I write in response to the excellent article by Rosie Brownlow-Calkin, “Unached Business”, in which she documents a list of best practices for the training of programs to better serve students entering the industry in perpetually developing theater. I particularly appreciated its inclusion of the value of the continuous mentoring of the teachers; I believe that we have a shortage of real artistic mentoring in the industry at the moment, and we will benefit from any encouragement in this regard.
In addition to his precious list of current practices, I wanted to suggest that an additional way of training to better prepare their students for a life in the arts: I think that training programs should force students to develop professional survival competence.
Including this in an artistic training program may seem outside the basis, or even jaded, but I am talking about 10 years of experience in pursuing a career as a professional actress. We all know that the vast majority of the actors (and the theraremators of all types) will depend on the income from other works. According to the Annual report of 2023-24 of the Actors Equity AssociationThere were 271,562 weeks of work this season, completed by 47,717 active members of AEA. This corresponds to a discouraging (and too simplified) average of 5.7 work works by active member. Nowhere close to a habitable income. To talk about my own experience, even in a recent Off-Broadway contract, my colleagues actors were also real estate agents and office employees.
With the reality of the industry as it is, working other jobs is an inextricable part of the pursuit of a life in the arts. Shouldn't a training program include a formal mention of these necessary skills, as well as artistic training?
I do not want to suggest a significant investment on resources, but having at least one class meeting or two in an industry preparation course would help students relaunch their reflection on this part of their lives. I was fortunate to get good advice from a friend before my big move after the diploma in New York, and accordingly, I had a tutoring work aligned when I arrived. If I had not had these tips, I am sure that my adjustment would have been much more rocky. I think it's a small way that training programs can set up their students to succeed in a life in the arts.
Neil Redfield
new York
