2 min read

Actor Well-being in Life and Work

Hooo boy... Do we have a top-tier mashup for you here 🔥

Head Coach T was recently invited by the Equity Foundation and ASPAH [the Australian Society for Performing Arts Healthcare] to join a panel on actor well-being in work and life. A big thank you to Equity and ASPAH for very kindly letting us share this recording with the Dojo community and, critically, for running this hugely important series of panels.

Expect discussions of:

  • Thriving as an actor regardless of employment status.
  • The difference between creative risk and risk to well-being.
  • Promising emerging research in actor well-being.
  • Warming up and warming down.

Overview

Join ASPAH and Equity for a panel discussion on the statistics, challenges, and potential interventions that are being implemented to support a holistic professional experience for actors, integrating both life and work.

Many consider acting a profession. That is, many actors seek to be paid for what they bring to a creative project and they pride themselves on delivering quality performances. But that's where the comparison to other professions becomes debatable and can adversely affect actor well-being – both in the workplace and as an identity-informed lifestyle.

While drama schools* may prepare actors for the "profession" in terms of skills and aptitudes for creating quality work, schools don't necessarily prepare actors for the necessary "lifestyle" that accompanies this unpredictable profession, nor provide student actors with sufficient mental health support.

*Statistically significant is that many actors who identify as "professional" have entered the profession without a formal degree or similar qualification.

Panellists

Tahlia Norrish
Tahlia Norrish is an Aussie-Brit actor, actor coach, and MPhil Candidate at the University of Queensland's School of Sport Sciences. After graduating from The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (Distinction, Acting & Musical Theatre) and Rose Bruford College (First Class Hons, Acting), Norrish founded The Actor's Dojo – a pioneering coaching program centred on actor peak performance and holistic well-being. This year, Norrish's research focus is the applicability and efficacy of a sport psychology-derived mindfulness modality in actor training, supported by a world-class advisory team in Prof Mallett, A/Prof Rynne, and Dr Richard.

Gabrielle Rogers
Gabrielle Rogers is a film, television and theatre voice expert who works primarily as a dialect coach in the film industry. Gabrielle's artistic intelligence and proven excellence over 20 years of working on voice for actors has made her the busiest voice coach in Australia.

Dr Bernadette Meenach
Dr Bernadette Meenach is a Matilda Award-nominated actor, theatre-maker, singer, and writer. She has been a founding member of a Sydney artist-run initiative, the chair of a regional youth theatre, a director, a voice coach, and a Voice Lecturer within tertiary actor training programs. Bernadette is interested in auto/biography and performance. Her work uses song, dance, and verbatim data to disrupt dominant narratives and re/claim historically significant females. Bernadette is a graduate of NIDA (Voice), QUT (Actor Training) and USQ (Biographical Performance). She is a proud member of MEAA and is represented by BMEG.

Thoughts / feedback / challenges? We'd genuinely love to hear.

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