Look Mom, I'm on Stage

We are deeply committed to equipping actors with the tools they need to excel and beyond. We have been doing this for eight years. Our greatest pride comes from witnessing actors eagerly embrace and apply these tools on stage.

Our current show, titled Three Original Plays, features seven actors who do an outstanding job. They all started with us and reaped the benefits of our classes. The evidence is in our current show THREE ORIGINAL PLAYS.

There are novice actors who utilize only their intuition to perform on stage. Confident in their approach, they can produce good work. Many trained actors also employ intuition, but they complement it with years of honing their craft in classes, listening to acting coaches, and collaborating with experienced, well-trained directors. For these actors, the goal is not just to perform well; they strive to be exceptional.

I have encountered two types of actors: those who are willing to put in the work and those who are not. The latter often simply memorize lines, take the stage, showcase themselves, and leave it at that. These actors frequently lack the dynamic of responding to others on stage and the chemistry or energy in these relationships that the audience genuinely enjoys watching. Conversely, the actors who put in the work present the audience with an experience that transcends.

Acting is a responsibility to the audience. It is not just, “Look, Mom, I’m onstage.” It is more than that, and you know when that’s achieved when the actor is transformed on stage and the audience is in awe of the transformation, captivated by the emotion and chemistry between the actors.

Once, we had a young actor visit our class. It seemed his goal was to demonstrate what he could do. We assigned him a monologue and presented certain challenges to help bring the monologue to life. That was not in his playbook. (No pun intended). We later saw him on stage in a local play. He was good, but he could have been better.

Another actor we worked with for some time captured our particular interest. His enthusiasm was enormous, and we provided him with tools in our acting classes. He stopped coming to class, and we didn’t see him for about three years until we saw him recently in a local play. To our dismay, the skills we taught him seemed to have vanished.

Why did his skills vanish? Acting needs to be worked on. It must be practiced with in-depth or skilled people, and yes of course, stage time in other plays to apply those skills.

What needs to be considered is that the audience prefers to have an experience. They would rather watch the transformation on stage, the chemistry between the actors, and leave the theater contemplating the story brought to life by the performers. This is what the audience deserves.

Check out our current show, THREE ORIGINAL PLAYS, this weekend and next. Then, take a moment to reflect on this article. You'll enjoy the story and see how acting training contributes to a great performance.

Note, we have discounted tickets available for THREE ORIGINAL PLAYS at www.HanfordMTC.com and there are two more weekends of this show. We hope you come and watch it. I guarantee you will be transformed.