Dennis Beasley, MFA

My teaching philosophy is simple: It is my job to teach students the skills they need to succeed, spark their imagination, inspire their creativity, and create an environment where the standards are high, expectations are clear, and students trust that they are receiving honest, well-intentioned, and constructive feedback to perform at their best. And…theatre should be fun.

I expect that students come to class prepared to do their best work and I hold them to a high standard when it comes to preparedness and work ethic.   I do, however, like to have fun and I have fun by doing good work.  I find it invigorating and tremendously satisfying to work hard and create art of which I can be proud.  I instill this sensibility in my students and hope that it inspires them to do their best.

Educational theatre should be a safe place for students to learn their craft and develop as artists.  It is my job to introduce a variety of techniques and approaches for young artists to experiment with as they figure out who they are as artists and what works best for them.  There is no set path to becoming a professional theatre artist.  As an actor or director, one has to draw from personal experiences and training to become a unique artist.  It is my job to help guide and shape artistic choices while also introducing new techniques of which they might not be aware.  My acting study and teaching has all been in objective-based techniques using exercises from a variety of sources including Stanislavsky, Strasberg, and Meisner.  I use a variety of exercises in class mixing acting, improvisation, voice, and movement.  I try to make the class fun and accessible while getting to the heart of what objective-based acting is all about--examining the wants and desires of their character and the tactics they use to get what they want.  As a directing mentor and teacher, I encourage and support young directors to find their individual voice.  Directors must be individuals and I want to help them develop their own directorial view through practice, critical observation and analysis, and study of other directors and theatre artists that have come before them.  Regardless of style, a director’s goal is to collaborate well with his/her design team and actors, so that the finished product will be a unified, effective piece of storytelling.

It is vital that students understand that we are all on the same quest: to become better artists through experimentation, examination, and trial and error.  Once students know that they are safe from personal judgment, they feel free to take the risks that will allow them to become better artists.   I find it best to come up with a mix of teacher, peer, and self-evaluation.  I want to force students to be able articulate what they see (good, bad, or ugly) so they can translate it to their own work.

My aim as a teacher is make the student feel successful while instilling the desire to constantly work harder to do better work.  I teach them how to work, giving them the ability to take apart and analyze the material and put it back together as an engaging performance.  I make sure they have the skills to do the work on their own so that they are successful even when they are no longer in class under my supervision.  I remind my students that all types of performance are about communication, telling a story, and making connections with other performers and their audience.  This will lift their performance from merely a technical success to touching dramatic art.  Acting coaching is a particularly strong suit of mine both as an instructor and director.  Actors and directors under my tutelage always understand overarching objectives while also paying close attention to the details of moment-to-moment interactions.  It is the combination of strong emotional connection and technical prowess in acting and directing that can make a performance thrilling.  An exciting, fearless, touching performance is what the students should always be after.

Theatre is meant to be experienced--not just read off a page.  This makes the information more engaging and it is more likely that the students will remember it later. I hope the students will leave my class on their way to being unique, well-read, industry knowledgeable, skilled actors and directors who are self-sufficient, proactive, self-starters wuth the know-how to get a job and then what to do with it once they have it.

This is the long way to say that we all (students and instructor alike) should work hard and have fun learning the art and craft of theatre.  Hard work, thoughtful examination, and fearless exploration in a safe, nurturing environment will lead to the creation of a skilled, knowledgeable theatre artist.