A common misconception….
This is especially common among people who are in love with the idea of “fame” and being on stage, but have never considered that acting on stage takes more than just learning a list of words and actions. 

“ All I have to do for a theatre show is to learn my lines and where I stand. “

Yes, that misconception has had me grumbled at more than once for insisting on a bit more than that.  I was physically attacked once for suggesting it. 
Certainly, without learning your lines and where you stand, you won’t be able to set foot on stage in a play, but what about bringing life to your character? What about creating a performance that the audience will enjoy with believable interesting characters? 

Here’s an imaginary dramatic scene: 

-Rose kneels on the stage, shaking with suppressed tears
-John enters, and pauses, watching her.
-John: "The same fate befell another thirty men. But Kenneth was the bravest of them all. Out of the four captains he was the only one to speak out. You should-"
- Rose: (interrupts) "how can you say that? You stood by as the Emperor had him shot in the city square with his men. You know-"
- John: (interrupts) "yes, and if I hadn’t, your son would have died too."


Now even with no more context, there’s a lot going on there. Just walking on the stage, standing in a designated area and saying the lines will lead to a flat scene with no emotion, nothing which encourages the audience to believe, or buy into, the reality of the situation that Rose and John are experiencing.

Both actors need to analyze what is happening with those lines. Rose is obviously mourning the execution of Kenneth, someone very important to her. She is distraught and also angry at John. 
John is trying to rationalize and explain his decision to not help Kenneth, in order to save someone else.

Learning to analyze a script is a critical tool for an actor. New to this? Here is a link to help: 
How to Analyze a Script 

Both characters are going to be feeling intense emotions. They are arguing, interrupting one another.
If either actor just stands(or kneels) in their spot saying the lines they have learned, parrot fashion, there will be no emotion. It will be flat, unconvincing, at best conveying a completely different meaning for the characters and at worst appearing ridiculous and false.

Only by analyzing the script and exploring how those characters feel, and developing ways to express that in tone, body language, physical and vocal dynamics, can the actors bring that to life on stage.
Only by practicing together numerous times, can the actors create the dynamic. Interrupting one another needs numerous rehearsals to time it correctly.  Reacting to the other characters emotions and expressions take time. As they work together, the interaction gets more and more nuanced, and the relationship better developed. 
Creating an emotional scene needs the actors to build a rapport and energy between them. That again only happens over time.

It is only in this way, for numerous rehearsals, that the "realism" of the characters can be created for a convincing performance. 

It is for this reason that we insist on a lot of rehearsals and excellent attendance. If one actor in a scene is not participating in this process or not turning up to rehearse, the dynamics of the whole scene are ruined - someone "reading in" is not able to create the same dynamic. 

One of the things we and many other actors & creatives have found, is that during the Covid pandemic, we have ended up working on Zoom, online. 
Zoom is  powerful video conferencing software (basic package is free!), (GET IT HERE) which also allows for things like digital effects like  digital backdrops - brilliant for transporting your audience into the enviroment inhabited by your character, while remaining socially distanced and safe at home. 

I should add that at the production (directing, tech) end there are many more considerations than the ones below. This is written strictly to support our actors who are new to zoom, and how it works from the point of view of a performer. 

We expect all our actors who are working with us online during the pandemic, to be fully conversant with at least these basics prior to beginning. This blog allows actors to explore the basics of Zoom, and have a central place with information on how to practice. As professional actors, everyone should be working to expand their skills on a continual basis, at the best of times, and while this is a lifesaver during Covid, for full shows; I can personally see this becoming very useful and common for auditions and workshops as well even as we move back to normality when this crisis is over. 

What we have found though, is that there can be a huge range of ability levels among people joining zoom projects, and a lot of anxiety around the use of the technology, which can make for quite stressful experiences, when in reality, they need not be anything approaching stressful. This blog article tries to set out the basics of what a performer will need to know (from our experience) in coming to use Zoom, and what tools they will need. 

We cannot reccomend enough that as you explore these skills for the first time, that you spend an afternoon on Zoom, practicing. You don't need a partner to conference with, though it can help to check that they are seeing what you are seeing. Open up zoom on your laptop, explore the buttons and links and menus, and familiarise yourself with where things are and how to change your settings. 

