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Eight students in the Division of Theatre’s graduate program will soon graduate with an M.F.A. in Acting: Brianna Woods, Eliezer Williams, Elizabeth Akudugu, Francesca Santodomingo, John Broda, Kally Duncan, Logan Rhys Hallwas and Sage Floyd will receive their degrees during the commencement ceremony on May 17. This talented group of students is the first graduating class with this degree since 2022 due to pandemic-related limitations.

“Given that the entirety of the work in the M.F.A. in Acting is dependent on in-person learning, we were unsure how COVID would affect our ability to effectively deliver the curriculum,” explains chair of the Division of Theatre Blake Hackler on the decision to skip a recruitment cycle. “Graduate students are cast in Meadows theatre productions and also work with a number of theaters in the DFW area, from the Tony-award winning Dallas Theater Center to smaller venues like Second Thought Theater, Theatre Three and Fair Assembly.”

To highlight their hard work and various roles from their time in the program, these graduates created a digital showcase housed on the Meadows website. The showcase is a tool that is shared with industry professionals on both coasts, as well as in markets like Atlanta and Chicago. It gives the M.F.A. graduates an opportunity to offer a glimpse of their work to agents, casting directors, managers and more.

With their talent so visibly displayed, it’s clear these graduates have bright futures ahead of them. One student even has post-graduate work already lined up. Brianna “Bri” Woods will be joining the Dallas Theater Center’s Brierley Resident Acting Company as the “Linda and Bill Custard ¾«¶«´«Ã½ Meadows Actor” for 2025-26, where she will act in shows alongside the DTC’s Resident Acting Company throughout the season.

“[This contract] means I have a space to keep growing as an artist and the chance to collaborate with a phenomenal company of actors I deeply admire,” says Woods. “I’ll be stepping into roles that stretch and excite me—one of which has been on my theater bucket list for years! I feel incredibly lucky and honestly just really proud.”

One graduate student is selected each year for this opportunity with the DTC; the partnership is built into the fabric of the M.F.A. Acting program and something potential students learn about during recruitment. In addition to the honor of receiving this sought-after contract Woods has also learned a lot about the industry through the selection process, from understanding what it means to be a part of a professional company to negotiating contracts as a professional actor.

And she will be in good company during her time at DTC. Hackler, chair of the Division of Theatre, and Tiana Kaye Blair, a Meadows theatre professor, are also Resident Artists with the Dallas Theater Center. Hackler and Blair’s continued involvement, as well as ¾«¶«´«Ã½ Meadows' unique relationship with DTC, allows for all students in the program to experience professional collaboration with the theater during their training. 

To learn more about the Division of Theatre’s M.F.A. in Acting, please click here. To view the Class of 2025 Acting Showcase, click here.