10 TIPS FOR BEING A THEATRE PRACTITIONER - by James Grieve

Our third year students will soon graduate and enter the professional world; to help them with this transition, we held an Industry Panel in March, and a great range of guest speakers gave useful and inspiring tips on how to enter the industry.

For anyone who has missed the events, below are link to the videos from the day.

Simon Darwen:
https://vimeo.com/122130548

Jen Malarkey, Katy Balfour, James Grieve and Liam Jarvis:
https://vimeo.com/125348262

We also wanted to remind you of the 10 tips that James Grieve shared, as we think they are very useful.
Read on and enjoy!

-  IF IT DID NOT EXIST, WOULD YOU HAVE TO INVENT IT?

Ask that question with every time you have; Is it actually a really good idea, does the world need your idea? Is this the idea you should devote your time to and stay up all night thinking about?

- FORCE IT INTO EXISTENCE!

At every step of your journey, someone will tell you it's not possible, that it's not a good idea, or that you're not able to do it, or that it is too competitive, or that it is too expensive. But if you want to make theatre, you have to be willing to force your ideas into existence.

-   THE MOST IMPORTANT WORD IN SHOW BUSINESS, IS BUSINESS, NOT SHOW!

Most people focus on show, and not enough on business. People who fail in this industry don't think about their work as a serious business. In an increasingly difficult economic climate, you have to present yourself as a professional business that offers something to society, not just a vehicle for you to make work. There has to be a reason for your business to exist.

-  UNDENIABILITY

Be undeniable – everybody has a taste in art; people can not like what you do, that's fine; but don't give them a chance to say that it is not good. Make it undeniable, make sure that everything is professionally done.

- NEVER BE BORING

Ask yourself: is this in any way, shape or form boring and if it is, cut it!

- WHO IS IT FOR?

You’ve got to ask yourselves who your work is for. What is your audience? Who are you making this for?

- KLEPTOMANIA

Its not always important to be original! You can steal a lot of good stuff from people who are really good and that's fine. Just be really good. And get really good by watching loads of other people and stealing their ideas. You learn to be a director by watching other directors.

- 10,000 HOURS

based on the theory that you have to do 10,000 hours at anything to be any good at it. You have to do 10,000 hours just to get good, and then you start your career. If you really want to do this, then you’ve got to commit to 10,000 hours.

-  THE FEAR - EVERYONE AT ALL THE TIME IS COMPLETELY TERRIFIED

And doesn't know what their doing. Don't acquaint fear with being shit. Everyone is nervous about their new work.

-  ALLOW YOURSELF TO FUCK IT UP.

The famous Samuel Beckett quote goes : ever tried, ever failed, no matter, try again, fail again, fail better!

Another one is: an expert is someone who's made all the mistakes that can be made, in a very narrow field.

And Thomas Edison said: I haven't failed, I just have found 10,000 ways that it didn't work.

The rehearsal room is a space of experimentations, the rehearsal room is a space where you have failed so many times, the only option is to succeed. It's very important that you allow yourself to do that!