Zoom runs on any computer, tablet or smartphone. For the purposes of this blog article, we are writing about running zoom on a Windows PC or laptop. 

Before you start: 
You will need
- a computer or tablet (I would personally reccomend avoidng a smartphone though they do work too) with a passable webcam and microphone (providing a steady, reliable sound and image) 
- Moderatly good, to good WIFI signal (you can use 4g or 5g phone signal, but it will eat up your data allowance. 
- Reasonable computer literacy, to learn how to use menus, screenshot, type, etc. 

Getting started
Create a basic (free) Zoom account. This lets you access with ease, and be sent the weblinks for signing up. There are a number of ways to join a zoom meeting, but it is easiest when it is created as a "scheduled" event, and a weblink sent to all those being invited. 

Next, if you need to create a meeting, follow the screenshots below:  Set your time and date, and use the video and audio settings as in the second screenshot. Zoom will then give you a link to follow to the meeting.  

Getting set up for a Zoom show.
Lets assume you have already been sent a link for your rehearsal or performance. You click on it to join the meeting. If there are several people in the meeting you may see their faces in tiles across the screen.If it just you, then only you will appear in the window, like so: 

The important thing here, is the menu at the bottom of your screen. You have here, access to all your controls, including your audio and video settings, which are your most important settings as an actor. In audio (the settings are the small upward pointing arrow next to the icon of the microphone), it is best to turn on "original sound" as it picks up clearer audio from your computer microphone. It also improves bandwith issues, the bane of all zoom performances, which we will come on to later. 
HOW TO TURN ON ORIGINAL SOUND TUTORIAL

Next, you need to look at your video settings. In here, you will find things like the all-important digital backdrops. 
HOW TO SET UP DIGITAL BACKDROPS
In reality, if you are like me, with an older laptop, do not be surpised when your backdrop first looks like this, 

(This is happening because the computer is struggling to differentiate the colours. Try, for the first time, with a plain wall, you may be lucky and rectify the problem. If not then, like me, you will need a greenscreen. This is a bright green (a specific shade of green) cloth or background. You can buy them on ebay for around £15, £20, and they are invaluable for modern actors to keep at home anyway!

As long as you do not also wear green, the computer will now be able to run the background clearly.  (this screenshot also shows the selection window for setting up your backdrop). 

But wait! your director or stage manager have just sent you some photos on email or facebook, that they expect you to use for your backdrops. You need to load them into Zoom first. 

Again, look back at that screenshot above. Above the tiles of 8 thumbnails, you will see, at the right hand side, a small + sign in a box
​

First of all, save the pictures to an easy-to-find folder on your computer, then come back to Zoom. Press that little +, and then click "add image". You will need to add the images one at a time, and speaking as someone who several times has nearly wept, as people struggle, having not uploaded their pictures in chronological order for their different scenes beforehand, or kept a note of which backdrop is for which scene, please make sure that you upload your images in a way that you can easily identify them for each scene. In a live performance you will have 20 seconds to swap your backdrops between scenes, and you do not want to get confused. Nobody can do this for you!
When I am acting, I upload one image per scene, in chronological order, so that I know as I finish one scene, I can use the next backdrop for the next scene, and so on.

You then will want to explore other fine tuning such as three point lighting. The last thing you want in a zoom performance is natural light, which cannot be controlled. If your room lights do not work on their own, then you will need to add extra lights, and we have proven that it is viable to use anything from studio lights (if like me you are lucky enough to own your own lighting rigs), though to torches and phone lights. You will, however, need to be conversant with the basics of three point lighting
READ ABOUT THREE POINT LIGHTING HERE.


BANDWIDTH AND THE JOYS OF INTERNET SIGNAL
This can be the bane of any Zoom based performance. Dropped signal, especially for any of us living and working outside a major city, is a fact of life. However, the details below should make life rather a lot easier , if not disaster-proof, for everyone!

- First of all it is crucial to ensure that you are working close to your router, or plugged in via an ethernet cable.

