Simply what is acting?

Everyone is an actor - but some act better than others.

Think for a moment - are you the same person at school or work with your friends to that of being at home with your parents and family.

Are you the same person at a social event with your friends as that of one with your parents?

Do you always express how you feel or act as you feel those around you want you to be?

If you need a day off do you pretend to be sick to a point where you can convince those in authority?

All these situations are forms of acting - the difference as an actor is people know you are acting!

A big debate I have so often had within drama circles is are there a natural talent in some and not in others - ie can you teach anyone to act.

The answer I would suggest is yes you can teach anyone to act - but not anyone to act with instinct and timing, or to make a character totally convincing. Good acting is almost invisible because the character takes over.

There are many styles of acting - but here we want people to concentrate on enjoying drama and not too much about the hard work that comes when you are a professional performer.

Let's say you are playing a soldier - half the job of convincing your audience you are indeed a soldier is wearing the uniform. So now imagine being a soldier in just average clothes - how would you portray it?

This is why it is beneficial not to offer costumes and props too often too early at the start of rehearsal.

This said - many actors only really come alive dressed as their character - and that is fine too. 

I have found over the years that the first 20 minutes or so tells me if that prospective actor has "what it takes" - it's about poise, confidence, and commitment - in its raw state.

The early performances may be crude but they are alive and you can see potential - often when they can't - because so many good actors actually have no idea how good they are - because to them it's a natural process.

Acting is creating a scene or character and making it alive.

A word here about the high number of performance creatives on the autistic spectrum - for many reasons I will come onto as we move on the autistic brain is a very tuned creative brain, and this applies to actors and performance creators of all kinds.

So acting simply is about not being yourself but someone else - that's as simple as it gets.

Drama can be great fun and a fantastic escape - you can be anyone you want to be [or asked to be] - that's quite a power and quite an experience.