Katie Mitchell: feminist director as pedagogue

An Actor Prepares relates the reciprocal dialogue between teacher–director and actor to offer a pedagogical enquiry that moves beyond methodology to focus on the learning exchange. In the first decades of the twentieth century teacher–directors, predominantly male, were responsible for developing theatrical pedagogies. In the twenty-first century, it is rare to focus on the director as pedagogue or attend to the complex learning exchange between director and actor. Furthermore, curriculums continue to be dominated by predominantly male lineages. Yet a focus on pedagogical approaches allows us to look behind methodologies, what an actor does, to consider how an actor learns. What might a gendered consideration of rehearsal practices reveal about the particular features of acting pedagogy? How do feminist interventions reconsider aspects of Stanislavski’s approach? I turn to the developed pedagogy of Katie Mitchell to examine her work as a form of écriture féminine which creates a post-Stanislavski schooling for actors. Applying a methodology for observing pedagogic practice in the rehearsal room that has been developed over four years of research I consider her approach, drawing upon two extended interviews, observations across four rehearsal processes and interviews with the actors involved. I reflect on her process through a gendered lens as an evolved form of method of physical action, which I re-orientate as a method of feminist action. The particular features of this pedagogy map Mitchell’s contribution to developing twenty-first century actor training from a feminist position

His dream of passion: reflections on the work of Lee Strasberg and his influence on British actor training

The first of two ‘companion’ articles examining the work of Lee Strasberg, this discussion begins with an exploration of Lee Strasberg’s interpretation and adaptation of Stanislavski’s ‘Emotion Memory’ exercise before proceeding to examine the efficacy of his version of the technique and consider the extent to which some of the persistent criticisms surrounding his approach are tenable. Has his work been misjudged and misrepresented in recent years or are some of the concerns that have arisen justified? The discussion will then move on offer a brief outline of some of Strasberg’s other techniques and consider the degree to which his approach may have influenced actor-training environments in British schools and colleges