Archive for June, 2009
FAQs on Acting and Actor Training Part 2
Hello everyone, thanks again for stopping by! This is Part 2 of my FAQs for Acting and Actor Training. I get a lot of emails asking me very similar questions and I wanted to take this opportunity to answer many at the same time. Of course, if anyone has any specific questions that they would like addressing on the blog, please do email and ask!?
What do your classes contain? What do you do in a Practical Aesthetics acting class in Glasgow?
The classes are usually eight weeks in length and most last for two hours. The classes are designed so that students can enter on the ‘Intro to Acting’ course and work their way up to the Advanced Classes, although progression is by invitation only and depends upon the development of the student. Not everyone has the personal qualities to take them through the training, I’m not talking about talent, I’m talking about personal character. Training as an actor takes excellence in the field of being human. Some people are not so good at that.
All classes begin with a thorough warm up, teaching the student to prepare their body and voice for work. Classes then focus on teaching the basics of Practical Aesthetics, the technique of acting that we follow. We teach scene analysis, performance technique, repetition, improvisation and audition technique as our major subject areas. In the intro class, we usually work on one short scene. In the advanced classes, we essentially do scene study, aiming to develop in the acting students to ability to prepare, rehearse and perform scenes without tuition.
I do also teach CPD classes in Scotland for professional actors with no Practical Aesthetics experience.
Does Mamet disagree with training altogether? What about Voice and Movement training, surely it’s needed?
Mamet rails against the American University Drama Dept training, where he believes that SEVEN years of training is probably too much. If a student follows the BA and then the MFA route to becoming an actor, they are still in school at the age of 25. Yet, I’ve had lots of students ready to work a the age of 20. Some would say that they need this time to mature and develop their craft. SEVEN years? Three or Four years at most seems realistic. Of course, it all depends on what you’re training an actor to do in that time. If you’re teaching them to believe in imaginary stuff, that would probably need a hundred and seven years. If you’re rigorously training them in the basic skills of the actor outlined by Practical Aesthetics, then 2.5 years is enough.
In Bruder et al’s book A Practical Handbook for the Actor, they set out the necessary curriculum for actor training:
- A Strong Clear Voice
- Good Clear Speech
- A Strong Supple Body
- The ability to analyse a scene correctly
- Semantics -the ability to use words specifically
- Memorization by rote
- The ability to work off the other person
- The ability to act before you think
- The ability to concentrate
- Bravery
- Will
- Common Sense
Mamet is not at all against Voice and Movement training, he is very much for it. The Practical Aesthetics programme at Atlantic includes a great deal of specialist teaching in these areas, from some of the best teacher’s in New York.
Mamet disagrees with over-training, with unnecessary training and with hiding out in school longer than needed.
To You, The Best!Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2009
FAQs on Acting and Actor Training Part 1
Dear Readers
Thanks for your tremendous support over the past six months, it’s great to be in contact with so many of you and hearing about your successes in the pursuit of your acting goals. I thought today I would help people that are new to the blog by answering some FAQs on Acting and Actor Training.
Should I go to University or Drama School in the UK?
If you’re already planning to fail in your acting career, and expecting to need a fall back plan, then go off to university. This will be a fun-packed three years of the mainly academic study of drama. Sort of like going to study ‘handyman sciences’ if you wanted to be a plumber. Drama courses make money for universities, so every second college now has a drama course. If you want to be a plumber, you go to plumbing schooling. If you’re earnestly interested in learning about the history of drama. The trouble is that most young people say that they’re interested in all that, but actually they just love performing, directing or writing etc. Save yourself three years of debt and heart ache. Apply to Drama School.
What if I don’t get into Drama School?
This is the most frequent email that I get. It says ‘I REALLY want to Act’, but I can’t get into a reputable drama school. I usually say ‘How many did you apply to?’ and they say ‘2′. There are at least 17 reputable recognised drama schools in the UK. You can find them through www.drama.ac.uk . If you don’t get in, I’d advise you to try again next year. But don’t spend the meantime visiting India, or working in your Auntie’s card shop or florist or something. No, you should be attending acting classes, getting audition training, figuring out how you can improve for next time, going to Open Days, researching the schools to find out which would best suit you.
There are a lot of small schools out there that don’t give degrees, well that’s fine too, because a degree won’t help you get an acting job in any way, shape or form. There are great places like The Actors Temple in London or GAMTA in Glasgow that whilst not degree bearing at present are exceptional places to train.
Which Acting Technique Works Best?
None. I think acting technique is a very personal thing. Technique is what we use when we can’t do it naturally. Certainly I believe in proper actor training although I’m always a bit dismayed that most UK-based training fails to teach a coherent technique, and rather chooses to throw an eclectic mix of ideas and techniques at the actor. I call this the linguini effect. Through a plate of linguini at the wall, and see what sticks. I teach a highly pragmatic technique called Practical Aesthetics which is derived mainly from Stanislavski and Meisner, it was forged by playwright David Mamet and actor William H Macy. After years, teaching and directing using full-on Stanislavski, I found this the most direct, accessible and successful way for an actor to learn to act. It’s controversial because it upturns many popular beliefs and misconceptions about acting. Of course, for this reason, it’s much maligned and abused by other schools.
