American Repertory Theater and Harvard University

American Repertory Theater and Harvard University. Central to the A.R.T.’s education initiatives is the Theater’s relationship with Harvard University.  Last year, Harvard’s Task Force on the Arts made a clear case for the importance of the arts in the intellectual life of the University.  In President Drew Faust’s own words: “Especially in difficult times, when ways of thinking and doing that we have taken for granted are challenged on a daily and weekly basis, we must encourage our students to ask fundamental questions and to solve problems in the inventive and collaborative ways exemplified by the making of art.  Art produces experiences and objects that are carefully constructed and intricate reflections of the world.  Empathy, imagination, and creativity are forms of knowledge that a university must foster in its students…Now is the time to embrace, not retreat from the arts.” As a world-renowned professional theater, the A.R.T. is committed to playing a central role in the cognitive life of the University.  Through dynamic collaborations with professors, student organizations, and cultural institutions around Harvard, the A.R.T. welcomes students and teachers to observe and participate in the creation of its work. The A.R.T. devotes a significant amount of support and resources to Harvard undergraduates.  Currently, A.R.T. artists and administrators, including the artistic and executive directors, teach courses each year in the College in acting, directing, dramaturgy, playwriting, design, and dramatic literature; advise a number of undergraduate special concentrators in Dramatic Arts; and give guest lectures for undergraduate courses in other departments. As well offering theater courses, the A.R.T. also provides support and advising for Harvard-Radcliffe Drama Club (H.R.D.C.) productions.  A.R.T. staff members provide mentorship and advice for productions in the Loeb and beyond, as well as host training workshops in all areas of performance and production.  Students also have the opportunity to participate in formal observerships of mainstage productions, internships in administrative offices, and employment through Federal Work Study. Undergraduates are also encouraged to attend the theater with deeply discounted tickets to A.R.T. productions through free College Night performances and through the Student Pass program, which allows them to attend any five A.R.T. performances for $60, and the Student Rush program which allows students to purchase tickets for $15 on the day of a performance.