Future Acting semester advice needed!

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
1

<p>Hello all, </p>

<p>I'm in desperate need of some advice in regards to a future class. I've asked my mom, my brother and my high school theatre teacher/mentor and I feel as though all of them have given me biased answers. What I feel I really need is some advice from people who know nothing about me and thus could possibly lead me in the right direction.</p>

<p>First off, I'm currently an Acting major at one of the commonly talked about auditioned theatre programs in this forum. As of next semester I will be a Sophomore and beginning my Acting III class (I completed I and II this past year). The advice I really need is regarding the class I've registered for in the coming fall semester. Last semester, during my Acting II class, I had a very 'interesting experience'. I had the kind of teacher that fully used the 'break-you-down' technique of teaching and honestly I don't know if this method of teaching, or the enforced method of learning really worked best for me. My teacher was incredibly harsh and excessively tough on all of her students, both emotionally and physically. She would work us until she was fully satisfied with the result and even then she would never give us the praise, or even a slight hint of satisfaction that we all badly yearned for. However, while this technique was definitely forcing me to work very hard in class, I began to notice something as the semester progressed. It seemed to me that this teacher was FAR harder on me than anyone else. Whenever someone was noticeably effected by her method of teaching, to the point that they would act out in either a frustrated manner or lose their grips on their emotions, she would then back off and comfort them. She would reassure them in a very nurturing manner, mainly to ensure that they didn't leave class hating themselves. She never did that for me. Not once. In fact, the more frustrated and visibly aggravated I got, the harder she would be on me. I tried so hard all semester to inpress this woman, and not once did I succeed. Not only did I not succeed but it seemed as if I was 'un-impressing her', and at times I felt as though I was being forced into becoming the weak link of the class. I'm not unsure of my abilities, I know I can act, but it seemed as if this teacher had cast me as the weak link, a label that I would not be able to overcome regardless of how hard I tried. And I tried hard, so hard that it was mentally, physically and emotionally draining. I'ver never left anything theatre related and cried, but as the semester progressed I would leave class at the end and head straight to my dorm and cry. I used to call my mom or my brother but I stopped because the more I called, the more I felt like I was embarrassing myself. This really had a major effect on my acting and passion for the craft. It got to the point that I feared going to class cause I knew that whatever I did, I wouldn't be able to impress her in the slightest. It came to a point that for a couple of weeks I didn't get up and perform my scenes; instead I sat in the bleachers and just watched cause I didn't want this teacher to put me down any more. I was losing my passion for acting and with it I felt like I lost a piece of myself. </p>

<p>I auditioned for plays and was luckily cast in one of them. My acting teacher came to the show and was incredibly impressed by my performance and told me that I had grown so much as an actor. The truth was, this was the first time she ever gave me a chance to impress her and actually show her that I CAN ACT. If she actually knew what I was capable of and gave me the time of day, she would never have been so impressed because she would have expected my performance to be so good. However, not much to my surprise, any praise she had given me directly after the show she took away the next time she saw me. She told me that the reason my performance was good was because I'm a very 'heady' or 'over-thinking' actor and this character was perfect for me because it was a very 'heady' part. Honestly at that moment, the amount of profanity I wanted to use would probably have gotten me kicked out of the program. </p>

<p>Finally, in the last class of the semester I presented my scene for the final time and unfortunately it didn't go well at all. Once the scene ended I completely lost it. I broke down (as did my scene partner) and asked to be excused from the room. For the first time in 5 months she showed an ounce of sympathy towards me. It just got me. I was trying so hard for so long and it just wasn't going well, or at least not well enough for her, and I just couldn't try any harder. I wanted to yell and get angry but I was so broken at that point that I just couldn't keep my emotions at bay. It was the last class and I felt as though I had failed her and failed myself. </p>

<p>I just found out my grade and I got a B- for her class. I'm not a B- actor. I'm an A actor and I know that but honestly I feel as though she had decided my grade in the middle of the semester and never gave me a chance to prove her wrong. I got a frigging B on math and I've struggled in math my entire life. The fact that I did better in math than in acting means that something is certainly not right. </p>