My belief is that Method acting is mainly mistaught – meaning that even those teachers that are teaching the real deal get tarred with the same brush as the poorly informed instructors. This lowers the general standard of acting. Personally, I’d rather chew my own limbs off than develop ‘belief in the imaginary’.
To You, The Best!Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2009
The Top Ten Problems With An Actor’s Performance
This is an exploration of the 10 Common Problems that I find with an actor’s performance. I’m sure it doesn’t apply to ALL actors, we all have our blockages and our limitations, but all actors will recognise that they struggle with some of these problems. By expressing it here, I hope that we can attempt to continue to develop a language by which acting coaches and actors can explore, develop and improve their process of working. When we know what each other is talking about, it makes this all a lot easier!
ONE: NO EMOTIONAL CONNECTION TO THE ROLE: Regular readers and students of our school might be surprised to read that I’m starting off with a discussion of emotion. It isn’t a dirty word to me because a personal, emotional connection to the role is absolutely necessary if you’re going to bring the scene to life and find the right pitch for it.
The trouble is that I see performance after performance where the actor was simply desperate to fake the right emotion in the hope that the audience would indulge them and ‘let them off the hook’ for their inability to connect emotionally with the requirements of the role. Any workable, practical acting technique should teach the actor clear and practicable ways to connect emotionally to the role.
TWO: NO CONNECTION TO THE SCENE PARTNER(S): I see this everywhere. The actor is not connecting with the other actors. They are simply acting AT, but not responding TO, what their scene partners are doing. Even if the character is trying to ignore another character, the actor must be aware of what they are trying to do to the other scene partner and what their scene partner is doing to them. So often, actors are simply pretending something AT the other actors – without a connection though, it just looks fake.
THREE: DISCONNECTION FROM THE SCENE: This actor has not correctly analysed the scene for action. They do not understand the scene and therefore, they do not know what the character is trying to do to the other characters in the scene. This disconnection from the scene forces them to offer a lively and animate improvisation of the scene (using the lines) each night, but it is empty of the true intent of the scene, and the audience applaud the actor’s performance of a con-trick, rather than their organic performance of the character in the scene.
FOUR: LEAVING YOURSELF NOWHERE TO GO: If you peak too early in your performance, if your character becomes too weak or too strong or too vulnerable, or too sad too soon, you leave yourself nowhere to go for the rest of the performance. It’s absolutely imperative that you do not allow any bold colours to emerge too early on in your performance.
FIVE: CHECKING HOW YOU’RE DOING – Sam Mendes said in an interview that the theatre actor must constantly be asking ‘how’m I doing?’, so that they can repeat it again night after night. I cannot imagine a more dead and occifying view of acting. There is no performance monitor, that will simply pull you out of the scene. If you have properly prepared in the rehearsal process, you don’t need to know how you’re doing. In fact, even worse, actors are often the worse judge of their own performance, so if you’re checking how you’re doing, you’re probably wrong.
SIX: LACKING IN TRUTHFULNESS/INORGANIC/DON’T BELIEVE IT: Yesterday, I watched the great BBC drama Occupation. It was a moving, harrowing and sometimes very funny portrayal of three men’s journey after they are part of the UK Army occupation of Iraq. In the final part, Warren Brown, the actor playing Hibbs (a former professional sportsman) delivers a eulogy for a dead soldier, and reads from Gilgamesh. During this scene, you would most commonly see an actor focused on portrayal of emotion, wringing out the emotion. Instead, he read, and he read like a human being reads, he read with confidence, but with the simply truth. He wasn’t performing, he was just reading. Simple, organic truth. Not pretend, not scenic truth, not artistic truth, just truth.
I recently watched a series of Show Reels on the Internet for actors across the UK. I struggled to find a moment of truth amongst them. For a chance to see this for yourself, simply turn the sound off, and watch, you’ll SEE when the acting doesn’t ring true, you’ll see where the commitment to performance creates an artificial, inorganic moment. Truth isn’t difficult to find, but giving up the pretend requires bravery, and not many actors are willing to take that step.
Actors do not need to fake, it isn’t necessary, the artificial can never compete with the organic.
SEVEN: ACTING FROM THE NECK UP: Very simply, from the jutting neck of the actor, they ignore all physical impulses from the body, aside from those that occur from the neck upwards. There’s a huge amount of acting going on from the top of spine upwards, but the body is not involved. This can be easily overcome through a number of exercises that require the entire body to act and react with chosen tactics.
EIGHT: PLAYING YOUR JUDGMENT OF THE ROLE – You’ve read the play, and you play the scene with that in mind. You also judge the character. Othello is noble and good, Iago is treacherous and evil. So, you play Iago as an evil character and by playing the judgment of the role, you crush all depth. Whatever you know about the character needs to be hidden from the audience and revealed in good time, when the scene requires it.
The same goes for a scene where something happens at the end that is important. Many actors will indicate the ending through their playing of the scene. This must be strongly avoided at all costs.
NINE: SHOUTY, SHOUTY, SHOUT-SHOUT ACTING – A scene is emotional, so the actor gets louder, as the actor peaks, they leave themselves nowhere to go but to shout and storm, and generally make noise. It’s very unpleasant to watch and very dissatisfying for the actor.
