The Great Acting Blog: “Pick From The Tree”
Somebody once said that if all the apples in the barrel are rotten then you should pick from the tree.
One of the hardest aspects of assembling a team for a production is finding people who share the same values as you do. I’m not talking about talent or ability or experience here, but values. The dedication to prepare properly, to be self-reliant, to be able to turn up on time (this is fundamental), to learn lines accurately, to be courteous, to respect the history of our craft, to understand that the best way to achieve personal advancement is through advancing the production as a whole, and to help your colleagues, are all values which should be pre-requisites for anyone joining a production. If every member of the group shares these values, as well as being properly skilled, then we have a fair chance of producing something extraordinary.
If it is difficult to assemble a group with these necessary pre-requisites, might it finally be easier to train up new actors and install the values in them?
