If I were to give you just one piece of acting advice, advice that would revolutionize your
acting, help you make connections, make you attractive to schools, flag you as “one to watch” to future collaborators, and generally set you up for a successful lifetime of theatermaking it, would be this: read plays.
That’s it! Read plays! How many plays have you read this year? 5?
Great! Read more! 20? Fantastic! More! 50? More!!
Reading plays is the only comprehensive way to observe or maybe even understand the
history of theater. Why should you care about the history of theater? Because nearly every play is somehow in conversation with the rest of the artform. So let’s say you see something you consider totally revolutionary, for example Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Great play, but you won’t get much out of it unless you’ve read Waiting for Godot, and Hamlet.
Speaking of Hamlet, have you read Fat Ham? How about this one: if you like Hamilton, you might find it resonates with Suzan-Lori Parks’ seminal play Topdog/Underdog (race in America, Founding Fathers) which might lead you to True West by Sam Shepherd (brothers in close quarters). Or what about Clybourne Park, Bruce Norris’s incisive sequel to titan of American Literature Lorraine Hansberry’s “Raisin in the Sun”?
All of these playwrights, and the actors and producers and directors that made these
plays happen, are aware of theater at large. How thrilling! To imagine David Henry Hwang’s first listen of Madame Butterfly. Or Paula Vogel sitting down to Fefu and Her Friends by María Irene Fornés.
Okay okay, so what does this have to do with YOU, student applying to acting programs?
First off, the obvious: reading plays will help you find material for yourself. I cannot even begin to tell you how it would thrill your coaches’ hearts if you were to go into a selection session and say, “well, I really like these two playwrights. Maybe something like that?” Wowwee! We are inspired, we are impressed, we are ready to take this journey with you.
Also, I hesitate to tell you this, but there is a life beyond MTCA where you will most definitely be finding monologues and scenes for yourself, for school or for your career. No time like the present to start searching for playwrights you love.
Second, I would say that the number one draw for schools and future collaborators,
aside from whether you are a kind, hardworking, respectful individual, which of course you are, aside from talent, which of course you have, is whether you have a) an interest in and b) a knowledge of the actual career you are heading into.
I have seen it with my own eyes. The way a director sits up when someone in the cast understands their references? The way an audition room leans in when a student brings in a really interesting play they clearly found themselves? The way you will find and adhere to peers who love the same plays and movies as you do, for LIFE? It’s electric! You can give yourself this leg up with a library card and a little time to read. And third is for you. You the artist, you the creative. If you are rustling around looking for something to do that will connect you to the rest of the theater world, that might strike a chord with you, or remind you why you love this artform, that might give you the gift of a passage or a moment you’ll never forget, read a play. And while you’re at it, watch a movie, listen to a whole album, go to theater, museums, dance. If we want theater to be vibrant and vital and important, as we all say we do, we must also be its best advocate and most rapt audience. Also critic! There’s space and need for that too! But first, we must read.
Don’t know where to start? You can try any of the plays I listed above. But also, ask your
coaches! They will give you incredible suggestions.
How exactly do I suggest you start?
Here’s the recipe they gave us at school:
Read a play in one go.
It will take you about 2 hours.
Turn off your phone.
Do this at least once a week.
Personally, I have one day a week that I devote to watching, reading, or going to
something. It has become a ritual that I treasure and that keeps me feeling like I’m an artist, no matter what else is going on in my life.
This is it, folks. The secret sauce. Read plays. Consume art. It’ll make you a better actor
and maybe even (though this is impossible) a better person.
About the Author
Gwendolyn Ellis
MFA in Acting, The Juilliard School · BA in Text and Performance, Vassar College
She/Her
AEA, SAG-AFTRA
Originally from Cleveland, OH, Gwendolyn got her BA from Vassar College in a multidisciplinary major called “Text and Performance,” and her MFA from Juilliard (Group 45). Favorite theater credits include the world premiere of Still by Jen Silverman, and Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia. Between college and graduate school, she was an Acting Apprentice at the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville where she was in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Christmas Carol, and Heist!, an immersive theater piece for the Humana Festival.
After graduating from Juilliard, Gwendolyn made her television debut in Emmy-nominated Genius as Young Elsa Einstein. This past year you might have seen her as Martha Gellhorn in The First Lady or Julia Swanstrom in The Endgame. Other TV credits include Sink Sank Sunk, Blue Bloods, FBI: Most Wanted, and Madam Secretary.
Gwendolyn absolutely loves coaching young artists with MTCA, and believes the essential nature of the performing arts is one where intergenerational dialogue strengthens the artistic point of view of both coach and student. She sees herself as the beneficiary of extraordinary guidance over the years, and relishes the opportunity to pass it on.
