s exciting. That happens for the next two years. My trilogy of plays called The Brother/Sister Plays are being produced over at the McCarter Theater in Princeton where I am also a Fellow.

Is there another connection or experience from your time at The Theatre School that you would like to share? The class below me did their projects; I've never seen such a courageous class of actors. Brighton Beach Memoirs, Hay Fever, Insurrection, their Shakespeare projects. It was joyous to watch young actors really rally around the work.