Drama school auditions and how "Acting" is taught in schools

[pg]

I went to a very good performance of "Romeo and Juliet" at a local school last week. It was very enjoyable with some strong performances. I found it fascinating to watch the young people performing, especially as I did not know most of them (I think one's view of performers is often coloured by what one already knows about them). It was so easy to spot the "instinctive" actors who had somehow just "got it" and I think this is what usually happens at drama school auditions - you really can just see those who have somehow "got it" even if the technique is all over the place. There will be others where an experienced panel will spot a spark they think is worth exploring or perhaps an attitude and character that is intriguing.
Of course, there will be many applicants who are naturally gifted, so the competition will still be fierce (and potentially unfair) even for these students and there will be many talented individuals who don't get in.

The point of this post, though, is whether acting is (or should be) "taught" in ordinary drama lessons in school. I happen to know that the director of the production I went to see is a wonderful teacher who has acted and directed professionally and I have no doubt her pupils really benefit from this knowledge and experience and get excellent tuition. However, as I was leaving the theatre I spotted a poster on the wall, it was this one:
http://www.daydreameducation.co.uk/Deta ... all+Charts
I only really read the top section when I was in the school theatre, but it worried me so much I looked up the poster on-line.

Now, I don't want to be too melodramatic about this, but if children are taught that if they follow these guidelines they will be "good actors", they will be really seriously disadvantaged when they go on to audition at drama school! They would have to "unlearn" a large chunk of it at drama school. "What you are trying to show and howyou are trying to show it" is a really misleading message and most drama schools would regard this as "demonstrating" and therefore, well, just bad acting!

There isn't very much on the poster I agree with! It's not that I think that "my" way of thinking about acting is the "right" way or the only way, it's just that most of the messages on this poster will be at odds with what is taught at drama schools, so I think it does matter if young people are hoping to go on to audition at drama schools.

Of course, if the teacher is experienced, and knows something about acting and how to teach it, I can see that these simplistic "rules" could provide a useful focus for lessons in a mixed-ability and mixed-interest class. However, if the teacher doesn't have any experience and takes these "rules" as the "right" way to act then I think children will learn the wrong things (if they want to improve as actors). Maybe it won't matter to the "instinctive" actors as they may rely on their instincts rather than the rules and maybe it doesn't matter too much as drama lessons in school are not designed to train actors - or are they? I'll stop rambling Any thoughts?

[Irishdancer]

pg very intresting thank for posting this. We are going to school on Friday for options evening, ds has a lot of experance in drama dose drama exams do u think it will be better for him to do some thing like media studies rather than drama he has been doing Lamda exams since he was 5 doing grade 5 in April so what would you advise.? My friends ds is trying to get into drama school went to Rada was told because he has just come out of Hollyoaks they would not concider him as they thought if he was offered a good part in some thing else might just take that up and give up his place half way through the course. Just wondered what u thought about that do u think he will ever get in any where else as he is really intrested to get in some where

[igloobabe]

pg, I agree. It almost makes you think too much about the process! It's a bit like all the over preparation for SATs that happens in schools - especially for creative writing! It kills spontaneity and can put a child off writing/acting !

[songbird]

Very good points made PG - Having just been though th audition process with dd - I can see how the schools definately have be instinctive on how they choose their candidates as dd said you saw some very excellent candidates in her opinion not even get to recall ... one of dd auditions was at CSSD and she got to recall there for acting for stage -- the advice she got on her monologue was really deep and raw and dd learnt loads from just that half n hour ... she did not get to the next stage but that being said she used the things learnt at her next audition and came out saying that she felt it was the best she had had ever done it. When i questioned what she felt had changed she said because most of her experience has been from training as a dancer /singer she was probably performing just that little too much and the advice she had taken on board was not to be frightened to give of her raw emotion ... in fact she was offered a place at the next school and has decided to accept so perhaps we got a great piece of training for her audition fee ... ..

[pg]

Hi

to Irishdancer:

I think doing Drama, if you enjoy it, could be the right thing to do. There may be lots of interesting things to learn (although, sometimes the keen, experienced students find the "mucking about" that goes on in some lessons a bit frustrating I think). My son loved Media Studies - I think he preferred it to drama at his school - it seemed to him like being allowed to do in school what he would choose to do in his spare time! However, neither Media Studies nor Drama GCSEs and A levels cut much ice in the world of work, I don't think, so I suppose it depends what you want out of it.

I suspect that if you have done quite a bit of acting and have experience of working with people outside a school environment, then you won't take advice like : "make [your facial expressions] larger than life" at face value (if you'll excuse the pun).

