The tough acting teacher is such a familiar type as to be a cliche. It's a ruthless business, so the reasoning goes, so teachers need to be ruthless with their students to prepare them for the brutal, cutthroat world that they will face in showbiz. Students often embrace this ethos. How many times have I had students say "I want you to be harsh with me", believing that this harshness will make it more likely that they will succeed the next time. Suffering through the harshness becomes a badge of pride: "my training must have been good, it was harsh."

I encounter this attitude in many students. There is no question that acting is challenging, and that teachers need to be challenging. Certainly no one who comes to my class walks away feeling unchallenged. Compelling acting is difficult to do, no matter how you slice it. I make no bones about this to my students, and I am always ready to invite them to fulfill the aspect of the scene or role that they may not yet have attended to. But it is also true that acting is a confidence game: being able to do it entails believing that you can do it, and harshness or abuse from a revered teacher is a great way to destroy that confidence forever.

I have heard stories of acting teachers saying things to students, in front of a whole acting class, such as "You know, you wouldn't be having this problem if you weren't sleeping with a truck driver." There is so much wrong with this, I don't know where to begin: betraying a confidence, inappropriate use of knowledge about someone's personal life in a public setting, shaming about sexuality and pleasure, and humiliation, all rolled up into one ugly bundle. I shudder to think about what that student suffered. There is no excuse for behavior like this from teachers who have been entrusted with the creative aspirations and dreams of others. To my mind, it has more than a little in common with child abuse.

The truth is people like to be challenged, and they like the challenge of pleasing a demanding teacher. There is simply no need for this type of abusive treatment. That is not to say that people never need to be confronted about their foibles and evasions, but context and tone mean everything in that type of intervention.

And then there are the acting teachers who publicly harangue their students for a one-time lateness. It's true that an acting class needs structure, and that that structure is part of what creates the feeling of safety for the participants. But there is simply no way that this kind of no-wiggle-room approach can truly foster an environment conducive to creativity. I have evolved my own set of rules for dealing with attendance and promptness, and I find that they are very adequate. There is no need to shame or humiliate anyone. in fact, the most important thing I can do to promote observance of the class structure is to start on time and have something really interesting to say, so that students will be motivated to be present for as much of class as possible.

There are a lot of people who gravitate to acting because they think it looks easy, and it can be a rude awakening for them when they come to learn how much work and dedication is involved. Sometimes I have to be the agent of that awakening for someone, but even then, I endeavor to keep it respectful: for all I know, they will be ready to dedicate in the fullness of time, but they simply aren't right now. And that's ok. Better that we both recognize where they are right now and move on.

Theater and film are collaborative art forms. As teachers, we have an obligation to prepare our students to work collaboratively by modelling the practice of standing for high quality in the work of the actors that we work with while adhering to a basic principle of respect for all people. There is simply no acceptable alternative.

--Andrew Utter, MFA, directing, Yale School of Drama
Artistic Director, Mother of Invention Acting School Los Angeles and San Francisco

I have had serious problems with bitter actors/teachers being mean, instead of helpful. Shame on you, teachers!

I have always defended myself quietly, without getting mad, which ironically lead to the Teacher hating my guts, for 1. refusing to bullied or shamed--which meant that the entire class was a wash for me, even though I REFUSED to drop this class.

I am referring to The Groundlings. I met a male teacher then who hit on the cute, blond girls and then treated everyone else like shit. I met a skinny, blond teacher who trashed the pretty girls. Both of them were mean & bitter, rather than constructive.

The students are afraid to talk about this because they will be blackballed, failed, and dropped out of the school. There is no auditing on the Groundlings. And non one is truly watching how the teachers behave. The teachers have a free for all and forget that they have a DUTY to teach, not bully.

For shame, guys! There are plenty of young kids who taking Improv for their commerial resumes, but it is shameful to be mean to them, or flirt with them, or make mean comments about their weight/breasts/legs/beards/hair color or whatever, but I have seen this happen TWICE! The teachers like to play God.

I have seriously considered writing a letter to the school, but figured that they would just throw it away, or laugh at my earnestness. Everything is crooked, corrupted, so sad.

I am gonna back Andrew's post on here, sure he is looking for students, can u blame him? I haven't taken his class, but at least he writes that he is supportive. Kudos!

I have experienced bitter teachers too and that sucks but I never experienced that at The Groundlings.
On the contrary, I found that place to be one of the most freeing places to study, no pressure in class, no dumb rules of "if you're late then don't come at all" and so on...

quote:

Originally posted by foreigner:
I have experienced bitter teachers too and that sucks but I never experienced that at The Groundlings.
On the contrary, I found that place to be one of the most freeing places to study, no pressure in class, no dumb rules of "if you're late then don't come at all" and so on...

