guardian.co.uk: In an era of job cuts, the redundancy of navy personnel and the perilous future of hospital services, it seems perhaps frivolous to expend pity on young actors – but spare a thought for the people who could be the artists of the future. The people who would, if they were only able to develop, bolster our tourist industry and entertain our hearts in the depression and hard times on their way. Theatre, said Lorca, is the measure of a nation's greatness. Our theatre is a jewel, and we are throwing its future on the dung heap.
Thursday, October 06, 2011
Are drama schools training actors for real life?
guardian.co.uk: In an era of job cuts, the redundancy of navy personnel and the perilous future of hospital services, it seems perhaps frivolous to expend pity on young actors – but spare a thought for the people who could be the artists of the future. The people who would, if they were only able to develop, bolster our tourist industry and entertain our hearts in the depression and hard times on their way. Theatre, said Lorca, is the measure of a nation's greatness. Our theatre is a jewel, and we are throwing its future on the dung heap.
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So, coming from a drama student's perspective and being a first year student, I really hope that I'm being trained for a career! This article is right sometimes, a bit incorrect at other times and unnerving the whole time. Probably because this article is hitting close to home, there is a little uneasiness as to how prepared us drama students actually are for the real world. I would like to think that I'm being prepped but I can definitely say that somewhere in the world or even in the US, there is a kid who has just as much talent, and who isn't getting the same benefits. The CMU program is special in that the programs cover a wide range of skills. Starting in September, I was equipped with only the basic knowledge of costume design. Now comes October and I've covered topics that range from drawing, lighting, props, rigging, and more. At least from a design perspective, I'm in the clear. From an actor's perspective, I really couldn't say. They too are in a great program that is strengthening their skills as well as broadening their education. From what I can tell, on top of the regular acting classes, they have a chance to learn about design, writing, computer. These are grudge courses for some but they could end up being important in the long run. I hope that there are other kids that will get the chance or have the right opportunities, we are very lucky.
This reminds me a little of an article from a few weeks ago that was up on this blog about whether conservatory programs are good or whether a more liberal arts approach to drama should be taken. I agree with parts of this article in the sense that I believe that drama students should be taught a wide range of skills and should have to take classes not directly related to developing acting skills (or light design skills or costume skills, etc). It is these other not-as-directly-related classes that allow an actor or performer to separate themselves from the huge pool of new actors. I agree that an actor should be able to do other things besides just do a really good British accent. Especially with the new upsurge in devised and collaborative work, an actor is being asked to do a lot more in a lot of different mediums and forums and schools should be teaching them how to adapt to the changes in the field.
I agree with the last few sentences of the article. New actors must be prepared to face anything in the world. The article questioned whether schools were training students for the real world. The truth is, a school can't prepare you 100% for the real world. A student must take some responsibility for their own future. A school can't prepare a student for everything, but by immersing yourself in theatre outside of the education realm you can learn a lot. It's also extremely helpful to get intermediate training in something completely outside of theatre. Learn a second language, learn to play a musical instrument, take a business class, something that you can't learn in a theatre building. You'd be surprised how often you may use those outside skills in the realm of theatre.
In someways I think a better question is, are schools training students for real life. Almost everyone in colleges right now are going to have to go straight to graduate school after undergrad. Finding jobs are difficult for everyone, not just actors. The DP's are lucky to have such a high hire rate, and that's one of the main reasons I came here, and could convince my parents to let me. That's one of the benefits of going to a trade school, we're being prepared for a job. The question is if there will be a job waiting for us. Actors will always have the shorter end of the stick. There are more of them, and fewer positions available. Once the economy improves, many of them will still be in the same boat. I agree with the article that they will need to be creative. The actors that are successful, will be the ones that push to create more. The ones that push creativity and perhaps are the ones who create more jobs for others.
It's interesting to contextualize this article's point (if the jobs aren't there, make them yourself) with the example that's close to our hearts here at CMU, Pigpen. Born out of just the connection of a few guys and the opportunity afforded by the PLAYGROUND Festival to produce and present massive amounts of original work at a rapid pace, they've been able to create an up-and-coming and sustainable company (and as a result, ensured self-employment with full control over the company's ventures). That comes with being what we are - a conservatory program with an emphasis on being aware and innovative theatre thinkers and doers.
But for other schools, this article points out that offering acting classes and running the school musical every year is not enough anymore to properly train actors to succeed in the real world. What will be difficult is finding ways to augment the normal system (or update it) in a world of slashed arts and university budgets. Projects like Future Stages or PLAYGROUND need an infrastructure in order for the project creators to build those collaborative skills the article argues they need. Further, actors need a basic training in order to make the most use of those alternative programs, so they're likely costly upper-level additions to the curriculum. Is it worth the investment? Probably on a case-by-case basis, but for those able to commit and willing to adapt, they may be able to provide beneficial experiences in original creation and creative collaboration for actors.
I find it interesting to find Di Trevis here pushing artists to formulate their own works. New work is ALWAYS a crap shoot and when it's wonderful it can be WONDERFUL; when it's unpolished and weak, made for its own sake, it can be just as oppositely HORRIBLE. Bad theatre stinks no matter if it's a poor production of Hamlet or someone's brand new work.
In order for people to do this well, I think art HAS to be like any other craft. If you want to break the rules you have to LEARN them first. And just because you DO learn them doesn't mean you'll be able to have a career. There's NEVER a guarantee of that, no matter how good your training is.
How many other companies like the Living Theatre have started in someone's living room only to never get off the ground and close the next week? Likely, very VERY many.
I think the a lot of the same arguments the writer of this article made can be made for many professions in today's economic struggle. There are many people going to business schools that will have a hard time finding a job when they get out of college as well. It seems to me that this article focuses on all of the negative aspects of actors finding jobs, and regards the few positive cases mentioned as anomalies. I know many people who have graduated from drama schools around the country that are doing just fine, and personally, as someone who has become more and more interested in careers that extend beyond theatre, still feel as though I'm gaining the knowledge I need for these careers from a drama school. This article, while not entirely untrue, is far too opinion based to be taken seriously.
Tagging off of Brooke's point...Many economists said that demand for nurses and doctors would remain constant, potentially increase. We have seen a rise in the number of applicants and individuals who have successfully completed their nursing degree, but have no job in the industry to accept. This is because the older generation of workers are not leaving the labor force. They aren't able to retire, so the normal turnover within the labor force is not constant.
The acting pool is experiencing a completely different type of labor constraint. The older generation will not be able to fill the roles that the younger generation fills, but there aren't roles for any of the generations. We are seeing an overall decrease in funding for theatrical productions, thus the demand for that talent is decreased.
I think that it's important for the faculty of drama schools to be honest with their students about what they are getting themselves into. Honesty is definitely the best policy in this case. School can never completely train you for the real world, no matter what your degree is in, but I think it's important for them to try their best to prepare not just actors, but all theatre students for the world they will one day (hopefully) enter. I also think it's important that theatre conservatories not only include performance based classes, but classes to help with marketing oneself and networking.
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