Your reports Find reports What is an actor? What should they know? How should I teach them? What is an actor? What should they know? How should I teach them? Convener(s): Edward Kemp Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations: An actor is … A combination of arrogance and fear (or maybe that’s the less good ones) Born, can’t be taught Interesting to watch Not different from a performer I’m not an actor because I’m not interesting to watch, but I’m a lot cleverer than lots of actors An actor should have an understanding of the bigger picture (this can be taught) You can be in films without being an actor I can always teach someone to act better There are some people you can’t teach to act Students shouldn’t be brought into drama schools just because they’re paying (courses shouldn’t take ‘bad actors’) There are too many actors Pretty actors get the job regardless of skill So many actors who get work aren’t good You’re always going to have a certain % of actors who are attractive – but they still have to be good No they don’t Are they the ones who really make it? It’s all subjective Is Nicole Kidman a good actress? There was that film she was quite good in Girls are encouraged to think they will be rewarded for being pretty – drama schools encourage this What should an actor know … They should have an awareness of other departments and how to collaborate with them – a more holistic way of making theatre – this will help them to make their own work as well They need to know they’re not necessarily the most important person in a production – actors are too often treated delicately and differently – other people can be shouted at, but don’t upset the actors Should there be a return of the acting ASM? A project at the Guildhall gave the rule that whenever an actor was not needed on stage he or she had to go off and find a technical department to help At Drama Centre 1st year actors have to crew and tech 3rd year shows (but this means they lose a hefty chunk of teaching time) Need to be multi-skilled It’s better for the actor’s own craft if they have an understanding of other’s craft – knowing where to stand to be lit Knowing why to be patient during a tech - Better for the creation of ensemble/company/devised theatre – the awareness of it all being one theatrical event - Actors in training should be in contact with performance conditions all the way along Actor training turns actors inwards, makes them very self-aware But they need to be more aware of the outside world – they are too self-absorbed. Actors need to exhibit the times so they must be in contact with them – you can only put the world on stage if you know something about it Not enough film and TV training drama schools Actors should be made aware of their casting type They should be taught not to rely on their agent They should beware of being arrogant They need to be open to the process – they should not be too judgmental, especially of directors they deem to be inexperienced Actors should have audition training – they should be made aware of the effect their choice of material will have on casting director; understand that an emotional attachment to an audition speech is not enough Should they have experience of casting within drama school? An actor is … The most valuable commodity in theatre My favorite thing A performer is a broader thing ‘Actor’ has a greater sense of grounding in craft (they have been trained in text-based, script-analytical) - ‘Performer’ more body oriented – can do other stuff – has more responsibility An actor is … Someone who enjoys slipping in and out of character Needs to be able to transform Needs to be able to inhabit Something warmly inhabited Something more mechanical about acting Per-form – to go through the image of something Act – enact – the embodiment of something The actor breathes life into the story Does anyone ever truly transform? Or do they bring to the surface hitherto hidden parts of themselves An actor is … the bravest person in show business How can you do anything on stage which isn’t somehow there (in you)? I am transforming all the time – I am not the same person now I was twenty years ago; acting fast tracks that process of transforming into someone else An actor... Needs reference to the audience Is a conduit An actor is … Both story and story-teller Both instrument and instrumentalist We need both Brecht and Stanislavski Meryl Streep is both Mother Courage then and Meryl Streep now An actor needs to be fit (Some text is sculptural and muscular) I go to the theatre to see humanity in extremis - Catharsis The most satisfying work I’ve done as an actor had a sense of serving (not just sharing with) the audience Since the dawn of time people have told stories Held the mirror up to nature The power and responsibility of acting I would find it frightening to be an actor with a sense of social responsibility A character passes through the actor What An actor is Depends upon Who the person is Drama schools break you down? Do they set out to do that? Do they set out to make you the blank slate for their vision? When I’m casting an actor I’m looking for the one who makes the best identification with the work, not the one who looks like my idea of the character I want to work with people who say yes Who don’t allow ego or status to block them Who don’t change what everybody else is doing to suit their fear or incompetence How should actors be trained …? Carefully They need to take responsibility for their training Should students teach what they’ve learnt to other students? What plays would they choose to do? Should we give them the practical constraints and let them choose the show? There are people at drama school because they are pretty to look at The question is not should they be taught but how can they learn? There should be guidance/guidelines (cp Open Space) Uncertainty is helpful A degree of self-directing Companies come out of university frame-work because the work is more self-directed A sense of responsibility A sense of personal direction in your development The best teachers are the ones who are still learning A very dogmatic, master-disciple training is valuable (as in Russia) - As is one where people tell you contradictory things The North American system is more free enterprise, more modular – Leads to a sense of continuous learning/training - If one begins training in an ad hoc way then maybe people will continue Need to encourage that it is who they are that makes them the actor – that this needs constant re-discovery Teaching who you are as a person and then giving the skills to bring that out There’s always another unknown There’s always another uncertainty Can drama training make people less open, less flexible The adversarial model – 3 or 4 different teachers each tell their way is the way - Needs a sense of what is appropriate, not what is right - But the staff need not to be at odds – need to be respectful of each others’ ideas and of the students. (An institution is only a bunch of people who hopefully want to do you good) Allow things to be piecemeal Allow feedback and be changed by feedback Don’t assume because I went to this school I’ll get a job – that’s on me, that’s my work Take responsibility Actors in training should … Develop a body of skills, a practice, a discipline - through working with great teachers - Working with the same people for three years creates a sense of company (which is why university courses make companies? They don’t have this – also, they don’t have access to the profession like the London drama schools, so they have to make companies in order to be noticed – drama schools are part of the industry) Students should be equipped with all kinds of skills and experience – but practitioners should be set up against each other Start with basics of voice, movement, texts Work with different directors + different practitioners Establish a bedrock – don’t start taking responsibility for your own training too soon Build an awareness of how the profession works By working with different practitioners they should see the artform as collaboration The process should be transparent to them (they should be able to see all the bits) They shouldn’t perform in public too soon They should be unafraid to study themselves At LIPA the drama school has an affiliation to a university – this means that 50% of curriculum is set (so people learn the same language) but you can go off and learn other things elsewhere – growth of mini-experts. In third year you choose what to be marked on – as performer, director, manager – you choose a pathway by lovingly guided and mentored by team of teachers There are student-led projects for which you can bid for money (education into the funding world) Students in training need good nutrition Lunch