ACTORS
ACTORS
Training An Actor Will Need
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ACTORS
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ACTORS
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Training An Actor Will Need |
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Casting people always search for training on an actor’s resume. Many universities offer both undergraduate and graduate degrees in the performing arts. Actors in graduate programs are likely to work at professional theatres for credit while studying for their degrees.
Checklist For Training Resources To Develop Acting Skills |
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University with colleges and/or departments offering varied subjects and disciplines, or with an entire college or department focused on theatre or performing arts. |
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Acting/drama school or academy has a curriculum solely devoted to acting disciplines and the performing arts. |
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Acting teacher who usually conducts private classes in his or her own private studio or in a rental space, at levels that constitute beginner, intermediate or professional. |
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Acting coaches who tend to have smaller classes and offer private lessons as well. They sometimes are used as dialogue coaches for film and television, and can be consulted by established professionals. |
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Acting workshops can be many things including scene study or scene work in combination with occasional showcasing of talent. It can also be technique classes for all levels as well as other activities combined with technique classes, some of which can be videotape oriented. |
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Professional classes usually means a coach works only with professionals in private classes with few exceptions being made to this standard. |
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The most diligent of programs are thought to be the MFA (Master of Fine Arts) degree, best suited for theater practitioners, and distinct from the MA and/or Ph.D. programs, intended for more scholarly endeavors. There are BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) conservatory actor training programs, and several multi-year, non-academic actor training programs that grant certificates. Admission to these programs is usually on a highly selective basis, generally by audition, interview, portfolio review, or script submission. Most MFA programs weigh past academic records and require an undergraduate degree, though some will accept appropriate theater experience in lieu of academic accomplishment. Some programs may require a Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
Studios and studio schools are acting schools, often founded by and built around a single master teacher, that functions on an ongoing basis. They generally offer a variety of classes that can be taken in eight- or ten-week segments, or for longer terms.
In some studios, classes are geared to different levels of accomplishment, from beginner to advanced, and they are often given at hours that accommodate the schedules of both working theater professionals and those engaged in other occupations.
Studios of this nature are generally involved only in actor training and tend to be found in those few large cities that have extensive theatre activity.
Terms To Know |
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Academic Theatre. Theatre connected with school and having educational, rather than commercial, goals. The physical plant may be anything from a classroom or outdoor platform to a full-size proscenium arch theatre. The actors are usually drawn from theatre classes, although there may be guest performances from community members or by a professional artist-in-residence. The works produced may be well-known standards of the commercial theatre or student-written works-in-progress. Actor Proof. A play or sketch that is almost impervious to bad acting. Francis Swan’s Out of the Frying Pan, a hit on Broadway in the 1940s and a staple of community and academic theatre ever since, has such ingratiating characters, such a tightly constructed plot, and so much fun and goodwill built into it that it can survive the most amateurish production. American College Theatre Festival. An annual competition of college and university productions that begins in local areas and advances to state, regional, and national festivals. Sponsored by the American Theatre Association, the festival names the best production of the year and gives awards for acting, writing, and designing. Artists’ Colonies/Residencies. These habitats offer the originating artist (composer, writer, painter, etc.) space, time and solitude for the pursuit of creative work. In the theater field, playwrights, librettists or lyricists are the artists most often benefitting from these situations. Classic Drama. Formally, the drama of ancient Greece and Rome. Popularly, any play written before the present century that has stood the test of time. Actors auditioning are often asked to prepare two monologues, one classical and one modern. Dramaturgy. The study and interpretation of plays with special attention to the difficulties plays from another period present for the acting company of today. Sometimes a component of playwriting MFA programs, the University of Michigan, among others, offers a doctoral program in dramaturgy. Educational Theatre. Theatre conducted in or as an adjunct to schools. Also, theatre with a didactic purpose. Internship/Apprenticeship. Situations in which aspiring artiss receive training and perform designated tasks in creative, administrative and technical areas. They are offered by most nonprofit theaters and by mostly all summer stock theaters. Neoclassicism. Drama imitative of Greek and Roman classical models. Studios/Studio School. Acting schools usually founded by and built around a single master teacher and his or her vision or theory of the acting craft. They generally offer a variety of classes that can be taken in eight- or ten-week segments, or longer terms. Workshop. A place for putting together and polishing a production. Also, a place where one can receive instruction and practice in directing, acting, and stagecraft. |
Workshops, festivals and conferences bring artists together to learn from master teachers and other professionals, to see one another’s work and to share and exchange ideas. There can be a large conference with seminars and lectures that break down into smaller workshops to permit individual attention and mentoring, or a workshop series that ends with a mini-festival.
Despite an array of program choices, all good acting programs emphasize intensive skills training while focusing on dramatic material of great scope and selection. Therefore, the better training programs in all theater disciplines offer instruction in a broad range of styles, periods and literature, while encouraging knowledge of other art forms.
They also maintain ongoing contacts with the professional community to refer their students for internship opportunities, prepare students for auditions and related professional encounters, and submit their graduating classes to theaters and casting directors for audition opportunities.
Although training is essential for starting a career, it is not uncommon to find seasoned performers that get constant work still attending acting school. There are of course so many educational programs for acting and the performing arts in general. We certainly won’t get into listing any of them here. Instead you are provided with breakdowns for the different categories of educational institutions for your level of development. And also please refer to the non-profit associations which should provide directories and links through their Internet websites that will list various educational programs, university or otherwise.
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