Having read and written about theatre – and even reviewed the occasional play – for a long time, it seemed only fitting I should give acting a try at least once. I haven't done it in any real sense since high school and very little since then – too shy, too awkward. Now, many years later, marginally less shy and awkward, I braved a class at The National Acting School.
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There were about 20 in the class, about evenly divided between male and female. They were a diverse bunch culturally and generationally, ranging from pre-teens to senior citizens. Some were relatively new, others had been coming to classes for several years, but, forewarned, all seemed welcoming to the journalistic interloper.
It began with physical and vocal warm-ups to loosen everyone's bodies and voices up for the next two hours. There was a word association game (which I won – either the fix was in to put me at ease or it was a massive case of beginner's luck, though the teacher did joke, "We've created a monster!") and a brief, practical discussion of "listening" and "responding" followed by an exercise in which paired students had to devise as many ways as possible to perform the exchange "How are you?"/"I'm fine." After a while it became a bit strained, but it certainly got the creative juices flowing.
Then came breaking up into pairs and trios to work on short plays. As one person was away I was teamed up for the night with students Ben and Aditya to work on Anthony Crowley's The Message. It's an absurdist comedy in which three would-be revolutionaries come to an art gallery in the middle of the night to make a vandalistic statement but don't seem entirely committed to the cause, or even to know exactly what the cause is. We read it through three times, playing each of the roles in turn, then watched one of the other groups perform it. Their experience showed: they were quite polished in their presentation despite having had no more time with the play than we had.
Then our group was called up and we performed the same play; we might have been better off sticking to one role each and polishing it (we reverted to our first-read parts). I got through my nerves by pretending as much as possible the audience wasn't there. The teacher, Chris Baldock, told me that despite my lack of stage technique (poor placing, lack of movement and little playing to audience), my projection was good once I warmed up, my diction was excellent and I brought colour and dynamic into my voice once I gained confidence. It was useful feedback, critical but constructive and positive where possible. I even got a laugh or two from the audience.
Acting class was an interesting experience and rewarding in its way. But I think I will stick to the offstage side of things.
The Verdict: While well out of my usual comfort zone, it was a supportive and helpful environment with a wide mix of people, some of whom wanted to be professional or amateur actors, some of whom just wanted to have fun or improve their confidence. All took it seriously while enjoying themselves.
Details: The National Acting School runs a variety of acting classes: thenationalactingschool.com.au. Another Canberra acting school is the Canberra Academy of Dramatic Art: cada.net.au.
