The Bay Area leads the nation as a mecca for new work

When I first moved from London over 15 years ago, the San Francisco Bay Area felt like a small, though unique theatrical pond.  Today, the Bay Area leads the nation as a mecca for new work. The #5050by2020 movement throws down the gauntlet to producers in all mediums to do more than lip service towards balanced representation. As a result, most local theaters have a specific mandate to develop/produce new work and San Francisco has been ahead of the international game in giving voice to diverse identities.    All processes of change are challenging and flawed.  Rather than aiming at geographic self-congratulation, I celebrate the intention of work striving in new directions.   To remain relevant, art must attempt to shift rather than follow social norms.  Do acting classes and acting training in the San Francisco Bay Area reflect this spirit of innovation? Yes…and no.

Conservatory Training in the Bay Area?

Given this fervor of theatrical energy and activity, the local lack of conservatory acting training is curious.  With only one exception (ACT Conservatory Theater) there are no complete conservatory training programs in Northern California. Classes in the Meisner Technique abound, Strasberg, Adler, Stanislavsky, Hagen, Shelton, and Michael Chekov and Improv.  Despite the fact that the work of Stanislavsky and Chekov is grounded in psychophysical exploration, local training inclines towards the ‘American Method’ .  There are classes in Viewpoints, and while it’s possible to find Laban trained teachers, these techniques take the form of stand alone classes and are not part of a cohesive acting training program.  Techniques that incorporate in-depth approaches to classical text are hard to find on the West Coast of the USA.  A handful of individual teachers teach scansion for Shakespearean text.   A few voice teachers use teachings which emphasize the psychophysical (i.e. Linklater and Rodenberg). 

Inhabiting, whether for modern or classical text, encompasses numerous elements of conservatory training

 The Inhabiting Technique seeks to fill a notable gap.  More than any other artistic practice, acting calls upon the performer to use every part of the body/mind instrument. Inhabiting draws on tried and true techniques from the psychophysical perspective within an acting class environment that promotes the student’s individual development. An environment in which students are inspired to develop their own unique acting practice, is an environment that empowers the performer. Inhabiting illuminates the importance of having a practice in the first place!