<p>The thing is, I chose to act in college because I love acting. I simply love it and I know I'm at my fullest extent of happiness when I'm acting. I love to write too. In fact writing has always been my second love and it's been something that I've always been confident about. This last year, writing has been far easier and far more enjoyable than acting has at any point. The grades reflected that. I attend highly ranked university and no class is a walk in the park; however, I got nothing less than an A on each of my writing classes. In fact one of my writing teachers is in the process of getting some of my work published this summer. When I was writing I felt like myself again, the guy I'd known my entire life. As my acting progressed this year, I felt as if I was losing myself. By the end of the semester I was so disappointed with my acting that I felt like I had lost that part of me that wanted to be on stage more than anything else. </p>

<p>So coming back home over the summer, I've seen how much I've learned from this teacher. I'm doing a local production and I'm realizing that I've learned loads of technical things that I knew nothing about before this class. I didn't go to a performing arts high school, and so much of the technique behind acting was completely foreign to me. I learnt loads from her class. Her class also gave me a thicker skin and helped me deal with perhaps the more frustrating side of acting, a side that was more or less unknown to me. I'v learned lots from this woman and I'm fully aware of it. </p>

<p>So the issue is, in April I signed up for her class again for the fall semester. Now being away from college and being able to gain some more perspective on this last semester, I'm honestly not sure if I should stay in her class or switch to the other professor who's teaching acting III.. Any advice? </p>

<p>Thank you in advance for any advice you can provide!</p>

2

<p>Sorry for such a long post! I guess I needed to get some of that off of my chest.</p>

3

<p>Wow, what an interesting post. I have to show this to my S who is getting ready for his first year of acting conservatory. (He’s had some issues with favoritism, too, though nothing like this.) </p>

<p>I think you should try the other teacher. I mean, I wouldn’t recommend that you switch mid-course, but it sounds like you gave it your best shot. Why not see if you do better with someone else?<br>
.</p>

4

<p>Good grief! I would switch teachers. This does not sound like a productive experience. As for the B-, a lot of acting programs have no grade inflation. It could be that most of the class received B minuses.</p>

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<p>Let me play Devil’s advocate. This was a quote from the Hollywood Reporter Top 25 that was just posted “Juilliard won’t mollycoddle you, but it may make you famous. Kevin Spacey – a 1981 alum – told a student group that he protested his tough treatment by a teacher who likened his voice to frayed rope. “She said, ‘You’re an idiot. Don’t you realize that I’m the hardest on you because I think you’re the most talented, but I also know you’re the laziest?’ And she was right.” Spacey got his act together at Juilliard…”</p>

<p>I’m not trying to suggest that you are lazy by any means. It sounds like you learned a lot from this person. Can you have a conversation with her? I think Fishbowl posted something this a while back that one of the hardest things to do can be to get past that need to impress your teacher.</p>

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<p>Where my son goes to school, he was told on the first day- it you’re here to make an A you’re in the wrong place. His first semester- he made a B+ in acting. He was a straight A student in high school and although he didn’t like seeing a B+ on his report card, he was happy with it. He said he learned so much. He always makes either a B+ or an A- in his acting class. That one class accounts for a full 8 hours.</p>

<p>He stopped trying to MAKE an A and just went for trying to do the best work possible. The world is not fair. Some teachers and directors will drag you down and demean you while others will love and nurture you. You have to be able to deal with both because in the real world, you can’t run away. Not everyone you work with will be nice and you may have to do a love scene with someone you loathe. As an actor- you have to be professional and make it work.</p>

<p>Soo- do you want to be with an “easier/nicer” teacher or do you want to be challenged? So many actors ask themselves the very questions you have posted so you are not in this alone. I always told my kids that the only people they should try to impress is the audience. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Residentdreamer, there are many ways to learn and teach. You have to decide if this teacher’s methods are worth what you go through in class. You can see what you have learned from her already. Her method, though, may not be the most effective way for you to learn. I would try the other teacher but be prepared, you may not like them any better. </p>

<p>As for the grade, don’t worry. Work hard. You cannot compare a math grade with a drama grade.</p>

8

<p>None of the people you have asked can answer your question. Only YOU can answer the question for yourself.</p>

