Circle in the Square Theatre School -- thoughts?

I am thinking about auditioning for the 2-year conservatory program at the Circle in the Square but I’ve never gotten the chance to audit their classes or anything, so I really have no idea what the training is like. On the internet it seems to have a fairly good reputation. I checked out the curriculum on their website and it looked AMAZING! Neutral and character mask, dance for actors, European scene study… but then I looked up some clips from their industry showcase on Youtube, and the scenework I saw looked poor to say the least. Can anyone attest to the quality of the training at Circle in the Square and how it compares with other schools like, say, Esper or Atlantic?

The quality of training at Circle in the Square is very poor. The good reputation it has has long expired… All the great teachers have either passed away or retired a long time ago. Most of the remaining teachers have been out of the game for far too long to keep up. The main teachers, students agree, create a toxic environment of bullying and trash talking other students and teachers in class. It’s really not conducive to artistic growth. With a few exceptions, the teachers don’t really teach a whole lot of anything useful or applicable, and after 2 years, most students have either stayed the same (most often) or digressed (we’ve seen it.). Also, it’s obviously a hard business no matter what, but recent Circle graduates from the last decade or longer haven’t really found any level of success in the industry. People get gigs here and there, but all of the alumni they tout are from
15+ years ago.

If you like the Meisner technique, Esper is the way to go.

The Atlantic has a very specific and unique technique, so I’d recommend reading about it and seeing if it’s for you. I’ve heard mixed things.

It’s hard to compare all these schools because they are so different, but I’d definitely advise against Circle.

Just adding that everything Collegeconrox says is exactly accurate.

The teachers who are absolutely worth working with at Circle all teach elsewhere (Juilliard, AADA). It’s worth the money to go elsewhere. They are Jeanne Slater (dance/directs the 2nd yr musical), Christina Pastor (voice - you can train with her privately), Ken Schatz (physical theatre, but also does incredible work with text - again, you can train with him through his own classes and coaching), Dan Renkin (stage combat, absolutely awesome), Natalie Wilson (music theory). There are some other teachers (Ed Berkeley, Kevin McGuire, Joanna Gleason) who I would love to have been able to spend real time working with, but the program is so stupidly scheduled that you’re lucky to put up one monologue or two scenes in front of them in a YEAR (more on that below).

Unfortunately the time you get with the great teachers is a tiny fraction of the rest of wasted hours you will wile away at Circle. The “main” faculty (acting technique/scene study/song “interpretation”) have been there for so long their methods of both teaching and their actual technique is incredibly outdated and based around toxic “Method-style” romanticisation of hurting yourself for your craft. Then, the majority of time is spent watching others work, because they pack as many students as possible into each of two classes (ours had 18 students) so there were times when you didn’t work in say mask for two months straight, because working individually with each student is so time-consuming. Of course, the one hour you get every two months is valuable, but you can get that by private coaching at less cost and less time sitting on your ass!

In addition for older students considering Circle for professional development, be WARNED - there appears to be no real standard for students, so they throw in actual professionals with babes fresh out of high school who can’t read sheet music - not that there’s anything wrong with being at the beginning of your training.

The worst thing? There is so much freaking Kool-Aid at this place about how “unique” the program is, and about how Circle students “have something” nowhere else has. It’s called a vitamin D deficiency.

So in short, if you’re looking for a propensity to indulge in “process” over actual craft, Circle is the place for you. If you are an artist, for goodness’ sake, steer clear - but I do really HIGHLY recommend the individual teachers I have mentioned above. Good luck!