- Next, make sure all other programs, (yes including Facebook!) are turned off on your computer. Let your computer focus fully on Zoom. If you are in rural Devon like me, with ghastlly internet at the best of times, you may also find you have to ask the other people in the house to not be streaming on the TV while you are performing. I found that can be a make-or-break request, especially in the evenings. The other day, I was struggling with the internet signal in a zoom meeting. I popped into the living room and asked Mum to turn off the Netflix. Instantly my internet signal picked up and was fine.

- Remember me talking about Original Sound? Make sure that is enabled, that helps too.

- When you are not in a scene on zoom, mute your microphone and stop your video. Not only does this stop any accidental jumps of the camera to you, in a scene that you dont appear in (to the great confusion of the audience) it also frees up Zoom bandwidth for the actors who are in that scene. As a director I am hugely fussy about this.

Bad signal or low bandwidth may result in all kinds of issues, like sound and video not syncing, stuttering or frozen images, low microphone volume, or even your internet dropping out completely as you give that dramatic speech. While these things can happen anyway at times (roadworks cuttiing a cable? Everyone in your street streaming Netflix at once?) , we can hugely reduce the number of times they happen.

Unfortunately, if we see your internet signal, or computer being unable to keep up with Zoom on a general basis (no penalties for occaisional issues, they get us all from time to time) , or an ongoing lack of ability to work with the techincal instructions, this may preclude involvement in digital shows. (the door will still be open as usual when we can get back to physical live shows though, because dodgy internet dignal does not detract from your skill as a performer!).

THE CREATIVE SIDE
And after all this, you are now in a rehearsal. You will notice how Zoom automatically highlights the camera of the person who is speaking or making sound. (Thats why we need everyone to mute microphone and cameras when they are not in a scene!)

Clicking in and out of a scene has a good convention as well.
Microphone On, Camera On
Camera off, Microphone Off.
This allows for the distracting clicking of a mouse or keyboard, to be covered by the next actions taking place in the scene, and not to break the immersion for the audience.

The chat window may be used by the tech team, to send cues to the actors (on zoom theatre, if actors are provided with a cue script, then that cue script becomes their show Bible! Never ever pre-empt or be late for a cue (so we discourage the use of the chat box for general team chatter, to prevent any cues getting lost) .


BEING NICE
While we all have to be fully conversant with the techincal aspects of zoom based theatre, and these are the main points for the actors, not everyone learns technology at the same speed.
If you are someone who finds it harder to learn, then you will likely find it an anxious time as you learn. We are happy to help where possible (remember that anyone helping you is doing it for free in their spare time so please respect that!) if we can see that you are truly trying your best.
If you are someone like myself who finds technology fairly easy to learn and adapt to, then it can become inwardly quite frustrating to explain something several times that seems so simple, though it is very obvious that they are doing their best .
What has to be remembered on all sides, is how the other side feels. And that we are a team, who all want to achieve the same goal for a paying audience. However scared or frustrated we may feel, the rule of thumb is to think how the other person feels, and be nice! If someone genuinely needs help, then we do our best to help.
Thats mainly why I wrote this article. With this available to our actors, (current and prospective), it provides a central place with links and information to practice. I am happy to add more information to this article on request!

This is an article published on Talent Managers For Actors, by actor Christopher Nicholson, and shared here with his permission, as I feel it is something of great value to all of our members. 

I have found locally that people who come from an amateur or community background often don't understand the intricacies of NDAs in theatre and film productions - and offence can occur because people dont understand why it is important.

At a practical level, we always supply photos and videos marked for sharing and portfolios, to our cast and crew, but other things; scripts, training videos, internal discussions, are not for public sharing. The "done" thing is to always ask if something can be shared before doing so. However, supplying behind the scenes content for use, is a choice of the production company and not an industry standard.


