Scott over at Theatre Ideas just wrote a very interesting post entitled "thinking." I've been meaning to write about something like this for a long time and I am very glad that he opened up the topic to conversation. What Scott is mainly battling is a mainstream line of thought that discourages artists and theatre practicioners from learning about their own art form, researching, thinking critically, and theorizing. I wish to battle this notion as well. In my experience it is this kind of thought that leads to young artists into bad habits and half-baked self-imposed educations. I don't want to argue at all that as one learns and develops their own aesthetic they do not learn intensively by doing. In fact, most of my directing skills I learned on my own by jumping into the deep end or ADing for other directors to get perspective. This perspective is crucial and important.
But at the same time, when that "learning by doing" concept encompasses the entire educational experience, it can be poison. Scott mentions high school theatre:
High school theatre does a great disservice to young people: it puts them onstage and lets them figure it out themselves. The result: a bunch of undergrads with horrible habits. What is worse, all the high school kids’ adoring family surround them and tell them how wonderful they are, “better than what I saw on NY last year when I visited.” And of course, young people believe them. As a result, they think there is no real reason to actually LEARN about the art form — hell, they already know how to DO it. And who cares about geniusesises of the past, I’m a genius already!
One of my colleagues has been trying to grapple with this idea in observing a first year BFA acting class recently. Why do these kids feel the need to perform all the time? Why do they come in with so many pre-conceived notions of what "acting," and "theatre" mean? Why are they one thing in conversation, and flip the switch into performance mode and turn into a sea of indication? How can the bad habits be altered? And how can they be stopped before they start? Maybe we are starting to see why in this conversation. And I'd love people to chime in on any thoughts they have on this topic.
Indeed when we are talking about developing a craft in the theatre you must be on your feet or in front of your typewriter a lot, you must be doing it; but it is equally important to spend time reflecting on your craft, and learning the craft of others to gain perspective and incorporate these things into your work. As far as actors are concerned, how could we begin to train them better for this in high school? Or are high schools REALLY that caught up in financial gains with musicals? It's an educational institution for crying out loud! Once the skill set for being an artist is helped along constructively in that early age just like "math" or "science" or "language arts" then those with the most talent and aptitude will rise to the challenge and be more prepared to develop a craft for their talent.
As I mentioned in the comments of Scott's blog I used to feel completely at a disadvantage for not getting an BFA, I felt behind the game. But when I got to graduate school, my liberal arts education put me in an incredibly advantageous position because I had read lots of plays and lots of theory and written a ton. Especially as a director, these skills proved necessary, and freeing.
I am reminded a bit of Uta Hagen's great book "respect for acting," where the title really says it all. One of the greatest actresses of all time became great not from just doing it over and ove,r but obviously reflecting on her craft and continuing to change her strategies; as well as theorizing on theatre in general and what it meant to be an actor, in a play, at a specific moment.
I echo Scott's call for "thinking," and I think that the possibilities are exciting for new breeds of theatre artists with interdisciplinary skills and knowledge. This is the new theatre artist of the 21st century. The one that will challenge norms and question status quos.
Monday, January 30, 2006
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2 comments:
I haven't read Respect for Acting in many a moon, but I think my favorite part is where she talks about how no one would tell a violinist how to hold his or her bow, but everyone is happy to tell an actor how to deliver a line.
Understanding craft and influence is absolutely essential. I believe, though, in the unconscious use of these tools, more than their active and forceful use.
It has been my experience that a lot of teachers don't have a full concept of how to teach the art of acting. Students fall back on habits and begin to indicate for a couple reasons. The first is that they are nervous and feel the desire to "perform". "They mind too much", to quote the Last Samurai. They are minding the audience, their peers, their hands, etc. Their minds have not been trained properly in how to deeply focus, use their imaginations and be present. The second reason could be that they don't have a firm understanding of a technique they can practice. Without some real tools to shape their expression, they fall into generality.
I have experienced this numerous times in theatre education.
This said, regarding highschool acting, a lot of these kids just want the experience of being on stage. Most have no intention of pursuing this as a career.
Let's further remember that 90% of the people in the theatre business (directors, designers, actors, writers, technical people, etc) started in a acting class. The acting class is the door.
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