tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post595331918867858851..comments2024-02-27T16:59:54.089-05:00Comments on (The New) Theatre Ideas: Theatre Education Part 5 -- Suggestions for ImprovementUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-62609080745615199352007-09-28T18:59:00.000-04:002007-09-28T18:59:00.000-04:00I really love what you are saying. I think North ...I really love what you are saying. I think North America does not take enough time with developing people in general into individuals who can live their lives well. We don't teach money skills. We very rarely get an education in relationships. We don't learn much about spirituality...It's all left to us and to our parents. <BR/><BR/>I think as theatre artists that we are more than just directors or actors or the like. We are people with relationships, with finances, with spiritual needs. If we could learn how to be an artist who has numerous of other skills that we are free to use openly, I think the classroom, theatre world and world in general would be a better place.<BR/><BR/>So what do we do? Those of us who are out here being artists and are not in the classroom anymore - where do we begin?Wanda and the RP Teamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17180843817003060529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-84746824010307042512007-09-21T16:28:00.000-04:002007-09-21T16:28:00.000-04:00Absolutely, Ian. I totally agree. In gardening, yo...Absolutely, Ian. I totally agree. In gardening, you have to amend the soil with nutrients like manure and compost, but at some point you have to plant a seed for something of your own to grow. Same here -- reading provides a rich soil which serves as nutrient for your own creativity. Sure,t here are only so many hours in a day, and so many days in a life, but you have to feed the soil or you will deplete its power to grow healthy plants.Scott Waltershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06465161646609405658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-89985146442939776392007-09-21T16:10:00.000-04:002007-09-21T16:10:00.000-04:00One time, while travelling abroad, I got talking w...One time, while travelling abroad, I got talking with a American man who was travelling with his family. It turned out that he had met Kerouac and Ginsberg, he'd met – and didn't like – Burroughs, etc. These figures, along with Salman Rushdie, neared the top of my lengthy list of heroes.<BR/><BR/>I was reading non-stop. Travelling alone afforded me such liberties. And I was excited to talk to this guy who'd been so close to "the greats". Through the course of our conversation, I asked him what he was reading currently.<BR/><BR/>"Nothing," he said. "At this point in my life, I'd rather write a book than read one."<BR/><BR/>I don't have a great memory for quotes, but this one has stuck with me. I love reading – but it's so friggin' time consuming! (Not to mention hard on the eyes!)<BR/><BR/>Scott's talking about encouraging students to read. Which I totally agree with. But I wonder if there's a point for artists when the rabbit hole of reading starts to get in the way of them actually writing their own book.<BR/><BR/>What do you think?<BR/><BR/>IanIan Mackenziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13727310049818117273noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-75793484850837073672007-09-21T14:47:00.000-04:002007-09-21T14:47:00.000-04:00I agree heartily with the last bullet point in par...I agree heartily with the last bullet point in particular. I met an online friend for the first time last night because he was in Chicago for a reading at a bookstore. He credited his first and last writing teacher (in playwriting, though Nick doesn't write plays) with giving him the only advice that really made a difference to him as a writer: "Read everything, classics and crap. Start with Aeschylus and end with Zola."<BR/><BR/>KerryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-58519209936658148762007-09-20T15:58:00.000-04:002007-09-20T15:58:00.000-04:00I'd agree with that – especially as something to s...I'd agree with that – especially as something to strive for.<BR/><BR/>IanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-29367299493550092452007-09-20T15:45:00.000-04:002007-09-20T15:45:00.000-04:00We don't. You may primarily be an actor, which mea...We don't. You may primarily be an actor, which means you have been trained (or educated) in that area. But not ONLY that area. Same for marketing and PR people -- they should pitch in somewhere else. It may or may not be in production, but they should have another skill. Otherwise, theatres should hire consultants. But if you are on the payroll, or part of the tribe, you need to contribute more than a good press release, I think. Also, remember I am speaking in terms of a theatre for the future -- see bullet point #1. There needs to be greater integration in the theatre than there currently is. All this goes together.Scott Waltershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06465161646609405658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-49244468337907785122007-09-20T15:17:00.000-04:002007-09-20T15:17:00.000-04:00Re: "Specialization = irrelevance."On one hand, I ...Re: "Specialization = irrelevance."<BR/><BR/>On one hand, I agree. Too many theatre artists are "trained" to do only one thing, acting or directing, for example. And that seems like a bad idea because they won't have the tools to interact with the system on any other terms, and therefor won't likely be able to change it for the better.<BR/><BR/>But what about the specialists required in other departments of theatre? The marketing and PR people, the lawyers and general managers? I feel like too often these tasks are left to "theatre artists" who have no formal training in these fields and thusly tend to do a bad job of it.<BR/><BR/>So doesn't theatre need specialists? Where do we draw the line between the need for a generalist's saftey net and a specialist's expertise?<BR/><BR/>IanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com