In LA, I photographed the founder of The Groundlings, Gary Austin.

I think what these posts show very clearly is that it is dangerous to condemn an entire organization based upon one bad apple. The sheer amount of talent that his school has generated is beyond reproach.

Btw, Andrew, I enjoyed your little treatise. Well-written.

www.robertkim.com
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0453647/

I must be pretty lucky in that I've never had an acting teacher who tried to belittle or bait me. But then if I had I would have been out the door.

On the other hand there was a teacher at HB who was known for that kind of thing. I avoided him myself but one flaky scene partner I had in Bill Hickey's class then went on to this guy and LOVED him.

Some backs just need to feel the touch of the lash.

I am reassured that other people have had great experience studying at The Groundlings.

I am not blasting the entire organization, but the two bad apples that I took classes from-- bad luck for me that I had TWO IN A ROW. Sometimes, mean people can be mean to u, and there is no recourse, but to complain on a message board.

However, shouldn't we out the mean teachers? Otherwise, they continue to abuse people.

Perhaps, one of the students who had a similair experience will read my post and know they are not alone!

For the record, I took a Improv A class with Kevin Bernston and he was a sweetheart!

The creator of The Groundlings, Gary Austin has spoken out in an interiview located at Improv Interviews about how the competitiveness/malice/lack of trust at The Groundlings saddened him.

I am not squawking up a tree for toliet paper. Be kind, help your fellow actors, and you will help create a better world. I firmly believe that, otherwise I would moved back to Texas years ago!

Cheers, guys!

quote:

Originally posted by redvelvet:
I am reassured that other people have had great experience studying at The Groundlings.

I am not blasting the entire organization, but the two bad apples that I took classes from-- bad luck for me that I had TWO IN A ROW. Sometimes, mean people can be mean to u, and there is no recourse, but to complain on a message board.

For the record, I took a Improv A class with Kevin Bernston and he was a sweetheart!

The creator of The Groundlings, Gary Austin has spoken out in an interiview located at Improv Interviews about how the competitiveness/malice/lack of trust at The Groundlings saddened him.

I only hope that Gary got things straightened out at the Groundlings. They were the best.

I thought you might want to know what Gary looked like "back in the day" when I shot his headshot in LA, a lifetime ago.



www.robertkim.com
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0453647

Whoo! He IS from Texas.

I heard that kind of abuse was the Lee Strasberg method of teaching.

being a tough teacher is one thing, I mean I've seen good teachers "call out" an actor for being out in space when they aren't focused on the scene.

I think thats part of being a good teacher and you see that with all good coaches of any art or sport, I had a fencing teacher who was a ball buster, but he was pounding down the fundamentals.

I think when you are a new actor, those fundamentals need to be pounded into yo, my school was like a boot camp for the first year, and then the following it was toned down the following year because we were all more focused.

I think that's different than just being plain mean.

but I have heard "what the hell are you doing up there, I have no idea, you're saying words but there zero meaning in what you're saying, do something with words and stop standing around thinking about what you're gonna do tomorrow".

quote:

..... do something with words and stop standing around thinking about what you're gonna do tomorrow".

Shay

I love that!

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by MotherOfInvention:
The tough acting teacher is such a familiar type as to be a cliche. It's a ruthless business, so the reasoning goes, so teachers need to be ruthless with their students to prepare them for the brutal, cutthroat world that they will face in showbiz. Students often embrace this ethos. How many times have I had students say "I want you to be harsh with me", believing that this harshness will make it more likely that they will succeed the next time. Suffering through the harshness becomes a badge of pride: "my training must have been good, it was harsh."

The bleak reality is that most students will never get the opportunity to see just how ruthless of a business this can be. So I think it is absurd for teachers to use that as a reason to be mean.

There are a variety of reasons a teacher could be hurtful. The only one who really knows for sure is the teacher.

I will say this though. The best acting teacher I ever had was very nurturing. Except the one time when I brought in something that I hadn't worked on enough. Boy was it painful. He's very truthful and tells it like it is, but at the same time he's very supportive. And that's kind of what I want from a teacher. Actors receive enough abuse for the real world. Why would they take a class that adds to that?

Being strict and being abusive are different things. I think we all need to be held accountable for or actions or our inactions, but not overly berated and abused verbally. My teacher in LA was very old school, 1st generation Meisner trained, taught with Meisner for 25 years in NYC. He is now in his mid-70s. He expects you to work hard in class and outside of class,study, listen.

I believe when the line is crossed and a teacher becomes abusive and not just strict, it's time to leave.