Devouring Theatre vs. Living Your Life

Well, I think both of you are correct in your own ways. The trick is to find the right balance between the two, which I'm sure is different for every person and much harder than it sounds.

An English teacher I had in high school always said that one learns to write by mimicking the work of others before developing a unique "voice." This was her way of stressing the importance of being well read. To some extent, I think that the same line of thinking would apply to an actor honing his or her craft.

While I am by no means an artist, I would think that gaining knowledge of your craft is of a greater priority than simply living your life. Good actors shouldn't NEED to have had experiences similar to those of the characters they are playing. As you've mentioned, they can do research to ensure that they have a proper understanding of their characters and their backgrounds.

I might be taking the wrong path here, but my sister is a graphic designer and has mentioned feeling a lot of creative burnout from doing a fairly repetitive job. She has no desire to draw or paint or do anything creative in her off hours, because she spends so much time doing it at work. Maybe your friend is worried about a similar sort of burnout and wants to have a well-rounded human existence.

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^ Really?

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Where's the line between being an informed, well-experienced artist and a human being?

There isn't one because they aren't mutually exclusive. You can be both.

how much is too much?

Depends on the needs, passion and desire of the individual. It's sort of like the different methods and schools of thought on acting. I don't think there is one magic method that works for everyone. You pick out the right ingredients from different methods to apply what works for you. Same with attending theatre. Watching everything only guarantees that you will see more, not learn more from it. And not everyone needs to do it.

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Updated On: 5/21/13 at 01:43 PM

I agree with Mister Matt, it depends on your passion and desire.

I have missed on a lot of things in my life because of my art, sometimes it disaapoints me, but I don't regret it, because I know that once I get to where I want to be, it will all be worth it. And just because you haven't experienced the situations a character goes through, doesn't mean you haven't experienced the feelings behind them. I don't have much life outside the theatre, but that hasn't stopped me from feeling happy, or feeling sad, it certainly hasn't stopped me from being depressed. You don't have to know how it feels like to get into Harvard, you only need to know what it feels like to accomplish something you wanted with all of your heart.

Acting is subjective, everyone approaches it differently, and as long as you shine on that stage it doesn't matter how you got there.

Updated On: 5/21/13 at 02:41 PM