Education vs Experience

[Jemma]

Although I think people can do equally well whether they have trained or not, I think the type of training makes a HUGE difference.

 

I have a degree in Civil Engineering, which was of very little use to me when I had a job as a civil engineer, as was (in retrospect) way too academic. I later decided to work in theatre and did a vocational, practical course (the diploma in SM & Technical Theatre at RADA), which was fantastic at preparing me for the industry.

 

Of course, there is no substitute for experience, but I got a good idea of how shows work (including the long hours!) at RADA & feel it gave me a great foundation for working in the industry. The great advantage to me was not having to waste time on academic dissertations which were not of any (direct) relevance to actually doing the job.

[Thirdtap]

'lo

When I went to Mountview for the stage management course about 10 years ago the only options in education were:

A drama degree which involved acting eeeekkkk!

Lighting design degree

City and guilds training in lighting and sound 181 & 236 for example

Or the Btec A level type drama courses which also involved acting more eeekk!

 

Went to college to find out what I would enjoy working on and what was no good for me. I had done some casual and am stuff before college but not been able to get hands on time on sound and lighting desks.

 

Is it possible to still work without any form of qualification at all? I believed that employers were starting to ask for city and guilds 181 and such like.

[John]

A drama degree which involved acting eeeekkkk!

 

I went to QMC in Edinburgh and took on the SM Course there. During my first year there was very little distinction between the Actors in my year and the SM students, both were expected to complete assessments in both disciplines. Now...dont get me wrong...I am no actor and have never felt comfortable acting, but it was an invaluable excersise in job appreciation. It was hell at the time, but I now have an excellent appreciation of the amount of work, concentration and dedication needed to be an actor. As a result I have total respect and understanding for the acting fraternity, though it did make me realise that I would never ever want to be one! Too many backstage, technical staff have little or no respect for actors and treat them like-wise. In reality, without them we are only creating backdrops and the human element (i.e. the story) is forgotten. In order to be any good, at Stage Management especially, we must maintain this respect through understanding.

 

A lot of basic acting techniques are used in other forms of management, in other industries, so as to increase communication efficiency and self confidence. But closer to home, as a DSM or SM it is almost vital.

 

So dont let any acting put you off applying for a course as its more than simply character building.

 

Regards

[Neil Frazer]

If this offends anyone then sorry, it's not meant to.

 

In my opinion there is no substitute for experience. you can tell somone not to put gaffertape on cables but untill they do it and spend 2 hours cleaning it later they wont understand why they can't do it. i.e. college leavers know how to do something but those of us who have worked our way up know why we do it that way.

[robloxley]

Surely it's quite a slow learning curve to pick up, say, lighting design as you go along, as opposed to doing some formal training?

[smeggie]

true in a sense, but the basics are picked up fairly quickly.

after that it is just experience under the wing of a good teacher that guides the rest.

 

also, the chance to play with all sorts of ideas helps a huge amount. esp. putting them in practice to see if it works - then no faffing around when needed to put into practice.

 

as for stage craft, then I agree - there is no substitute for experience.

[especially after a long show, pulling gaffer off the floor w/out thinking and then having to remove it before the end of the night hammers it home well]

cheers

andrew

[Rob]

Moderation - Last two options added to poll at original posters request :-)

[gareth]

For the purposes of this poll, how are we defining 'training'? Formal education at a further-education institution resulting in a paper qualification? On-the-job training? Work experience? A trainee position at a pro theatre which offers such a thing? YTS? (Yes, I'm sure there are some people on the forum who are old enough to know what that is ... ;) )

[John]

For the purposes of this poll, how are we defining 'training'?

 

Traing as in a formal course i.e. Further education that provides an NC or higher qualification. Normally in a custom built training facility such as a college or university.

[John]

Thanks for the response so far......Im afraid that I dont really have enough participants to form any sort of accurate statistc, but it's a good cross section. I'll keep the poll alive for another month or so.

 

Thank you to all who have contributed so far.....

 

Regards