Theater

Apart from an “addiction to acting” and absolute commitment, anyone who wants to become an actor needs, above all, to have talent and to train their artistic abilities.

In Germany, there are two routes open to young people who want to do this: a full-time course in acting, usually lasting four years, at a state or city drama college or university of the arts; and the possibility of attending one of the many private drama schools or having individual private tuition with an acting teacher.

Students must have completed their school education (and gained a school-leaving certificate at 16 or higher education entrance qualification), a precondition that can only be dispensed with for candidates with outstanding artistic gifts. All the colleges and schools set stringent selection criteria and entrance restrictions. The minimum age at the start of the course is 18 (17 at some institutions); while the maximum age is 24 or 25 (28 at Berlin University of the Arts). Apart from this, applicants have to supply a medical certificate proving their health is robust enough to meet the demands of their chosen occupation.

All publicly funded drama colleges and most private drama schools find out about their applicants’ various talents and what motivates them in an entrance examination held over several days. Insights into human nature, a fundamental grasp of psychology, sociology, history and art history, imagination and a high degree of physical resilience are all equally indispensable as prerequisites for the acting profession and its work. But the training provided at the different schools varies just as widely as the cost of taking the courses: while there are no fees for studying at the state and city colleges where students are trained to qualify as graduate actors, the private schools are expensive.

Hurdles to take and ground to cover

Students take part in individual and group sessions that concentrate on four main areas: “breathing – voice – speech”, “body – movement”, “acting – performance” and “theory”. They learn about the fundamentals of their profession during stage one of their studies, which ends with an intermediate examination. Those who pass this successfully go on to stage two, during which they look at the subject matter in greater depth and broaden their approach by taking additional options. Furthermore, many colleges and schools work closely together with a theatre in order to ensure that students can see the practical relevance of their work from the very beginning.

In order to obtain employment as an actor at a theatre, it is necessary to pass the “stage examination”, which is taken in front of a joint panel of representatives from the German Theatre Association and the Union for Stage Artists and Associated Professions. Only once they have passed this exam is an actor added to the files of the state-run Central Stage, Television and Film Agency (ZBF). This is the largest German casting agency for the theatrical professions and, through its agents, provides management services for graduates from drama schools and colleges in all the German-speaking countries.

Future opportunities – future worries

It is not unusual for new graduates to obtain a first engagement with a company, particularly as it is cheap for the theatres to take on young actors. But what follows after the first couple of years? In this field too, as in all artistic careers, there are ever fewer permanent positions and no one can provide any guarantees: it is true that anyone who has not been given their notice by 30 September has their place in the company for the next season – but that only means one more year of work.

Actors therefore have to make a name for themselves. The public has a decisive role in this respect, while theatre critics can also play a part in deciding actors’ fates with the judgements they make, as do colleagues, directors and theatre managers. Many directors like to collaborate with particular actors throughout their careers, which is why the development of an actor is often closely linked to that of a director with whom they have a strong working relationship.

Stage actors may become famous, but not rich. Compared with the earnings of those who appear in films, performers who work in the theatre earn very poorly. This is compounded by the cuts being made to public funding in the arts sector, which are also hitting the theatre hard. The Federal Employment Agency includes more than 3000 unemployed actors in its statistics. The numbers are a great deal higher if unrecorded cases are taken into account, and the unofficial unemployment rate is probably almost 25 percent. It is thought that there are between 10,000 and 15,000 actors in Germany, but no precise figures are available. For the job title “actor” is not legally protected and anyone can claim the right to use it. Or indeed reject it: Klaus Kinski (1926-1991) distanced himself from the word forcefully: “I don’t act the part, I am the part!“