lindseygs

Hey, just finished my freshman year, and I noticed there's a lot of people asking about both Tisch and playwrights. I'll try my best to give my experienced answers to your questions!

umbrellas

On the website, I saw that no one is allowed to audition for anything until sophomore year. Were there still opportunities outside of classes for theatre stuff?

lindseygs

Technically, you are not allowed to. That being said, there is no one at every single audition you could possibly go to (and remember, there are hundreds of plays put up at nyu every year whether they be in tisch or different studios...etc.) who is going to tell you you can't audition because your a freshman. I mean, I wouldn't try out for mainstages at Tisch, but that's not to say you couldn't do something within another studio, etc., as long as they don't mind.

Personally, I assistant directed and acted in The Vagina Monologues this year at NYU (it was put on by a club, not Tisch) and no one said anything.

Don't worry about not being in outside shows at all. Plus, as the year progressed, I kinda liked having that "rule". Honestly, at NYU where people are serious about their work, I felt like gaining a foundation for my craft was more important than constantly being in shows. And that's not to say you won't be acting in your studio. YOU WILL. You will also learn that finding out who you are as an artist is more important than jumping into the lion's den, so to speak. And if you are a Playwrights kid, trust me, you will NEVER be without work to do (remember, we also take Directing, Design, and Stage Management while the other studios don't and there is plenty of work within those classes as well).


So if you're just worried about not being able to fulfill your artistic schedule for the entire year, don't worry at all. Struggle and cry and scream the first semester until you figure out what you want, and then do all you can to get it. READ plays, acting books (Respect For Acting by Uta Hagen, Empty Space by Peter Brooke and An Actor Prepares by Stanislavski are tops on my list). WRITE. And be a techie. Teching is so valuable to an actor, even if you aren't interested in pursuing directing, design, or tech track (and many peoples interests will change in the upcoming year). One of my most valuable experiences with a show this year was not being in it, but teching for it. I learned so much about how a director works and collaborates and how the actors prepare themselves for a role in order to create the magic on stage just by sitting back and watching.

Hope that helps! (And if I managed to avoid the question by rambling, feel free to ask me more specifically!)

umbrellas

Thanks so much! That clears a lot up.

lindseygs

bump

lindseygs

bump deux

deenierah

what acting technique do they use in playwrights acting classes?

lindseygs

LOTS. that's the great thing about playwrights, you don't focus on one technique (like strasberg or adler...but i'm not putting those studios down by any means). you will learn a lot of bogart/viewpoints and kinesthetics in theresa mccarthy's actor's practice class. stanislavski/physiological states as well as a little bit of strasberg's "drawing emotion from real life" (at the beginning of the year) in hess's actor's instrument (michael potts, who is awesome, yale trained and recently in broadway's grey gardens, may also be assisting in that class). voice and speech teaches you the basics of warming up and using your voice, learning IPA (international phoenetic alphabet), scoring text, and tremoring (end of year). i don't really know how to sum up movement, but you focus a lot on identifying physical motions with emotional actions and constructive rest. you also read grotowski (who is influenced in both acting classes), stanislavski and hagen for that class.

that's just the first year, and more techniques are introduced later on depending on the track you take but those are the basic foundations.