Mr Nicholsons article:
Writer/Director here: There seems to be some confusion regarding NDAs.
An NDA is a Non Disclosure Agreement and binds the person who signs it to a contract that legally prohibits that person from discussing any details at all about the project, or even their involvement in it, with any third party, be they a spouse, an agent or anyone else. That person also cannot list that project on their resume, post about it on social media or mention it anywhere at all in any medium whatsoever UNTIL THAT NDA EXPIRES.
NDAs usually have an expiration date (traditionally, 5 years for projects and 2 years for meetings). The text in the NDA will outline the actual terms of its expiration. Only after this expiration date are you free to discuss the project, (and that includes mentioning it on your resume/CV, social media etc) even if the on-air or release date of said project is before the expiration date of the NDA.
Also, some NDAs do not have expiration dates and therefore can never be broken. A certain well-known and super-powerful Studio is tending not to have expiration dates listed on their NDAs these days.
Any exceptions to these guidelines will be written in the NDA.
The only third person who can authorise you breaking an NDA is a Judge if that NDA is proved in Court to be worthy of breaking for legal reasons...No one else can legally instruct you to break the NDA, not your agent, your manager or even your pet walker.
Break and NDA against legal advice and at best you’ll get sued and at worst you’ll never work again with a fine imposed on you likely to be so high that your grandchildren will still be paying it off long after you’re dead and gone.
Confidentiality is taken very seriously by the industry and there are very good economic reasons for this. Take any and all NDAs you have to sign VERY professionally. Read them carefully and follow them TO THE LETTER. And if you refuse to sign an NDA, then the project is highly unlikely to involve you in it at any level going forward.

We are rather off the beaten track from the main centres of performing arts. Brixham isn't, sadly, the West End or Broadway or Hollywood. We have a massive range of experience in the team, from people who have been in everything from Hollywood films, people who have been actors for decades, gained high-level training qualifications, to absolute beginners who have never performed again.

In that enviroment, and as someone who has been performing for decades, since a youngster, and with a Masters in teaching theatre, it is very easy to forget the basics that sometimes need explaining to those new to the acting world.

Recently, I had to get a bit strict in some of our rehearsals, about time-keeping,  not messing abut loudly and distracting people behind the scenes. Nonbody had done anything malicious but the relaxed atmosphere we like, had got a little *too* relaxed. Unfortunately, I upset some (not all) of our newer performers, and after a conversation where they felt I had been negative towards them, I realised that I had neglected to explain the actual reasons that I have these particular rules.

I am, sadly, very aware that due to a common cultrual devaluing of the arts as something remedial or "just a hobby", many people dont always immediatly see theatre rehearsals  as a workplace (although once you go onto bigger sets elsewhere, you wouldn't be able to function without doing so!) and I do make some allowance for that for those newer to the industry, but it also means that misunderstandings can arise when I enforce the fact that in order to become a professional team and put on professional level shows, we have to treat the production as such. To me, that is enough explanation. I started out in the very old-fashioned types of theatre and film, of directors - some who had been directing since the 1950s-  who had reputations for shouting at you and tearing you down. Actors going home in tears from those companies was not unknown. Explanations never happened. I learned in the school of hard-knocks. 
When I began directing and later started SDP, I swore I wouldn't be like that, but what did work well for me, everyone else, and the final productions, was how strict those sets were. You arrived on time, or early. You didn't play pranks or joke around behind the scenes (usually you had to sit silently waiting for your role), you learned your lines or someone else got handed the role. If you messed around, you were shouted at.

I dont often shout. When I raise my voice as a director, it is rare. It isnt that I dont care about the cast and crew: actually I really do care very deeply about everyone, as well as the company, and I dont want them to inadvertently let themselves, or each other, or the company down. When I see that danger happening, that is when I become annoyed.

What I did neglect, this time, was to remember that what seems obvious to me, the other seasoned performers, and those who are in training, sometimes isnt to others, especially some of the beginners, and I ended up, after a newer cast member raised concerns, explaining to both them in private, and then to the team in general, my reasons for being strict about basic things.
I think, and hope, it has helped.

I am therefore sharing an edited form of the post I made to the rest of the cast here too. Maybe people joining us in the future will see this and find it helpful, or people starting out with other companies will find it helpful. It could be that I will share it to future casts when we take on new people.