TEN: VOICE/SPEECH – Not usually a problem for amateurs and student actors – not speaking up (volume), not speaking out (projection) and not speaking clearly (articulation and annunciation) are a very common problem. I spent my first two years as a lecturer in Northern Ireland asking, instructing and insisting that people speak up. Without projection, without clarity, you may as well not speak.
Of course, there are many MANY more things, but if as an actor, you can address THESE things, you have a fighting chance of improving your performances in the future.
To You, The Best!Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2009
Acting is the Art of Translation from Page to Stage
I had originally sat down to write tomorrow’s blog, when I was struck by remembering a conversation I’d had with my friend, I wanted to explore the ideas and I wish to share with you the thoughts that I had upon being reminded of our discussion.
I was recently chatting with Philip about theatre translation, translating plays from one language to another and the problems encountered by the playwright/translator in this process. It occurred to me that the acting process is an act of translation, from the writer’s cerebral, verbal and literary process to the physical artifact of the script, then translated once again from the physical literary form to the plastic, physical actions of the actor. If the actor is unlucky, a third party – called the director – will augment/confuse the act of translation by grafting an additional cerebral layer into the process. This process takes ideas from the living writer and transfers them to the cold, dead page to be subsequently transformed (at another time and in another place) into being by the psychophysical actions of the actor.
The actor’s job then, is to seek through the script to find clues to the original life that the writer gave the piece, and to translate them in things that can be done by a person. The actor, acts upon clues from the script, turning ideas into behaviour, words into doing. At no stage is the actor required to augment the translation with their own creative opinion, only in the choice of how they bring the text to life, only through the choice of their actions and physical tactics can the actor realise this process.
The trouble is that the intermediary called the director, a necessary evil in the theatre, and I should know, because I am one, is not NECESSARY for the act of transformation, but is required to serve as the ‘creative editor’ for the process, perhaps selecting and framing the translation as it occurs throughout the rehearsal process. The director is a go-between serving both the actor and the writer, and if they are auteur-type, adding their own interpretation into the mix.
The art of the actor is the translation from page to stage, how the actor does it, that’s the trick, that’s the magic, that’s where we all disagree. Those that teach acting claim (often not directly, I’ll admit, but through their actions) that they can instruct the actor in how best to make the translation, the transformation.
To You, The Best!
Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels.
His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2009
A Lesson That ALL Actors MUST LEARN
Whatever school or methodology of acting you belong to, there is one lesson that must be learned by all actors if they wish to be successful. Yesterday, I was working with a friend of mine, an actress who is an associate at the NTS. We were working on a scene she is preparing for a performance at the Arches Theatre in Glasgow. Within just a few minutes, we had identified a serious blockage for her, her understanding of some aspects of the play was preventing her natural skills, her spontaneous creativity, her intellect and instincts from being able to do what she can do only too well.
Understanding the play. These words for many years were a pain to me. I simply could not understand ‘how to understand’ the play. No one had taught me the basic analytical tools necessary to do this task. I’m not talking about some kind of academic understanding, involving the themes and motifs of the playwright, these are all abstract from the job of the actor. We’re talking about gaining an understanding of the play so that the understanding can be translated from page to stage. Without these analytical tools, all of the actor’s natural gifts and predisposition for performance go wasted. Why? Because they are improvising their understanding of the play. Time and time again, I speak with actors that have based their entire performance on, well, for want of a better word BULLSHIT. They DO NOT UNDERSTAND the play in TANGIBLE terms. I have written on this topic many times, even explaining this before, but it’s worth expressing it again, differently.
The great SECRET is, that none of this is brain surgery or rocket science, or whatever people say. Instead, it requires an open mind and few liberating questions, questions that will open up the actor’s understanding of the play. Yes, it may take some time, it may even be a difficult task, requiring a bit of mental sweat, but once the understanding becomes clear, then it’s entirely worth it.
This lesson is written to explain how you would approach using analytical tools to approach a one person show. These are the first steps that I would take (after reading the play many times to familiarise myself) to understand the play.
First STEP, very simple ASK – WHO IS YOUR CHARACTER SPEAKING TO? God, The Audience? An Audience (In the Play), Themselves, Another Character (Present), Another Character (Not Present) – there are many more. By acquiring a target, you can begin to understand how you will behave towards them. It may be worth asking ‘what is the relationship type’ if it is another character, in other words, are they the character’s friend, lover, child, parent, employee, employer, etc. This again will help you to understand how you will need to shape your behaviour.
THEN ASK WHY? Why is your character speaking? This gives the character a reason to be there.
Next ASK – What is the character’s UNDERLYING NEED? This is what is driving the character throughout the entire play. What is their DRIVING need, what pushes them through the play. What is it that they WANT? An Underlying Need can be MANY THINGS, it’s worth checking out this link to help you. Spend some REAL time trying to work this one out, what is that they spent every scene aiming to GET? It can be very simply worded. Perhaps even one word: SURVIVAL, PRESERVATION, HOPE, LOVE, SEX…. Once you have a strong understanding
Next MAKE A LIST of the ALL THE CONFLICTS, ALL THE BARRIERS that the character must overcome in order to achieve their NEED in the play. Go through the play and each time they are challenged by a conflict make a list of them, most of them can be expressed in a single word or three. Then write next to them what the character does to overcome them. Work your way through the play as you do this, understanding how the playwright has constructed the play. When you have a list of conflicts and how the character attempts to negotiate the conflicts THEN
ASK – How does the dramatic journey CHANGE the character? Here you will establish for yourself that there IS a dramatic journey that your character goes on. Where do they begin and where they end?