<p>You clearly know all the benefits and all the problems taking another class with this teacher would result in. You are the only one who can decide whether the benefits are worth it to you personally to have all these problems.</p>

<p>Have you also looked at the pros and cons of the other teacher teaching the class?</p>

<p>KEVP</p>

9

<p>I am going to join ActingDad in the Devil’s Advocate corner. Where I come from, this sounds like a reality check, and that is not a bad thing. You will ultimately see this experience as a positive thing for the most part. You just finished your freshman year. Even though you think you are an “A” actor, perhaps you are not there YET. That’s no crime. Nor should you beat yourself up over it, or look for reasons outside of your own control to explain it. Maybe in this class you did “B-” work, based on what this teacher used to evaluate and assess where you are (B- is stilla bit above average, BTW). I don’t like the methods used by teachers and coaches who tear students down in order to build them up, but this is an experienced professor in a legit program, right? They might have better tools in the box for assessing where you are than you do at this point. And again…B- isn’t the end of the world.</p>

<p>You say you sat in the bleachers for a couple of weeks during the semester and didn’t do your scenes and then also “lost it” during your final scene. Those things didn’t help your grade. That’s on you, not the teacher. At the same time, if you feel like the teacher’s methods and personality knocked you off kilter and caused you to do B- work, then you need to think about that moving forward. Maybe you’ll never be a good fit in her class. Maybe next semester she’ll see growth when she assesses you. Welcome to being an adult. We all work with people in every field that we do not agree with or necessarily even get along with. It is part of the drill. Most of all, her assessment of you as an actor, and her critique of your work is not meant to be a personal attack, even though acting is personal and passionate. </p>

<p>It sounds like this is the first time you came upon somebody who did not tell you what a good job you are doing. That’s typical whan you have had success at something and you are better at it than the average bear, but you are now moving on to a much higher level where the stakes are much greater than they were in high school. It is hard to get used to. Someone else here said that once they got done with trying to impress their teacher, they were able to move forward. That is important advice. This is your college professor. They will not impress easily, nor are they there to be impressed or pat you on the back. They are there to teach and help you become a working actor upon graduation. </p>

<p>DON’T BE SO HARD ON YOURSELF about this! Chalk it up to experience and see it as a positive growth experience! Heck, the growth you show between paragraph 1 and paragraph 7 of your initial post is awesome. Just getting it all out in your post seemed to help you wrap your mind around it, as did getting away from school and decompressing a bit. And…there’s nothing wrong with a good cry once in a while! As long as it is followed up with a plan and some action.</p>

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<p>If she says you’re in your head, that’s exactly where you are if you’re trying to impress her. Never act to impress. It separates you from the truth of the scene which is where she’s trying to get you. It’s a common malady. Just get up there and tell the truth using the tools she’s given you and you should be fine. </p>

<p>Only you can decide if you need to make a change unless the relationship has become abusive in which case I say run for the hills. But you say you can tell you’ve grown so she’s doing something right. I dunno … I always thrived with the impossible to please butt kickers I had, but every actor is different that way. Your call …</p>

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<p>I think you should get some in formation about the other professor over the summer and see if there is a different orientation to the approach. I think you can benefit from a positive experience next semester.</p>

12

<p>I’ve got two things to say. First - college grades. Don’t flame me on this one, but they are not as tantamount as high school, where a transcript is important for college admissions or scholarships. So not getting an A is not disastrous. Passing a course and obtaining those credits to graduate are important, but it is what you get out of the class that should be your main focus. As a parent, sure, I want to see that my $$ isn’t being wasted with my kid flunking courses, but I am no longer concerned with “Straight A’s”. Growth is what I hope to pay for.</p>

<p>Second - my husband is a former ball player, and will still talk about his high school football coach. “What a b***tard” he’d always say. His older brother was a star on the team and the coach was constantly berating my husband for not being as good. When I asked my husband why he stuck it out, he said his biggest fear was that the coach would stop hollering at him, because that would mean that the coach gave up on him. This is the first thing I thought of when I read your post. If you are truly feeling abused, don’t do it. But if you think about it and decide that this professor is pushing you - I’d say walk in there the first day of class and say “Bring IT ON!!!”</p>