Teaching Acting Online: Ten Tips Toward Creating a Strong Container

Abstract

How can I create the conditions for trust and risktaking to flourish, and take care my students' emotional well-being as they move through the psychological demands actor training, all during a global pandemic? Making these practices more conscious and explicit for both ourselves and our students will help us best support them in navigating the sometimes murky emotional waters actor training through these uncertain and challenging times. Some other common containers include: the witnessing and responsiveness the instructor (including creating a supportive environment and intervening in moments emotional overwhelm or physical danger);the witnessing the ensemble (especially in moments risk or vulnerability);exercises;physical forms;text;a working agreement created by the ensemble;reflection practices like journaling or hunkering;conscious awareness one's body, emotional responses, and actions;entering and exiting practices such as a check-ins and closing circles;warm-ups and warm-downs;and any practices that support consciously changing states, in particular that support shifting out of the work. First-year students may not even know this is necessary or have an accurate idea what they will be doing.