I have just finished playing Aladdin in panto with an amateur drama group, which was a great experience, but playing the lead has given me a hunger to do bigger & better things.
I don't have any formal acting training, and can't afford any, but I was wondering if anyone knows of any theatre groups in London (ideally west or central), especially ones which might do pantomimes, because most of the theatres I've come across only feature plays with actors who have agents.
I must agree with Luke (hello btw hope you r well). To compare science to art is nonsense....sorry it just is.
Whilst being formally trained is ideal and Id argue formally trained actors generally tend to be better (mind u certainly not always at all) mainly due to the fact of actually doing it more often and certainly have an advantage in this industry mainly due to the fact that most companies only desire them to think those who arent trained are like going to a non trained dentist is ridiculous. Acting may be a trade but there are many, many ways of 'training' per se...not just being able to fork out ££££££ for it.
I went to art school initally and one could argue the only people who should pick up a paintbrush should be me and my peers but that would be ridiculous because if someone can paint they can paint. .... Just as if someone can act they can act.
Any art field cant really be boxed in. Should only those with degrees in english write novels? Plays? Im sure many actors think they can write plays but well they aint trained writers so maybe they should retrain?....ridiculous and total snobbery. Try and try if you enjoy and succeed well done!
To answer the question I would say just keep trying...with fringe shows and yes ideally save up for training (im not knocking it by all means) but if thats not possible then keep performing as its performance which is the real training. Also the love of theatre is in its performing isnt it , its craft not just in its reward financial or to put a great venue on the c.v?
I once saw a Lamda shakespeare in the same week as an amdram version....the amdram blew lamdas unpassionate...wooden...souless production to pieces. Mind I have seen plenty of terrible amdram and great lamda also.
Mind you the best training is performing with those fellow actors/directors who really push you and want you to really use your skills to the next level and will show u ways to get there and obviously that is one of the key things which drama schools teach aswell as voice etc...
So its definantly a plus to train but to think you are not allowed to act if you havnt is wrong. And there are plenty of cases to prove this.
I also think professionalism involves courtesy and consideration towards fellow performers. We are all members here and deserve equal respect from each other.
" Pro-Ams - people pursuing amateur activities to professional standards - are an increasingly important part of our society and economy. For Pro-Ams, leisure is not passive consumerism but active and participatory, it involves the deployment of publicly accredited knowledge and skills, often built up over a long career, which has involved sacrifices and frustrations. The 20th century witnessed the rise of professionals in medicine, science, education, and politics. In one field after another, amateurs and their ramshackle organizations were driven out by people who knew what they were doing and had certificates to prove it. The Pro-Am Revolution argues this historic shift is reversing. We're witnessing the flowering of Pro-Am, bottom-up self-organisation and the crude, all or nothing, categories of professional or amateur will need to be rethought. Based on in-depth interviews with a diverse range of Pro-Ams and containing new data about the extent of Pro-Am activity in the UK, this report proposes new policies to support and encourage valuable Pro-Am activity. "
I thought I might add my little story, in 1984 I did an amateur production of Butterflies are free, it was directed by a professional actor, I was really pleased when I got a write up in the local paper "audiences last night were treated to a little theatre magic, the reason was brilliant acting performance by nigel peever" it went on with some more very nice stuff, a few months later that professional actor who directed me got a job and became the theatre manager at the lyceum theatre in crewe and was responsible for rep and decided to put on, yep you guessed it! Butterflies are free and guess who got the lead part, and so I lived pennilessly ever after :-) so you never know where even an amateur production might lead. In my case though, although it sounds great it meant I had to leave college to do it just at the start of a diploma in theatre arts and before I got a chance to go an accredited drama school so in the long term it was a big oops! (I think, who can say for sure)
So I would say you're still young, that little bit of paper means a lot! even more so these days than in my younger days, I'd recommend doing whatever you need to do to get that piece of paper so that everyone will take you seriously.
Thanks Katharine but life's like those big ocean liners, you know, very difficult to change course, and after so many years playing King Rat no one wants to take my King Lear seriously, I think it's because of the whiskers and big front teeth :@= hehe
I would argue if you've NEVER been paid to do the job, you can't call yourself a professional, YET.
It stands to reason. Training is a totally separate matter, but it has no bearing on being a "professional", only that you're TRAINED to BECOME a professional. Getting a PGCE doesn't mean you're a teacher, you're just TRAINED to be a teacher. When you get e teaching job, you're a teacher.
Training had no place in this discussion, but it's reared it's head again. In L.A, this discussion would not occur, as pros will almost all do ongoing classes throughout their career. I think over here it gets heated because people can get annoyed that even though they went to drama school, it actually guarantees you nothing.
Every actor does unpaid work at some point. However, surely you must have been paid for it AT SOME POINT to say it is your PROFESSSION.
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