If you ask these questions and you sit down and spend the time answering them based on the play, you will find yourself connecting to the material of the script.
The actor’s job is to act, to put these things into action, but this is the first step to truly connecting to the material of the play. If you director cannot, will not do this with you, then you need to do it for yourself.
To You, The Best!Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2009
History of the Meisner Technique
Back in the Thirties, Sanford Meisner was one of the members of The Group Theatre, probably the most important theatre company in the history of the American theatre. The Group’s work was based on the work of the Russian actor, director and father of modern acting, Stanislavski. At some point in their work together, Sandy Meisner fell out with Lee Strasberg over his unnecessary emphasis on the use of the personal emotions of the actor. Meisner felt that the imagination and emotion could be stimulated by the imaginary circumstances of the play/scene. Of course, Strasberg went on to make acting look like a cross between an CIA interrogation and a Freudian therapy session, but Meisner’s work slowly and quietly grew in the shade of Strasberg’s light.
Sandy defined acting as ‘living truthfully under the imaginary circumstances of the play’. His approach is rigorously based in what is known as ‘the reality of doing’.
Meisner worked out of the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, he created his own way of working, a systematic approach, still based on the teachings of Stanislavski, but focused on the principles of real human behaviour. His training included a great deal of emphasis on helping the actor to allow their own natural impulses to flow unimpeded, something that socially, as human beings, we’re not too comfortable with. Meisner trained actors to work with their real impulses and real behaviour, rather than pretending.
One of the founding exercises of Meisner’s Technique is called Repetition, of the Repetition Exercise or Game. It’s a simple game, seems on the surface to be a bit ridiculous, but over time, it becomes more and more useful to the actor. In the exercise, two actors stand opposite each other and respond truthfully to each other through a statement that is repeated. The statement is derived from something in the other actor’s behaviour, such as ‘You’re nervous’. The statement is repeated and without help from the two actor, it changes naturally in response to the behaviour of the other actor. The actor must stop thinking about about themselves, a place their attention fully and completely upon their partner. Sandy’s own focus was said to be:
“to eliminate all intellectuality from the actor’s instrument and to make him a spontaneous responder to where he is, what is happening to him, what is being done to him.”
Of course, the Meisner Technique is much more than simply Repetition, yet this remains the foundation technique that allow the student to access the ‘reality of doing’, to ‘live in the moment’, and to ‘work off the other fellow’.
My own teaching uses only a portion of Meisner’s work, Practical Aesthetics itself has some basis in Meisner, because Mamet studied briefly, for one year with Sandy, but it takes the necessary and leaves the remainder for the dedicated Meisner students. In class, we use Repetition as the foundation technique that all students use to develop ‘other awareness’ and learn to be in the moment and to work off the other actor. For many of our students, this is an extremely challenging exercise, but like playing scales at the piano, it is an exercise necessary to develop some of the skills and qualities that we believe are essential to becoming the best actor that you can be.
To You, The Best!Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2009
Lessons from Georgi Tovstonogov
After many years of searching, I finally received a copy of Georgi Tovstonogov’s book ‘ The Profession of the Stage-Director’ published in 1972. I had it imported from the United States and I have to say that is has already made me smile with recognition so many times, I know that I’m really going to enjoy this book. Tovstonogov was a Soviet-era theatre director and he speaks with the voice of long experience working in the art of the stage, but he is quite self-effacing and shows great humility when he writes. I had only opened the first few pages when I was confronted with my first lessons from Georgi. I wanted to share this with you immediately, because I thought it might be of use to some of you.
“Speaking of the way rehearsals should be conducted, I feel that one of the most serious diseases in stage direction today is verbosity. We always seem to be talking non-stop…. We waste a tremendous amount of time on useless talk. As I see it, ideally, our profession would be a silent one… Very often, how I feel after a rehearsal, when I feel satisfied or dissatisfied, depends on the amount of talking I have done. I’ve done a lot of talking, then there’s something wrong: it means I’ve tried to cover up with words the fact that I am not sure what I want in a particular scene”.
How often have we, as directors or actors (or even teachers) considered how much time is spent in rehearsal talking. I don’t discount that conversation, or dialogue is essential to the forward progression, the development of the production of the play. But like Georgi says, it perhaps ‘covers up with words’ the fact that somebody doesn’t know what to do, or where to take the scene. With regards to the rehearsal, the dialogue between director and actors can certainly help to move a scene forward, but it is only through action that the scene can actually progress in its journey of translation from page to stage.
This is the first of the lessons that I would like to share with you from Soviet director Georgi Tovstonogov, it has literally taken me years to get this book, and now I intend to share with you at every possible chance, the wisdom that I find within its pages.
To You, The Best!Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2009
Some Thoughts on Directing
Okay, firstly, my apologies, the blog has been sporadic over the past few weeks, I haven’t been feeling too well and found it important to restore my health. So apologies, I hope that I will make up for it in the next few weeks.
