Greg Leaming is the director of the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training and Associate Artistic Director at Asolo Repertory Theatre. He spoke with URTA about exposing graduate students to the professional theatre, auditioning acting candidates, and more…

One of the cornerstones of URTA’s mission is the fostering of ties between its member programs and professional theatres.  The association between Florida State University and the Asolo Repertory is one of the most enduring examples of this. Can you discuss this relationship—how it works, and what it means to each partner institution?

The relationship is unique in that our training program includes a year of work with the professional acting company on the Asolo Rep stage as part of our training.  All productions at the Asolo are considered in light of the students moving into their third year of training, and in many cases productions are chosen for the specific talents of that class.   What this means is that students receive, as part of their training, the kind of experiences that most graduate students spend years trying to get AFTER graduation.   Because of this relationship, I believe we attract a particularly high caliber of student; because of the caliber of student we are attracting, the Asolo can be guaranteed a very strong and usable number of young actors in their resident company each year.

One of the questions we hear most often from prospective applicants to URTA’s National Unified Auditions and Interviews is “I’m not sure if I’m ready for grad school.”  What do you feel are some of the “prerequisites” for entering a MFA actor training program?

First and foremost, of course, are a strong dramatic imagination and an authentic use of self – these are essential elements of any actor.   Both characteristics can, of course, be developed, but for graduate training, it’s most important that these elements are already in place.  Absolutely essential to a program like ours, however, is a demonstrated commitment to the specific discipline of acting.  Many students look at graduate school as a chance to explore a range of theatrical disciplines, and there are many fine programs out there that allow a graduate student to do so.  But because of the professional component of our training, we look for students who have realized that acting is their primary interest.  Often this means we are more interested in students who have spent a few years out of undergraduate school trying to work in the business and can prove that they are ready to commit to the life and craft of the actor.  On the other hand, this kind of commitment can often be seen in students fresh out of undergraduate school, and so we will just as happily take younger students – provided that they can convince us that the profession of acting is their primary, or even their sole interest in the theatre.

What qualities are you most interested in when you’re auditioning and interviewing prospective MFA actors?

Other than strong dramatic imagination and an obvious creative spirit, we look for students who are open and available, interested in working with other artists and willing to embrace input and criticism as essential and necessary elements of training.  We look for actors who are interested in the world around them, who have a range of interests to draw their creative inspiration from.  And we look for people who have investigated the kinds of programs available to them and have put some effort into considering what they want out of training before they step into an audition with us – we want pro-active students, not ones who passively participate in their training.

How would you describe your own time in graduate school?  And how has your training benefitted you in your own career?

I studied to be a director, and because of that, I decided that I needed to be in a program that allowed me to understand the other creative disciplines that I would be working alongside of in my professional life.  I needed to consider, at least as an outsider, the craft of acting, of design, of playwriting and dramaturgy, because I expected to need to collaborate with artists in each of these fields.  The most important part of my training was not provided for me by my graduate school— I actually needed to go out and find it for myself – that was a full year working in a professional theatre.  I left graduate school and immediately interned at Hartford Stage Company for a year.  That year of working in a professional environment was invaluable, and gave me a leg up in the profession.  It’s exactly the kind of training that we’re trying to incorporate into our program here, rather than expecting our students to fend for themselves after graduation, as my program did.

What do you feel an actor should look for in a prospective MFA program?

A faculty of working artists; training that has a guiding principle but one that also offers some insight into more than one approach to the discipline; a rounded approach to actor training that incorporates voice, speech, and movement into the training as well as one that provides a variety material in ancillary workshops. In other words, training that will give you a well rounded resume!

What are some of the guiding principles of actor training at the Asolo Conservatory?

Our work is grounded in later Stanislavski/Vahktangov.  It is an action based approach, very much concerned with releasing the actor’s spontaneity, and partnering fully on stage.  It’s also geared towards the professional development of the actor as much as the creative development – Because our students work on the Asolo Rep mainstage as part of their training, we need to develop the actor’s craft and the actor’s professionalism.  The faculty works very closely to help foster application from one classroom to the next – the students are expected to demonstrate a mastery of movement, voice, speech, and acting technique in every situation they encounter.

TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA dir. Greg Leaming at FSU/Asolo Repertory.
photo: Gary Sweetman

What do you find to be the most rewarding aspect of working with student actors?

I’m always thrilled with the ways in which graduate students are willing to run with ideas, to embrace direction – there’s rarely any hesitancy or questioning or resistance.  Sometimes this commitment is often at the expense of subtlety or precision, but I find it thrilling to watch the ways in which student actors will embrace new ideas and new approaches.

What advice would you give to someone who has just completed a MFA and is about to embark on their theatre career?

Don’t get frustrated!  When someone graduates with a MFA, there is always the belief that the world is waiting for them, and we all know that’s not so!  If graduate school is all about your needs, then the real world is all about someone else’s needs, and that is a big adjustment!  You have to shake a lot of hands and throw out a lot of smiles and spend a lot of time networking – suddenly, the focus is on the business rather than the craft.  Don’t get depressed at the speed with which your career moves!  Remember that you have already decided that this is what you MUST do, so just commit and keep plugging away.  Oh, and never, ever, ever burn a bridge – the field is far too small and you can develop a reputation very, very quickly!

Greg, thank you very much for your time!

Greg Leaming is the director of the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training and Associate Artistic Director at Asolo Repertory Theatre. At Asolo Rep, he has directed The Game’s Afoot, God of Carnage, Boeing, Boeing, Hearts, The Imaginary Invalid, The Play’s the Thing, the world premiere of Men of Tortuga and his translation/adaptation of Anything to Declare?  Other credits include Associate Director and Producing Director, Hartford Stage Company; Artistic Director, Portland Stage Company; Director of Artistic Programming and Acting Artistic Director, Long Wharf Theatre; Associate Professor of Theatre and Head of Directing, Southern Methodist University.  Off Broadway, he directed the world premiere of Constance Congdon’s Lips for Primary Stages. Other productions include the world premieres of Constance Congdon’s  Losing Father’s Body,  Jeffrey Hatcher’s Turn of the Screw, Keith Curran’s Church of the Sole Survivor, Steven Druckman’s Going Native, Theresa Rebeck’s Abstract Expression, Joe Sutton’s The Third Army, Alan Knee’s Syncopation and David Schulner’s An Infinite Ache for theatres including Stage West, Philadelphia Drama Guild, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Southwest Shakespeare, Dorset Theatre Festival, Hangar Theatre, and Florida Stage.  He has developed new works with the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference, New Dramatists, New York Theatre Workshop, New York Stage and Film, Cape Cod Theatre Project, The Gathering at Bigfork and Theatre of the First Amendment. He served on the board of directors for the Connecticut Aids Residence Coalition and has been a panelist/observer for the Maine Arts Commission, Massachusetts Council for the Arts, Connecticut Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.  He now serves on the URTA Board of Directors and is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.