The post:

Timekeeping, schedules and communications

I was told that I am too strict, with requiring timely attendance at a minimum of 75% of rehearsals, role learning, and people to let us know if they cant make it or will be late.
I have to do this, because at the end of the day we are a group of people who are primarily professionals and otherwise training-as professionals, putting on work to showcase skills, make work, and build a performance company - with shows of a professional quality, and that people are paying good money to us all, to come and see. We can't skimp on this.
People also need to know if the other person is there, in order to work with them. It creates bad feeling if people travel for ages and the person they were expecting to work with isn't there and hasn't let us know, as not only just lines and blocking, but also character-interactions need practicing intensely.

Backstage
I have also huffed at "backstage" noise and pranking.
The reason for this is that people performing find it hard to concentrate - and on a personal level, I cant either-  if there is a lot of noise going on.
In addition it's practice for show days, like the rest of rehearsals - in the theatres on show days, you need to be able to listen for cues, and if you are making noise side stage, then the audience can also hear you and it detracts from the performance, and you risk distracting your fellow performers.

Getting that quality of show
You want the public to really enjoy the show. They have paid to come , and if they like it, they are more likely to tell their friends and come back in even greater numbers next time....
And remember the more people who come to the shows and enjoy them as being of high-quality, and tell their friends who then also come, the more ticket money comes in to be shared to everyone involved in making the show, and your reputation as a performer grows (and likewise for the others)...  Word spreads, you earn more, and your reputation as a good, reliable actor, grows as well - getting you more work.
To do that, the whole experience for the audience had to be good.
Your characterisation has to be excellent, your lines have to be excellent, your stage discipline has to be strict, your timekeeping excellent, and your teamwork has to be excellent, in order to achieve that experience for the audience.

Sharing Internal Communications and "on set selfies".
We have locked communications for a reason. In the locked cast and crew group, we can discuss things, plan rehearsals, ask questions, and talk about what we need (in a respectful manner), sharing practice videos, training clips, and all sorts of things that are work-in-progress or tested ideas, and not ready for the public yet.  I have also been told that it is unfair not to allow these to be shared without permission on public pages.
This has happened a couple of times, as well as "on-stage" selfies.  Pulling a silly face on stage for a selfie, in rehearsal, when you think nobody is looking, may seem like a laugh to you, but when shared publicly online, makes the you, and by extension the entire company, look extremely unprofessional - such things are not "done". 
Many big film sets, TV shows, and theatre shows, will forbid such things, and fire you on the spot for sharing such images (and there have been many cases of film extras doing this kind of thing, and getting sued for posting "spoilers" from on sets of big films and TV shows).
As an up and coming company, we have to work to those same standards as the companies to which we would like to be comparable, and for our actors to be taken seriously, we all have to adhere to those same standards. So when we say that things from the locked "cast and crew" group cannot be shared publicly, or that you cannot share "on-set-selfies" it is for a good reason.  We do get batches of rehearsal photos that are for sharing online, which are provided to the cast and crew, but which are sorted to show the best work in progress. 

In conclusion, the strictness is not against anyone or intended to make anyone feel bad. I am frankly mortified to hear that I have made people feel bad- because the intention is for rehearsals and shows  to be a hard-working but happy place where great work is created (and awesome work IS happening).

We have to have the basic ground rules that you would find in any other theatre or film team (or any other job, training, volunteering, or things in any ilk in life where people are relying on others,) in order to create a functional production. They are not intended or desired to cause distress, or to indicate disrespect.

I am aware we have everyone from complete beginners to seasoned professionals in the team, and that is why I am taking time to explain (apologies to anyone who knows all this inside out already).

If you have a question, or I have said something that accidentally upsets, please contact us about it. I do not want a theatre company where things cannot be asked. We may agree and we may disagree - no promises there- but I can guarantee that we WILL listen, and that you WILL receive a full explanation/ discussion/ action (as necessary) but what is non-negotiable is that we have a hard-working, positive, team that can go anywhere from the local church fete, to Hollywood, and maintain top levels of professionalism anywhere, while also be a safe, and fun enviroment.