Today’s blog is slightly different in that I want to discuss directing, or air some of my thoughts related to the practice of directing. Directing seems like a topic that isn’t taught well. My experience of other directors is that they learned the job in the role, and no one took the time to explain even the basics of acting and stagecraft to them. Of course, there are many amazing directors, but there are also those that simply confuse and terrify their casts with implausible direction and bullying tactics.
In my opinion, the director’s job is to guide the actor to an understanding of the script that enables the actor to translate that understanding into something that they can DO and perform. The director has other roles of course, but the heart of the job is allowing the cast space to play. After a period of play, the director starts to fix some points but allows the actors further space, knowing that they will never stray far.
As a director, there are several elements that make up a successful production. I call this the (tongue in cheek here people) Triangle of Happiness.
Very simply, I feel that the elements that control the success of a show are THE CHOICE OF PLAY, THE CHOICE OF CAST AND THE AUDIENCE.
Each part of the triangle is equally balanced, so when one of these elements is unsuitable, disturbed, damaged or too heavily weighted, it throws the entire triangle out of whack. For this reason, when I’m choosing a play to direct, these are my THREE first and main concerns. By preparing all three adequately, I can ensure that at least I have laid the ground work for a successful show.
WAIT! How can you prepare the audience? Well, we’re simply talking about ensuring that the audience can accept the show that you bring them. It’s pointless bringing an amateur-musical-theatre audience to see Mark Ravenhill’s Shopping and Fucking, just pointless. You’re asking for trouble.
Play Choice, this is difficult, but you simply know that some plays will not play well with a contemporary audience. Is this a reason to prevent us from doing it? No. But, it’s worth considering it.
Casting. To me this is so important. One wrong choice and the rehearsal process can turn from pleasure to punishment very quickly. The dynamic of the cast is also a vital ingredient. We do not spend enough time ensuring that the ingredients in the mixture of our play go well together. Casting should take time – no wonder directors surround themselves with actors they trust, who can afford (financially or through reputation) to cast unknowns when a known cast can pull off the job adequately. Better the Devil you know, than the Devil you don’t – as Kylie said 
)
Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2009
How Can I Become a Successful Working Actor?
I got an email message that asked ‘Do you think actors really need to read plays to be successful?’ This is my reply in blog form.
To my mind, actors still don’t read enough plays. I remember an actress when I was in Drama School, we’ll call her Claire, who told me that she went home most nights and read aloud to herself from parts in classical drama that she’d love to play. By doing this, Claire became easily comfortable with the language of all manner of different styles of plays from Ibsen and Chekhov to Moliere and Shakespeare. I once told this story to a group of ‘acting students’ on a university course, they laughed, what a dork, what a geek, what a loser. Yes, but Claire is a successful working actress and most of those acting students now work in a supermarket or a cafe or something equally glamorous.
But that’s the thing, so many people TALK about wanting to be actors, so many people DREAM about it, but they never turn the FANTASY into REALITY. WHY? Because the fantasy is fun, it’s effortless, you can sit day dreaming about how your successful career will be without ever leaving your bed. BUT acting, becoming a working actor requires ACTION first, you need to get up and get out and GRAFT. It’s scary, it’s difficult and it’s disappointing and confusing. All these things are much more challenging than simply staying in bed and dreaming about it, or taking another kind of job and trying to convince everyone that you’re gonna be a big star some day, but the action to make it happens requires GUTS and GRAFT.
The difference between dreaming and achieving can be found here: WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO DO to make it happen?
What did you do TODAY to make it happen?
What steps did you actually take?
What MORE did you do? That’s right, before you congratulate yourself for taking the first step, what MORE can you do?
Acting students often ask what they can do to ‘make the break’. I often say this: ‘More than the next person is willing to do’.
To You, The Best!Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2009
Overcoming Stage Fright
If you suffer from what people call ‘stage fright’, you have my sympathies. I too am very uncomfortable, very self-conscious in front of people. However, I’ve never let it stop me getting what I want, and I don’t think it should stop you either.
You’re not alone. Lots of people suffer from the same anxiety. It’s okay, you’re in great company. In fact, in a poll created by Gallup, the Number 1 TOP public fear was ‘Getting Up in Front of Others’. ‘Death’ lost out and only came in second. That tells you just how much company you have in your fear.
Stage Fright, or performance anxiety, is a naturally occurring phenomena, it is part of the natural survival instinct that presents one from getting hurt.
But I want to help you to overcome your Stage Fright, or your fear of speaking in public. The good news for you is that it is entirely possible for you to overcome Stage Fright, and if other people can successfully overcome it, so can you.
Does this sound like you? Does any of this chime with you? Do you see yourself here below?
Your body is taking, it’s most noticeable in your hands. You feel anxious, your throat tightens, making it harder to speak. Your knees and legs feel weak, you are enveloped in gear. Your mind won’t stay quiet, it replays past failures, it imagines new failures. Your heart is almost exploding with its manic drum beat out of your chest, and in just a few minutes, with your heart in your mouth, with every part of you telling you NO NO NO, you will walk in front of others and they will laugh at you, they will snigger at you, they will know, what you have known all along, that you’re just no good and you can’t do it.
Let me tell you something.
