Understanding actor trainers' articulation of their practice

Abstract

This paper extrapolates the findings of a three-year study into actor trainers' articulation of their practice. The paper explores the predominant kinds of meanings generated by acting tutors from drama schools in Australia and England in the discussion of their practice. The paper reveals that the predominant kinds of meanings generated by acting tutors in the discussion of their practice were ‘synnoetic’, that is they were direct, personal, and experiential. However, meanings constructed about acting and actor training were known tacitly and therefore were difficult to communicate in conventional ways. This paper identifies the dominant knowledge(s) evidenced in this community of practice in order to further appreciate how ‘teaching’ is understood within the contexts of actor training across these countries with largely Euro-centric approaches to actor training and with implications for practical knowledge(s) in Drama Education.