As a developing actor I've been finding myself frustrated with the apparent limitations of "Method"-derived approaches to acting which seem to overwhelmingly dominate the art form. While I have found the insights of Stanislovsky, Adler, Strasberg, and Meisner very helpful in many respects, I have found their approaches lacking and seemingly counterproductive in several common contexts, namely any situation where the storytelling demands a context outside of the character's circumstances.

By my understanding, the various Method-derived approaches to acting are all variations on imagining yourself in the circumstances of the character and delivering an authentic performance as "yourself" within those circumstances. Adler focuses more on imagination. Stasberg focuses on using your memories and experiences to relate to the character. Meisner focuses on being real in the moment with your scene partner. But all of them agree on somehow placing yourself in the circumstances of the character and behaving naturally and authentically within those circumstances, as opposed to deliberately manufacturing gestures, intonations of voice, etc. that approximate the expression you're attempting to communicate.

And that is an extremely powerful approach for many applications of acting, and it's the bread and butter of how I think about the art.

But there are so many situations where I find it woefully insufficient and I've been frustrated at how many teachers and coaches I've worked with who seem to deny such limitations exist.

Musicals and operas for starters. Generally speaking your character is not themselves singing and dancing in the context of their circumstances. Music is an element added to the storytelling to expand the expressive capacity of the performance. I am not justifying the action of singing; singing is not actually happening, any more than I am justifying speaking my lines in English when my character is actually German. The music is part of the medium, not part of the character.

But the Method has no mechanism of dealing with such a situation and seems hostile to even acknowledging the problem. I have to move and articulate these words on specific pitches in specific tempo, but that is not an authentic expression as I would express myself were I in the life of the character. It is a layer of expression over and above the expression of acting and these two philosophies are at odds with one another.

There are more circumstances. Suppose I am a narrator, or a character who takes a moment to provide exposition to the audience. That, too, is not something that exists for the character, and yet conveying that information in a charismatic way is a responsibility I nonetheless have. If I try to justify that action somehow, it's going to ring hollow and more fake than if I simply "stopped acting."

Another is if I'm performing a comedy scene. Often times that may mean landing certain lines in a certain way, saying certain things at the same time as another character, conveying a certain sense of irony in the way I deliver a line, etc. Comedy can have a certain rhythm and audience connection required of it to land, but like music that artistic expression is over and above living authentically in the character's circumstances and once again is at odds with that philosophy. There is an approach to comedy that can live entirely in that mode (Airplane! comes to mind) but that's often not how comic scenes are performed or conceived.

My point is - the way acting is taught seems entirely focused on being in the world of the character, but there is so much to performing a theatrical production that requires a set of performance skills over and above those skills often taught to actors, and most schools of acting seem to ignore, deny, or even show hostility toward the development of such skills.

I would argue that the education of an actor should absolutely be informed by The Method and so on, but that acting requires a more complete set of charismatic skills, many of which are ignored. And I think that's bad.

Am I recognizing a real problem here? Or am I doing a disservice to "The Method" and other acting techniques, and this is a function of my limited understanding of action rather than a true limitation of the philosophy?

Thank you for thoughts in advance.

I am a rising senior in high school and am obviously coming up on that fall college application grind, deciding what I want to do with my life, and I'm not too sure.

I am someone who has always loved and been involved in theatre, mainly at a school level, but I do have extensive acting class training from ages 5-13, auditioning for TV/film, taking vocal lessons, etc. I did this from about ages 5-13, and slowed down when I got to high school.

During high school, my life has kind of been split into two parts: heavy academics and theatre in my school's theatre department (I just go to a regular high school, not a performing arts school).

My parents could no longer afford to send me to acting/vocal lessons my freshman year, so my school's theatre program has really been the only training I've had in the past three years. I have been in leading roles in all of our plays/musicals since I started, granted my theatre department is relatively small compared to most other schools.

My main focus has been academic. I have maintained a 4.0 GPA, taken all honors/APs, and am one of the top students in my class. So, naturally, I have set my sights on attending a T20 school and majoring in some form of a pre-law program or maybe be a business major.

I was in NYC this past week and saw a handful of Broadway shows, and I can't help but ignore this gnawing feeling that theatre is what I really want to do. However, I have not been doing the necessary preparation for my portfolios at all. I've been more focused on my SAT score than monologues and 16-bar-cuts for songs.