Stage Fright is like a horror film. What’s going on in your head, in your mind, in your imagination is what makes it TRULY scary. Your mind imagines far worse things than the movie could possibly present. That’s right, stage fright, just like the movies, works because your mind, your imagination paints the picture for you. The reality is ALWAYS less scary, less terrifying and less awful than you ever imagined.
Here’s some things that you can do, to combat and overcome your Stage Fright, or irrational fear of speaking in public.
BREATHE – My favourite way to stay calm in all situations. I remember going for a job interview and I was so nervous, I’d made such a fuss about it, I actually felt sick. I took control by taking slow, deep diaphragmatic breaths.
REALITY CHECK – Accept that everyone, successful and experienced gets a little nervous or excited before speaking in public or performing. If you take all of the negatives away from the things that you feel before a performance, they are EXACTLY the same as those things that an excited person experiences, shaking legs (it’s an adrenalin buzz), agitated mind (how exciting, you’re going to be performing soon), heart thumpety thumping (your body preparing you for it), it’s great, it’s all about perspective.
FOCUS ON THE TASK AHEAD – This is probably the best advice I can give you. Focus on the tiny individual elements of your task – the ones that make up the entire task. These tasks will take your concentration and your focus and place it where it NEEDS to be, which is right on the task. When your mind is focused on doing, not thinking, it is easier to calm the mind and still the body. Focusing upon the task during your performance will take your mind away from the audience and the entire activity will be MUCH more enjoyable.
WARM UP – Always warm up – even if it’s a few stretches, a little breathing and some tongue twisters and mouth exercises. No matter what you’re doing, you’ll be more confident knowing that you’ve prepared for what you’re about to do. Here’s a few tongue twisters and mouth exercises to get you start.
PREPARATION – That word again, but being prepared allows you to relax more about what you’re doing. If you’re underprepared, you’ll have less confidence in yourself. Prepare, so that you can relax into the task.
SOUND CHECK – One of the things that goes wrong when most people experience ‘Stage Fright’ is that they speak too quickly and too quietly. It’s very important if you’re public speaking to make sure that people can hear you. I spent my first two years as a university acting teacher yelling at students that I couldn’t hear them. Slow, Loud and Clear. Don’t gabble. Take a sip of water, calm yourself and make yourself understood. If you’re acting on stage, make sense of the words, go after your task, place your focus on the other actors.
I do hope this helps, if you need further help, why not get in touch?
To You, The Best!Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2009
Killing Shakespeare
I’ve seen an awful lot of Shakespeare in the last few weeks. From Titus Amatadramaticus to the Dublin Shakespeare Festival, I’m convinced of one thing. Someone is trying to murder Shakespeare. I don’t mean that all the Shakespeare I saw was bad, by no means, but out of the four that I’ve seen, I’d rather eat my own sick than sit through at least HALF of it again. Here I exclude the two student productions that I saw at the RSAMD for these reasons:
1) They were under-done but they are produced by actors in training.
2) They were boldly acted, with energy and vigor
3) The verse was often handled very well
They weren’t perfect as I have previously written, but they made no attempt, nor did the mistakenly murder Shakespeare in the process.
BUT THE OTHERS….
In the continued, misguided attempt to make Shakespeare ‘appeal to the masses’, ‘accessible’, ‘understood’ and ‘appreciated’, companies amateur, student and professional keep producing weak, poorly performed Shakespeare. I’m by no means saying that I am somehow above this, but I state this to highlight that Shakespeare is very hard to do well, and very easy to kill stone dead.
Mark Coleman keeps popping into my head with the famous Goethe quote:
“I wish the stage were as narrow as the wire of tightrope dancer, so that no incompetent would dare step onto it.”
Mark was very humble on his own blog, as he attempts to analyse his experience of playing Titus. I decided against blogging about the show, mainly because I had nothing positive to say about the acting and didn’t wish to piss on their parade for the sake of it.
I only wish that people saw how truly difficult Shakespeare is to do well, so that they would avoid coming off worse as they collide with it. Even worse, whatever the reason for performing the works of the Bard, these half-baked productions do not help give others ‘access’ to Shakespeare, they send them screaming in the other direction. With the aim to offer Shakespeare, to enlighten, to tell his great tales, they are killing him, one stab at a time.
My friend and collaborator Philip says he hates Shakespeare, yet I do not see how it is possible. He is the finest and most skilful writer in the English language. To my mind, Philip’s experience of Shakespeare must be shite. Somewhere, in school or in the theatre, someone has ruined it for him.
It’s very clear to me that acting Shakespeare is tremendously difficult, killing him in performance is frighteningly casual and that before they decide to injure the Bard further, all actors, all production companies should stop and think. I’m not saying ‘don’t do it’. I’m not saying that there is a good way or a right way to do it, but with Shakespeare, you have two chances of success, and it’s just like I enjoy a good steak, either raw and bloody OR well done.
Quality is what counts – theatre is not an experiment, it is a form of entertainment. When you ask the audience to indulge your poorly performed production, you damage your craft, you damage the theatre, and in this case, you damage Shakespeare. If you’re going to do him, do him well, or leave him to the professionals.
UPDATE: I’m not the first to think these thoughts obviously, but here’s something fascinating from the 1921 New York Times!