That's a shame about the RADA experience Irishdancer. That doesn't sound like a fair reason to turn someone down! I do wonder though whether sometimes applicants seize upon something that is said "in passing" by someone at an audition and then assume that this is why they are turned down. If you faced some difficult or challenging questions in an interview, you might assume that it was somehow because you had given a "wrong" answer that you didn't get in. I doubt that this would be a deciding factor. It would be interesting to know exactly what was said. It would be fairly unusual for someone to be told at a RADA audition that they hadn't got through to the next round on the spot (it's normally by letter I think) so do you think they may have made an assumption that they didn't get through because they were challenged about Hollyoaks? I know I faced some quite tough questions about my age when I auditioned for drama school. If I had then been turned down, I might well have thought that my age was the reason I didn't get in. I was challenged on a few things in interview. In the end though, I was offered places, so the tough comments were just that, tough comments - to see how I reacted and to check whether I had thought things through. I think it's worth continuing to apply and perhaps being ready to defend the Hollyoaks experience and challenge any suggestion that a student who has already had professional work is more likely to disappear half way through than any other student. Sometimes standing up to someone if you disagree with them can be a very productive thing to do!

Maybe the school poster thing is not really anything to worry about and I am being rather over-dramatic ! It just struck me like a hammer when I read it because all of the "acting skills" seemed to be about putting something "on top" and "showing" the audience something. All the skill areas on the poster seem to me to be useful and interesting to learn about/investigate, but the way it suggests putting them into performance would, if taken literally, just lead to a hammy performance! This would be really unhelpful if you were trying to get in to drama school. Hopefully, a teacher would be able to interpret it usefully for anyone wanting to improve their acting skills. I have, however, heard some really bad advice given to students about "how to act" and indeed "how to be a successful actor" from well-intentioned teachers in schools.

(and well done to your dd Songbird!)

[islandofsodor]

Interesting - I have a feeling I might know one of the actors at the school in question.

I have seen several of these type of posters around, I think they are aimed at the KS3 age group rather than older students. I guess they brighten up a classroom a little.

Dh has taught at a couple of performing arts colleges and they do tend to look for different things. The more dance /musical theatre type colleges differ from the more serious acting ones in some ways. To a certain extent you do unlearn everything at drama/dance school, especially so at dance college and the same could be said for singing tuition (my dh's area).

[Welsh Mum]

It may be hard to generalise anyway, as each drama school is different, as are the approaches of the staff in them! Where my Dd currently is she has had to "strip back" her acting for the teacher there. However, the singing teacher loves the way she has been taught so it's different in those classes. I would hope that in their audition procedures they would spot that "something" even if sometimes the technique got in the way. I know at my DD's audition they worked and worked on her monologue (so much so she thought they hated it!!).

As for drama teaching in schools, I think that you must remember that the vast majority do not take their drama further. some may continue at amateur level . However, as a school subject that allows pupils to explore their feelings, allows them to be creative, and dvelops many other useful transferable skills it is a subject that should be offered to everyone.

[pg]

Quite right of course Welshmum and islandofsodor!

In fact, when I think about it, I had a lot to "unlearn" (probably more than most, as I'd been doing it for so long!!) when I went to drama school and they still managed to see something they liked - despite all my bad habits.

Just slipping quietly down from my high horse...

[Hecouldshine]

Really interesting debate pg Not a "high horse" thing at all - don't think that

[livininabox]

Hi all
Have to say my daughter hates drama at her secondary school and yet has been having drama/LAMDA lessons since the age of 4 which she still absolutely loves. I think there are so many kids who have no interest and so just mess around seeing it as a lesson to play up! I think this is a real shame and can only hope that these kids will be naturally whittled down when they make their options in year 9, thus leaving the class full of kids who actually want to study drama...dunno i might be wrong...

[shortguy]

When son took GCSE Drama there were a number who took it as the easy option. Got to the stage where some were put in a corner, letters home to parents and were told they would not be joining the class any more unless the attitude improved

[TotallycluelessMum]

DD is having to choose her options soon...will probably have to choose between drama and music. What do you think of it as a course? I've been worried by people calling it a 'soft option' and universities looking down on it but when I did drama ( O level, in the dark ages!!!) it was loads of work and involved studying plays in much the same way as English Lit but with a dramatic emphasis. It was anything but a soft option...

[livininabox]

Actually i don't think any GCSEs are that soft an option....they all expect a significant amount of study and assessment.They're only an easy option if you're already an expert! Its become rather trendy to look down on certain courses simply because they aren't maths, english & science. I agree that a drama GCSE involves studying the classics (which in my day was English lit) but also looks at much more modern works. All i can say is that the plays i've seen put on by the GCSE drama students are exceptionally well acted, even if some of them are a little obscure for my taste...

[shortguy]

even if some of them are a little obscure for my taste...

Try watching A Level Drama - when son explained it to me it all became clear but really odd

[islandofsodor]

My school didn't offer drama GCSE but I took A Level Theatre Studies at 6th Form (in my area you have to leave school at 16 and go to 6th Form College). It was quite a rigorous course, you studied set texts from both a literary and a stagecraft/context point of view, you had to study two theatre practitioners (Stanislavsky & Craig) had to write theatre crits, questions on an unseen extract as well as group and individual performance. I then went on to university to study Music and Theatre Studies. I didn't feel under any disadvantage for not doing it at GCSe however I think that A level music would have been hard without GCSE.

Of course the syllabus has probably changed beyond recognition now!!!