Michael Kahn, artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre, and George Washington University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg announced (Jan. 20) the formation of The Shakespeare Theatre Academy for Classical Acting at The George Washington University. By June 2000, the ACA hopes to admit its first class of 24 students, who will concentrate on acting Shakespeare and other classical pieces.

Designed as a unique one year Master of Fine Arts degree, the ACA will require students to complete 58 credit hours in one year. Part of the program will also involve student performances in fully-staged ACA productions.

Among the faculty named to the program:

Wallace Acton, Acting
Christopher Bayes, Acting
Helen Carey, Acting
Christopher Cherry, Alexander Technique
Susan Martin Cohen, Alexander Technique
Franchelle Stewart Dorn, Acting
Edward Gero, Text, Acting
Floyd King, Classical Comedy
Gail Paster, Dramatic Literature
Roberta Stiehm, Movement
Ted van Griethuysen, Acting, Dramatic Literature
Brad Alan Waller, Stage Combat
Kate Wilson, Voice and Speech
Stacy Wolf, Theatre History, Dramatic Literature

The Shakespeare Theatre Academy for Classical Acting will be located at The Shakespeare Theatre Studios at 516 Eighth Street, SE. For more information on the program, call 1-888-ACA-7004. Applications for admittance will begin to be accepted Sept. 1, 1999 with a deadline of Dec. 15. -- By Christine Ehren