To You, The Best!Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2009
Indicating the Character
This will be familiar to some of you:
You have to play a character accused of a crime. From the script, it is not clear whether they are guilt or not. No one knows and the playwright won’t tell.
Does the actor playing the accused character NEED to know if they are guilty or not, in order to play the part?
I say ABSOLUTELY NOT. If the playwright did not furnish you with that particular information, it isn’t essential to playing the role. It is a misunderstanding of the playing of character that such details are necessary. Anyone who thinks that they can ‘create’ a psychologically complex persona when most people can barely keep their own under control is deluding themselves.
How do you think you can use this information to play the scene? If you act the scene like you’re guilty, you will give the game away and spoil the play. If you try to act like you’re not guilty, you will over-egg the pudding I fear. If you try to act like a guilty man trying to look innocent, you’ll not only confuse yourself, but you’ll also create moments of pure ham and cheese. There is no serious way to ‘act like a guilty man pretending or trying to be innocent’ without asking that the audience indulge you.
You will be indicating the character. You will be trying to ‘tell’ the audience something about the character through your acting. I doubt that it will ever come across in the way that you want it.
It is not what the character knows that is important in this case, it is what they DO that matters. What does the accused man want? People to believe that he’s innocent.
So whether you believe the character is innocent or guilty, your actions should be exactly the same. Your job is to attain the same goal, to be considered innocent, and be freed from the situation. Anything else is indicating through your actions. If the scene requires it, it should be there in the text.
To You, The Best!Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2009
Life Long Learning for Actors
Apologies to my regular blog readers, I’ve been away on holiday for a short break and whilst I’m still away, I thought I would take the time to continue my blog for you.
Actor training generally comes in various forms, either private coaching, acting classes, acting masterclasses or full time training. Once an actor has engaged with a sustained period of intensive training, they are often reticent to take up further training. There is no culture of life long learning for experienced, professional actors.
Part of the blame must be laid at the feet of particular establishments which claim to teach acting but rarely teach anything of the sort. The amount of training provision available vastly out-strips the number of possible employment opportunites for actors available at any one time. These establishments continue to churn out actors, even though they know that there are few jobs out there.
These institutions do not devote serious time and money to training their actors, they are essentially extensions of the high school drama club, taught by people who had a very limited (if any) professional experience and then became lecturers at these no-name institutions. I’m not talking about drama schools or conservatories, I’m taking I supopse about colleges.
I was discussing this issue with my friend Terence Zeeman at the weekend, Terence is a former lecturer at the University of Ulster, but more impressively, he was Executive Director of the National Theatre of Namibia. Terence and I were discussing this topic of further training, and we concluded that life long learning cannot exist for actors for one simple reason:
If most of your training was bullshit and nonsense, if it didn’t really help you when you got into the real world, then why would you possible want to engage with further training? If training is mainly rubbish, why would you waste more time and money on learning further vague nonsenses from charlatans.
IF most of the training you receive is not even practicable, why on earth would you engage in any more?
Yet, it is my belief that actors and all theatre professionals should engage in periods of additional training, not just actor training but job specific training that continue to develop their craft. Courses in voice, period movement and dance, acting for camera for those who are mainly stage actors are also very successful.
But there is a possibility that experienced actors can learn something new about acting too. Last year, I was delighted to take part in a series of Masterclasses for young professional actors in Glasgow, Scotland, where I live and work. Many of these actors were successful, working actors that had the open-minded approach to seek out other opportunities to challenge and develop their present skillset.
Their attitude was fantastic, but they also achieved a great deal too BECAUSE they were already skilled and experienced performers making the most of a new opportunity.
It is my belief that actors everywhere to go and experience further training, of course, do your research, avoid the charlatan acting teachers, but look out for those people that have credibility and can offer you a new way to build upon your current skills and take your acting to the next level.
To You, The Best!Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2009
How to Get Into Acting in Scotland
This blog is specifically aimed at those readers that are looking to get into acting, perhaps for the first time. Perhaps you’ve always fancied it, perhaps you’re looking to change direction or you just want to try acting and you’re not quite ready to quit your day job just yet.
Firstly, it depends on what you want to achieve. ‘Getting into Acting’ means many things to many people. Do you want to try acting at an amateur level to see if you’re any good? Do you fancy training formally at a college or drama school? Are you looking for less formal training, evening classes etc, or would you like to throw it all in and start your career as an actor tomorrow or even better today?
Here’s my advice for those of you that want to ‘get into acting’.
Amateur Level
In almost every town there are a couple of amateur dramatics clubs or groups that can give you your taste of acting. They may be cliquey and run by people who are accountants, florists, joiners, office managers and traffic wardens in the day time, but they’re also people that embrace the TRUE meaning of the word ‘Amateur’ – someone that does it for the love of it.
One mention goes to the STG, the Strathclyde Theatre Group, I’m sure they hate the label of ‘amateur’, but they’re a long-standing group – worth checking out and they have a good rep for giving people the chance to try out acting. Of course, auditioning at every level is competitive. If you’re rubbish, or if you don’t get cast, here’s where you’ll learn your first lessons.
