As an actor you already have a great range of skills in your wheelhouse. Actors never stop learning – you’re always honing your skills and refining your technique. However, what if you find your career goals moving in a new direction, or you face new challenges? Learning how to create your own theatre company will open your world to many opportunities.
Creating your own work might already be of interest to you. If not, it might be something you should consider – not only for your future, but also for your current profession. Starting a theatre company is a significant responsibility, and one for which you will need to be well equipped.
Create a Theatre Company at Atlantic Acting School
Regardless of the nature of your venture (e.g. acting, producing, directing), there are certain skills that you will need to master in order to effectively manage your career. Atlantic Acting School’s Full-Time Conservatory is a two-and-a-half-year program. The program provides actors with a solid acting technique, professional habits, performance experience, and support in entering the profession. Atlantic’s intensive program teaches students how to build a successful career with the skill and know-how to generate work.
“Create your own work” is a motto of the Atlantic Acting School. According to Artistic Director, Alison Beatty, “Because the Atlantic Theater Company was founded by a group of students under the tutelage of David Mamet and William H. Macy, we are invested in not only inspiring and empowering Atlantic students to develop and produce their own work, but also in giving them the skills and knowledge to do so.”
Here are three ways in which “Create your own work” prepares students for an acting career.
Become a Sensitive and Savvy Actor
As an actor you want to get all of the training you can. Sure, you can take classes to refine your acting technique. But what are you doing to help you understand the technical aspects of a production?
“In the first year,” Beatty shared, “students complete crew assignments […] by fulfilling a role such as assistant stage manager, costume assistant, light or sound board op, backstage run crew, wardrobe, house manager, box office, build and load-in crew.”
Having the knowledge of what the crew does can make for a better rehearsal process. It can also provide you with the ability to overcome challenges during a performance.
Market Your Skills and Secure Supplemental Income
Knowing how to build a successful career in theatre will equip you with a well-rounded skill-set. And this robust knowledge is exactly what you need to be recognized in the profession.
“Fifth Semester” at Atlantic is the culmination of training. Students are guided through creating their own company and producing a show. Beatty shared how this process begins with laying the foundation of building a company. “[Students] are encouraged to examine their own group identity, artistic goals and communication style while formulating a mission statement, writing bylaws, [and] constructing a company structure.” Following this process, “We give a budget, space, and guidance to the company as they self-produce a show of their choosing, filling all creative and technical staff roles.”
Alumni have found that having the experience of creating their own work increases marketability. Wes Zurick, Atlantic Acting School alumnus and teaching artist, believes this to be so. “If you can create a reputation for yourself as a hard-working and driven person who creates their own work, other artists will be quick to trust you as a collaborator.”
Similarly, Sam Gonzalez, 2014 Atlantic alumnus and Artistic Director of The Joust Theatre Company, found that creating a company has allowed him to market himself. “Letting myself wear the hat of producer has given me a great deal more opportunities to work on the material that interests me and is important to me,” he said.
Explore Your Interests
There are more opportunities in theatre, film, and television than we can list here. But, if you’ve ever wanted to be an Artistic Director, for example, you will need to have a better understanding of a theatre company.
Once you've gone through the process, you might find that your artistic goals reside elsewhere. Gonzalez found a new interest from the company he created at Atlantic. “Since graduation our company has continued to produce work and I have assumed the position of Artistic Director, giving me a much larger range of possibilities in terms of the kind of theatre I want to be in, produce, and see in the theatre community,” he said.
It’s up to you, but remember: making a choice that is more apt—acting is already a difficult career choice to navigate—will show off your skills as an actor.
According to Beatty, “In a profession in which the direction of one’s career often feels uncertain and out of one’s control, we would like our students to graduate knowing there are many paths available when making a life in the theater and producing work with your own company is one of them.”
Learn more about Atlantic Acting School's Full-Time Conservatory or visit them on Acceptd.
