Take It From the T.O.P.

INTRODUCTION

I have been developing Theatre on Purpose (T.O.P.) for my entire career but began to articulate the philosophy during my graduate training as a Pastoral Counselor in 2001.  There are a number of dimensions to the approach, including a foundation of psychological theory.
I adhere to an integrative model of theatre education that begins with the personality of the student actor. My work with students is motivated by an understanding of the creative personality but more specifically, the actor's personality.

Shakespeare said, "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players." For the actor, this is more than a metaphor.  It becomes a confusing internal conflict that blurs the boundaries of the foot lights and real life.

In my over twenty-six year career as a theatre educator, I have found a commonality of experience among student actors that has led me to study and examine various personality theories and to seek methods that can help young students overcome some of the common anxieties, insecurities, neuroses, and behaviors that can lead to unhealthy, self-defeating, and destructive choices. By
using theatre arts as a means to help students develop a strong sense of their "real" selves, they are able to apply their gifts and talents with a sense of confidence, purpose, and direction that is not confused by the inherent messages found in the entertainment industry - a message that thrives on grandiosity, powerlessness, and narcissistic behavior.
Ironically, in a profession where the vocabulary is ripe with images of "mask" and "persona," Theatre On Purpose strives to help students take off the mask to discover their actual self.

The stereotype of the insecure, needy actor was never so poignantly portrayed than in the 1975 Michael Bennett Tony award-winning musical, A CHORUS LINE.
Stylistically ground-breaking, A CHORUS LINE is comprised of a series of character monologues and songs designed to tell the personal stories of the actor/dancer's lives and what led them to a life in the theatre.

Who am I anyway? Am I my resume? That is a picture of a person I don't know. What does he want from me? What should I try to be? So many faces all around and here we go.... I need this job. Oh God, I need this show. 

Sung by the character of Paul in the opening number of A CHORUS LINE,  these lyrics are pertinent to the discussion of the development and perception of self.  Paul's interior monologue is prompted by a question posed by the director in the context of an audition.

Because actors are caught in the perpetual world of auditioning, the need to win approval through performance to get the job can create a sense of self-loathing and failure.  The actor's destiny lies with the all-powerful casting director.  In this example from A CHORUS LINE, the actor, Paul, becomes confused - "Who am I anyway?" and "What does he want from me? What should I try to be?"
This question leads inevitably to the conclusion that the real Paul in his unique "who-ness" may not be enough and so a fictionalized self may become necessary to "get the job."

The anxiety that develops from the incessant need to perform according to someone else's standards renders the actor powerless over his own destiny. Competition, comparison, and fear of failure dominate and becomes fertile breeding-ground for self-doubt, criticism, and inferiority.

Theatre on Purpose begins with the premise that through intentional awareness, intervention, and practices at the early stage of a young actor's development, this confusion can be thwarted.  The goal of the theatre educator using T.O.P.  is to help the student actor understand his own unique gifts and to have a sense of self that can overcome the dominant forces of a profession that thrives on insecurity and inferiority.

Copyright Amy Luskey-Barth 2014