Colleges/Conservatoires
Teaching Drama (or Acting) is big business. It’s very popular and so it makes good money. For this reason, there are dozens of acting courses across Scotland, all of varying qualities and reputations. I’m not going to recommend any other than the RSAMD here. They’re the national conservatory, they know what they’re doing and they do an excellent job. I don’t know whether any school ‘produces’ good actors, but it’s certain that they help them on their way.
Informal Training
I’ll be up front, this is what we provide. We’re not a traditional formal school environment. I am an acting teacher, I have a small actor training studio where we help people to discover acting. One of the very interesting things for me is that most commonly, people discover that they have no idea what to expect from acting. They think it’s doing funny voices or crying a lot. When they come to a proper acting studion, they struggle a little at first as their dream of what it was going to be like connects to the reality of training. Those
There are lots of small acting teachers in Scotland, offering classes, masterclasses and private acting training.
I provide acting classes in glasgow, alongside masterclasses in acting throughout Scotland. Raw Talent does something similar on a larger scale over in Edinburgh.
Get Going
I do not advise this option without trying out some of the previous items mentioned above. People without any understanding of our industry rarely get a clear perspective on it from outside. They may have a false impression of what it means to be an actor and you need some perspective.
Having said that, amateur theatre will teach you a lot of bad habits, formal training will be inflexible and be either very difficult to get into or not particularly very good. Informal training won’t give you the number of hours that you need and just ‘going for it’ will leave you unprepared for a very exacting career.
You can check out places like SCOT NITS, MANDY, Casting Call Pro and Glasgow Theatre Underground for auditions.
At Acting Coach Scotland, we try to introduce people to acting and the acting profession slowly and gradually. As students progress, they can take more and more classes and add private classes on top of that.
But please understand this, no one is going to open a door for you and you’ll find yourself a lead in River City. It doesn’t happen like that. It’s hard work, graft is our craft.
If you’d like some advice about how to ‘get into acting’, why not get in touch, visit my website Acting Coach Scotland and send me an email.
To You, The Best!Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2009
McKellan on Shakespeare
This is a tiny post today. I’ve been reading and seeing a lot of Shakespeare recently. I’m always fascinated by the Bard of Avon and how he has infected us with his poetry. His plays are beautiful relics of history, yet they remain universal and speak as much to us now as they ever did.
Many (Philip) do not appreciate them, I riposte that someone has ruined Shakespeare for you, you could not intelligently see a good production or read one of his plays and think ‘this is a load of old tripe innit?’ Someone has ruined it for you.
Should Shakespeare be lauded for being our national poet? For being the greatest poet/playwright in the English language? No. He’s just a bloody good writer. His work manages to be simple and complex at once.
Well, I wanted to introduce you to treat that I found whilst wandering the web.
Back in time, Ian McKellan (pre-Gandalf days) toured the UK and other countries delivering a remarkable one man show called Acting Shakespeare. Well, if you follow this link, you can read the script for this wonderful show and learn something about both Shakespeare and McKellan. It is like being offered a glimpse into McKellan’s experience and I wanted to share it with you because I found it intriguing, inspiring and it helps people to learn that Shakespeare isn’t some lofty, removed figure, I mean – the man is dead, he’s as removed as can be, but his work is alive, and accessible to those who are willing to accept him with open arms.
Please enjoy Acting Shakespeare – the script.
Watch a clip of Acting Shakespeare here.
To You, The Best!Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2009
Can anyone be an actor?
Anyone can train to be an actor, anyone can learn the skills required. Personally, I think if acting ISN’T the capacity to BELIEVE in the imaginary and act upon your capacity for delusion, then yes, it’s possible that anyone can be an actor. However, of course, it’s not as simple as that. We’re all inclined towards certain things more than others. We can all learn to paint, but not everyone will be Picasso. We can all learn to play soccer, but not everyone will ever become Cristiano Ronaldo, because a gathering together of factors has brought him to become the best in his field. You can learn it, you just might not be the best in the world.
Without a doubt, it certainly helps if you are psychologically or psychophysically predisposed to performance. By performance, I don’t mean that they can act, I just mean that they have an element of the performer about their own character. This may be that they speak loudly, aren’t afraid to speak in front of strangers, and can remember lots and lots of lines, but that also doesn’t mean that you are going to become a great actor.
So can anyone become an actor? Don’t you need talent to be an actor?
Well, one look at the average soap opera would show that you don’t need a GREAT talent for acting, but you must be able to perform, you must also be able augment and suppress certain elements of your own personality, through the characteristics that you choose to express in the pursuit of acting.
Of course, many people go to acting school to learn the technical side of acting. It’s not just being able to read a play, analyze it for action and work off the other actors, there are technical considerations, there are things that you need to learn that only production can teach. There are elements of the craft of the actor that can be only learned on the job, and these are not dependent upon the whims of capricious talent.
It takes much more than simply talent, and perhaps talent isn’t enough. I am continually surprised when inexperienced actors that demonstrate no initial ‘talent’ in my classes end up producing incredible scenes.
Those people that struggle the most, are those that inflexible in mind, those that have difficulty affecting (others) and being affected (by others). Those people that talk but don’t listen, watch but don’t see. Those people that are particularly unaware of their self. Everyone struggles to learn something new, it always feels awkward and wrong to learn a new skill, but it is those people that cannot get out of their own way (by themselves or with help) that will struggle the most with becoming an actor.
To You, The Best!Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2009
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