The role of the director in Australian actor training: An exploration of dialogic leadership as a pedagogical practice for Australian directors and acting teachers

Gabrielle Metcalf

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Abstract

Australian actor training owes much of its history to the Russians; Stanislavski, Chekhov and to those that adopted and adapted their methodologies over the past century; Sanford Meisner, Stella Adler, Uta Hagen and Lee Strasberg. During the 1970’s the advent of devised theatre and more physically based theatre practices saw the work of Europeans; LeCoq, Copeau and Laban recognised as valuable actor training tools. While Australian actor training has been informed by a plethora of practitioners and theorists, the same cannot be said for those providing the training. The teachers of acting who populate Australian Academies and Universities do not enjoy the same variety of methodologies on which to draw. The paucity of research investigating the pedagogical practices of directors and acting teachers in educational settings signals an opportunity for further investigation. This article introduces dialogic leadership as a pedagogical tool for directors and acting teachers. Directing through Dialogue is the term I use to describe a methodological approach to training actors that challenges the traditional hierarchical, director-centred model and replaces it with an actor-centred, egalitarian model. Directing through Dialogue utilises coaching and feedback to facilitate growth and development in student actors.

Keywords

Director; Acting; Dialogic Leadership; Directing through Dialogue; Coaching; Feedback

To cite this article

Metcalf, Gabrielle. “The role of the director in Australian actor training: An exploration of dialogic leadership as a pedagogical practice for Australian directors and acting teachers.” Fusion Journal, no. 15, 2019, pp. 132-141. http://www.fusion-journal.com/the-role-of-the-director-in-australian-actor-training-an-exploration-of-dialogic-leadership-as-a-pedagogical-practice-for-australian-directors-and-acting-teachers/

First published online: March 2019