Philip Carlson
The Actors Center Journal Vol. 2, No. 4, November 2010
Letter from the Editor
Well, we are a little late in getting this issue out, but the tasks that have been delaying us—most notably the planning for the upcoming Third National Congress in January—have been consuming, necessary and exciting. Michael Miller’s Founder’s Page, which immediately follows this letter, will give you the details of the event and its purpose. Frankly, it’s a turn on and I would suggest you jump right to it.
Lately, I have found myself bending friends’ ears about the truly appalling rate at which actors are paid in not-for-profit theatres and the lackluster programming of plays at those theatres. A friend who is working at one of the better paying not-for-profits in New York is making 700 a week for her services (which extend for eight weeks). The Artistic Director of that theatre is pulling down 7200 a week (which will guarantee fifty-two weeks of employment). Even with the business model that has come to be routinely accepted at the LORT houses, that’s just wrong. Steeping ourselves in all this thinking about the possibility of an actual National Theatre with real acting companies has set my volubility on high. I find myself informing people who have no connection with the theatre whatsoever about the financial inequities embedded in the system. But, of course, people not connected with the theatre are precisely the people who need to know these things. Actors already know, but actors, and the rest of us who dote on the fabulous invalid are, I hate to say, increasingly resigned to a system which, let’s face it, is sorely in need of a revolution. We need some fresh outrage.
Elsewhere in this issue you will come across an interview with Jed Diamond who heads the (fully endowed) MFA Acting Program at the University of Tennessee. Michael and I traveled down there a couple of years ago to observe Jed’s first graduating class. I was impressed. In a lifetime of watching acting school presentations, this was on a par with the very best of them. I usually feel when watching a play, if everyone on stage is terrible, it’s the director’s fault. If everyone on stage is noteworthy, it is due to the actors and to the director who cast them. Everyone in Jed’s class at the very least belonged in the profession. Sadly, I find that is infrequently the case. So here is a teacher who identifies and trains gifted people. Listen to what he has to say.
Michael and I also have a conversation in this issue with Frank Wood, one of my very favorite actors, an identity I would suspect he holds in the hearts of many of our readers. We spoke with Frank for over an hour and it killed me to edit the piece down to a manageable length for The Journal, but for those of you who may wish to hear the whole thing, you can click the appropriate spot on your screen. You could do worse.
There are a couple of other cries and whispers from me into which I poured my bleeding heart. Mostly, please, please, please read about The Congress and make plans to be there. January 15 & 16. Let’s translate heart into action.
