What is the difference between Amateur and Professional theater? In a simplistic sense, amateur theater has people involved in theatrical shows for the sheer enjoyment, compared with those who are employed to fulfill a particular job as a performer or crew behind the scenes. Professionals have often invested time and money to develop their skills in a particular performance field and work with a mindset where creative outlets are their living as well.
Some professional theater technical staff have trained in the technical aspects of lighting, or sound design and engineering as an example. Professional performers have also spent years at technical, tertiary, and or universities to learn the skills to go into the field for work.
Amateur Actors
However there are many amateur performers and technical staff who do an exemplary job even though they are often doing it voluntarily and all for the love of it. Many of these non-paid performers often gain the experience and expertise which is often on par to those who are considered professional.
Moreover those who are deemed professional may not reach the required benchmarks a professional would usually require. This is sometimes due to lack of skill sets or an over zealous ego. Often even professional actors fall into the trap of thinking they are a lot better than they are.
Professionals
More often than not professionals are seen as those who are in the entertainment business and get paid for their work. And amateurs are obviously volunteers and do not get paid. However being a professional and the theatre world requires more than just getting paid for a job. In fact, it requires a particular mindset and motivation. That of a professional mindset where one is constantly learning, practising, experiencing and wanting to hone the craft to the best of their abilities.
That is not to say an amateur performer cannot do the same thing, in fact they can and often do have this particular mindset. But soon circumstances surrounding them such as the opportunities to be paid for the work done aren’t on offer for a variety of reasons.
In other words the opportunities to get paid for performing isn’t possible due to location, lack of performance venues and the ability to get hired for services.
And of course it is up to the particular performer at hand as to what type of work they prefer to utilise their skills in. For example a person may have an excellent personality and penchant for children’s parties, but they may not want to perform on stage in usual theatrical performances such as plays in musical theater.
An amateur can also get paid for doing, for example, clowning on the weekend and have another job to pay their usual bills during the week. However sometimes there is a fine line between amateur performers and those who aren’t considered professional.
And in the eye of the performer themselves. If you’re interested in becoming a professional actress or actor, one might want to take a look at the international schools that are available, or local schools considering any current outbreaks such as Covid etc. The trick is to hone in on your craft, know what is expected from you as a professional and fulfill these obligations. From these opportunities one job often leads into another and you’ll be considered a professional in no time.
Invest by observing and listening and then doing. Learn from those who are already in the industry, ask questions and observe the skills they utilise and display. Note the way they interact with other cast or performance members as well as crew and of course the directors and producers. Often work and opportunities come to those who know people in the industry. The old adage who you know not what you know does come into play but of course you’re always need that foot in the door.
How To Become A Professional Actor
Unfortunately in the industry such as Hollywood, actors and actresses are often compromised to give up their integrity of time to obtain certain roles and notoriety.
Sometimes it is rumoured in Hollywood circles it takes far more than good luck and good acting skills to get you there. There is such a thing as the casting couch which is probably still an action as this article is written. However most people are in the industry and work as professionals without these awful obstacles in the way. Integrity is key.
Actors and Actresses from Famous Families
Often it is who you are connected with. Some actors in Hollywood are well known. Parents in the business for example Keith Sutherland is the father of actor Kirk Douglas and Angalina Jolie is the daughter of famous actor John Voight.
Often these connections can get your foot in the door and soon bye well renowned producers and directors and movies and for television roles. However, without talent the convener rolls to fulfil and I audience to see actors and roles.
But for the majority you will need to do the hard work and find the opportunities as they arise.
If you are keen on looking at the Preview night and what usually happens, heck out the link.
Performance verses Good Acting
Often it is difficult to know the difference between good and bad acting. Some amateur actors have been in the industry for so long that they have developed bad habits. Their voices afe sometimes articulated in a particular manner in which they feel a certain role should have. However they often miss the genuine authentic qualities that roles require an order for an audience to buy in. However that doesn’t mean professional performers nail a good performance each time because more often they do not.
However due to the inexperience and lack of insight and knowledge of what it takes to do a role justice, amateur actors often fall into the trap of performing a role rather than giving a genuine in the moment performance.
By performing I mean some people may think good acting requires being loud and forceful. This is where a lack of connection arises. Others may think that over emotion and playing feeling sorry for themselves as opposed to working against the painful emotion they are feeling, is good acting. Too Often we see it in a television screens and in a lot of theatre.
When the audience sees this route of acting, they will subconsciously pick up on the false emotion and feel nothing. Humans work on mirror neurons. When someone is genuinely feeling any emotion we humans pick up on them and mirror back these emitting in our brain. This is why we feel flat with amateur and professional performers who are performing rather than being in the moment at hand.
This is also why we feel incredibly moved by excellent performances, for example Anrhony Hopkins in ‘The Father.’ The pure bewilderment and confusion of a lonely elderly man. His performance was Completely believable and genuine. He was phenomenal, hence his Oscar Win for the lead actor.
The main issues with amateur actors is that they don’t have the experience or know how to make a performance genuine and meaningful. And that is often the directors fault as well. The director may not see the larger picture and not even notice what is needed in the detail for authentic and genuine interactions to occur on the stage.
That is why you often see amateur actors and at times professional actors pushing their role, being loud with good diction but nobody’s home. Really it comes with your motivation to be as genuine in the moment as possible. It’s about building those connections with the other characters and other people in the play or musical theatre.
In conclusion
The main differences between professional and amateur actors are in the fact that you do get paid if you’re professional, however being professional means you have a professional mindset and that you pursue and continue to develop your craft whatever performance genre you’ve decided to undertake. On the other hand amateur actors are often very good at what they do but the dedication is more to the day job than it is to the role at hand. However, both amateur and sometimes professional actors need to work on connecting with authenticity. This is something that we all must work against and learn the craft as best we can.