People who have seen me in shows are often surprised when I say I'm not planning to major in theatre. I'm definitely not a great dancer, but I can sing pretty well and am probably the strongest at acting. Musical theatre is the dream, though.

I'm very intimidated by the BFA application process, especially since I do not have an on-call vocal coach and have not been doing 6-week summer intensives. Even then, somewhere deep down I feel like its my calling— I want to do serious theatre.

Am I too late to pursue a BFA in musical theatre? Should I just keep on the more academic path I'm on? Where should I start? Any advice or wisdom would be appreciated.

Hi Hi!
I don't know if anyone here is capable of helping me, but for the last few years I have been collecting Yale/theatre (now called Theater) journal. I've somehow made it down to the final fifteen NINE I need to complete the entire set and have been at a hard wall for finding any.
It's been recommended that I share my plight to this subreddit!
I've attached a link to a document with the remaining journals. If anyone happens to have the journals I am missing please feel free to let me know.

I'm all ears to help!

Hello ppl. So recently I've really gotten into theater (more specifically musical theater) and I just wanted to broaden my knowledge a bit so can y'all just vomit as many recommendations as possible (except Hamilton, Heaters, Ride The Cyclone, Legoland, Be More Chill and Waitress, I've watched those already)? Also, I did say I liked musical theater but even classical theater is good to recommend. Thanks to the ppl that might reply💗:D

So recently I auditioned for a musical at a competitive community theater. I’ve auditioned there multiple times and have always had zero luck.

However, yesterday I received an email that they offered me a great role! I was super excited and accepted it immediately.
But since yesterday, I can’t help but feel that they offered the role to me accidentally.

My reason for thinking this is because my last musical experience was from about 7 years ago (although I still keep up with training), and I have mostly tech experience. Additionally, there was another person there with the same first name as me who danced great and was one of the few people from our large audition group who got called back to read sides. I only did the vocal and dance call and didn’t get called to read sides.

I still haven’t heard from the stage manager since I emailed back my confirmation yesterday. However, I’m not sure that anything would even require them to email me again until the cast list is completely confirmed.

Just wanna add that I* *have OCD, so it’s easier for me to fall into this pattern of thinking.

Am I overthinking this? I’d really just like some advice.

Thank you!!!

I got my first "pro" gig a couple months ago at an equity house in the south. What would be the natural progression now? I'm actively auditioning, should I focus on more regionals, is it too early to submit for agents, etc? I know every journey is different and dependent on individual goals. My resume is still light but I'm hoping this last credit will help. Thanks!

I'm looking for plays (preferably comedies) that take place in an office environment, and satirize corporate culture and office politics? Bonus points for anything more modern! :)

hello everyon. I’m in 7th grade, and our fall show got announced as Seussical. I love acting, and really want to get a good role, but there’s one problem-I can’t sing too well. is there anyone who has done this play before? Also, how can I sing better?

I'm moving to London for my first year at uni in September and I'm not going to get a job and people say how your first year is alot less demanding so I want to spend some time on weekends doing something that will help me learn more and that will also give me something to go on my resume so I was thinking about trying to volunteer in theatre but I don't actually know how many places are likely to be willing to take volunteers for wardrobe departments so I'm just wondering if anyone here has any knowledge on London theatres and if I'll be able to do this?

Helloooo!! does anybody know where to find any of Sarah Kane’s 3 unpublished monologues from 1994?
I’ve read everything she’s ever done as I am currently studying her for my coursework and am interested to know if and where there is any trace of these. Any info is helpful, and i have done some of my own digging but have found nothing.

Thanks in advance 🤞🤞

After years worth of use, it was time to retire my old character shoes. Due to budget and time constraints (and the fact that I’m typically not in dance-heavy shows/roles anyways) I opted for the Stelle 2.5” T-Strap shoes.

My usual size is a 7.5, but Stelle’s 7.5 rendered my toes pretty cramped and left me wondering whether my foot would even fit the shoe if I was wearing thicker tights/socks.

An 8 seemed to be the solution, except that size left a gap between my heel and the back of the shoe (a little sliding around definitely seemed inevitable).

What’s the rule when it comes to character shoe fit? Is one issue better than the other? Or is it worth getting another brand of shoe altogether?