U.K. Actors Need Training, Too
In an article published in the U.K.'s The Guardian a couple days ago, writer Lyn Gardner sees growing rifts in drama education. She note that although many young actors have attended drama schools that are twice as hard to get into as other universities, like many graduating students they may still not be ready for life as a working actor. The article "Not puppets, but thinking actors" tries to evaluate whether acting students should study, or act.
"How well prepared are these young actors to succeed in a profession in which 80% earn less than £10,000 a year," Gardner asks in the article, "and is three years at drama school still the best way to enter that profession? It's a question worth asking when it increasingly seems that the entirely untrained can just stroll up for an audition and get a shot at stardom in a reality casting TV show."
While many actors simply want to get famous, others get confused by the wide variety of classes and training programs available. Add to that the need for the perfect combination of academics and practical stage or screen experience, and the demands of a changing industry can become overwhelming. And at most auditions or showcases, no one will care about your degree, anyway.
Jonathan Holloway, a theatre director for over 25 years, told The Guardian: "When I've worked with university trained actors they sometimes lack basic skills, but sometimes when you are working with drama school-trained actors you become aware that they've never been in a devised show and don't know how to work in that context."
The story has many similarities to a Back Stage article I wrote, published earlier this year, about four actors who each had very different experiences in their various college training programs. Read The Guardian story here, and the Back Stage story here, to compare. At the very least, it's nice to know the Brits face some of the same problems we do (and that reality TV is changing the meaning of fame there too).
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