When theatre educators teach acting in school programs and youth conservatories (which are often affiliated with professional theatres--perhaps the biggest challenge is balancing product and process. Parents, and the partnering public or private schools, want to see a performance. Kids, especially the older ones, have peer pressures of their own. But most theatre professionals prefer to emphasize process, with perhaps an end-of-session "share" for invited guests. Nevertheless, they often mount productions to placate the adults who are paying for the training.
Andrew Nance, conservatory director at San Francisco's New Conservatory Theatre, says, "Parents always want a performance. We feel a process-based approach is the way to go, because the life skills these kids gain by taking acting class--playing creative drama games and improvisations, which help them with self-esteem and with the ability to communicate, laugh at themselves, and think on their feet--are invaluable no matter what they decide to do in life. Often in a performance experience, you only really reward the most outgoing kids, because of course you pick the most gregarious child to be the lead...and the school setting is most often performance-based; it's all about the product at the expense of the kids' experience."
Theatre educators nationwide agree with Nance. "Parents and kids often come in with the expectation that we are an extension of the movie industry or modeling," says Bradley Anderson, founder and artistic director of the Arkansas Arts Center Children's Theatre in Little Rock. "We have to get them to understand that it's an art process." Still, Children's Theatre casts youngsters along with adults in its mainstage productions. To that end, the training begins with learning to create a believable moment onstage. Less emphasis is placed on technique and more on what it means to respond truthfully rather than indicate. Skills training comes later.
The Little Rock parents tend to assume their children will end up on the mainstage, which isn't always the case. And the kids have expectations: If the school district permits them only to play hooky for one show a year, they want their role to be a big one.
At Stage One: The Louisville Children's Theatre, director of theatre education Andrew Harris reports, "Parents come in and say, 'Where's their script?' Well, for 4- and 5-year-olds, you're not going to put a script in their hand. We're working on developing body, voice, and imagination. By around fifth grade you can start some real skills training." And by the time youngsters are in middle school, "learning about performance is a reality, and that shouldn't be pushed aside for process."
If kids are geared toward performance too young, Harris explains, "it's about the person who's directing--'Go here, do this.' The young students become puppets rather than actors. It may look good, the kids may enjoy it, but they didn't have the authentic arts experience." As students mature, they begin to understand the difference between process and performance.
Harris disparages the "pay to play" model of theatre education--producing, say, Schoolhouse Rock, and everybody gets to be in it. "The focus is so much on getting ready for performance that instruction falls by the wayside and it's all about rehearsal as opposed to making sure the students are learning something."
High schoolers are sometimes more interested in recognition than learning, Harris notes. "You have to walk a fine line between holding their interest—and there are a lot of demands placed on their time—and not just feeding their need to feel important but giving them a skill set, if this is something they want to pursue."
The requirements of school administrators and state educational guidelines can also pressure theatre instructors who bring programs directly into schools. "In some educators' eyes, assessment is important, and the product is something they can assess," explains Jackie Coleman, education associate at Connecticut's Hartford Stage Company. "But of course we love the process. We can see growth that way." So Hartford Stage runs different types of programs to meet different demands, including a process-based workshop that sometimes offers a share at the end--parents and peers are invited to see what the students have been learning--as well as product-driven partnerships with several schools.
The school programs, says Coleman, can be problematic. At one magnet school, a Hartford Stage teaching artist had trouble making kids understand why they had to memorize lines and do outside work to prepare for a production of Antigone. When Coleman taught a product-based class for fifth-graders, she wanted a show that would make the kids feel confident and also look good (she chose vignettes). But valuable classroom experience was often forfeited for the drudgery of rehearsals, frustrating the 10-year-olds. It was also hard for Coleman to make the teachers understand her needs: At one school, she had to rehearse in the hallway, at another in the cafetorium amid the banging of the kitchen staff. Coleman's colleague, working once a week at a private high school for the entire school year, spent important classroom time—when the teens could have been learning skills--allaying their fears about an upcoming production of Anne of Green Gables. The kids had normal concerns: that they'd look stupid in front of their peers and so on. Coleman would have preferred a casual share day. "But it's what the school really wants, so we're doing our best to embrace that and give the kids a good experience," she says.
At Berkeley Repertory Theatre in California, theatre school director Rachel L. Fink says tight schedules often force students to choose between taking a process-based class at the theatre or appearing in, for example, their high school's spring musical. "In high school, it's a big deal to star in your school play," she says. Peer pressure may sway them toward product, not process. "One of our challenges is that it still has to feel like there's a special social element to it--there has to be that coolness factor--regardless of whether there's a polished end product. It has to be sexy, to have that kind of dynamism that they can connect with." To that end, Berkeley Rep formed a monthly "teen council" that mixes summer and year-round theatre students with students in the school system and adult mentors. The council also produces its own one-act festival. "The best advocate for working hard and training is not teachers but other teens," says Fink.
In Texas, according to Nancy Schaeffer, education director for Dallas Children's Theater, there's no getting around the expectations of parents for product. When Schaeffer participated in an observership in Seattle, she saw process-oriented classrooms but knew that approach wouldn't fly at home. "I could just hear the Dallas parents saying, 'They're just runnin' around!' " she says, laughing. "[In Dallas] they think theatre is so much easier than it is. With sports, people understand it takes time. In theatre, their expectations are not realistic. I blame it all on American Idol."
Seattle Children's Theatre is resolutely process-based: School-term classes end with informal shares. "But we're still side-coaching," says education director Karen Sharp. "It's great for parents to see how students are directed and take direction." (The longer summer session culminates with a skills showcase.) Sharp, who teaches fifth- through seventh-graders, says the biggest challenge for youngsters at those ages is learning how to act with honesty. From the age of 3 through third grade (about 8), they learn to create imaginary worlds and distinguish them from the real world--which is often the time parents impatiently ask, "When are they going to act?"
Sharp also notes that the state of Washington has mandated that by 2008 the public schools must abide by arts standards and report on how they are assessing arts knowledge. "The schools are looking to institutions like ours to train teachers," she says. "But how do you assess a student in a drama presentation?"
Nichole Pretzer, education manager of Minneapolis' Children's Theatre Company, sums up the dilemma that she and her colleagues face: "You have to satisfy the needs of students and parents with that performance element. That's the struggle. You try to find a balance."
For more articles on training young performers, see our feature.