"Is it nececarilly harder for working class actors to make it into the field of acting than those of a higher class?"

An issue I would like to raise of concern will be that, “Is it necessarily harder for working class citizens to make it in the field of acting than those of a higher class?” The working class have always been downtrodden in society when matched against their middle and higher classed opponents. The dictionary description of working class citizens is that,” [we] are a group of people in a society who do not own much property, have a low social status, and who do jobs that involve physical skills rather than intellectual skills” (Collins, 2007). It is very clear to see that working class people are viewed as nothing but unintelligent and simply just exist to perform manual labour. We shouldn’t be judged based on our income or whereabouts we live, but unfortunately, this happens to be the case. When it comes to the field of arts and theatre, which is already competitive, it adds a new form of competition when you are based solely on your; accent, income, social status. Personally, talent shouldn’t be labelled; regardless if you have wealth or you do not, anybody can perform well if you work hard enough for it. However, there are a few issues I will look into, that prove the hardship working class citizens face with ambitions to be actors.

Being part of the working class community, this topic really hits home because in this day and age that young adolescents live in today there doesn’t seem to be much support for them especially with the lack of community centres in the local areas we live in. My parents have told me of days back in the late 1970s to the early 1980s in which the local youth clubs were the go-to places of the day. In my area, there was the Harrow Club, the Rugby Club, Kensal youth club and the Seven Feathers; in which some my parents had attended, where they met the majority of their friends. Nowadays, there just doesn’t seem to be that sense of community anymore. There is a huge lack of drama clubs in my local area; in Central London, home to most of the middle class population, is where the majority of drama clubs/companies such as the Young Actors’ Theatre Islington are situated. In contrast to my parents’ youth, I can only name one drama/youth club in my area in which I have attended previously, but they tend to aim more at the younger children and teens. I do attend a drama youth club called the Camden Peoples’ Theatre, but I only found out about it through my college. Ironically in the world we live in where technology is vastly improving, there is a lack of advertising in my area; so people in my area, other than me, who are interested in the field of acting have to constantly have an ear and eye out for these opportunities and grab them as quickly as you can. On the subject matter of Drama youth clubs, in 1968 , Islington saw the addition of the Anna Scher in the area. Established as an aim to teach drama classes to working class children as a means of keeping them out of trouble and off the streets because Islington was a renowned rough area in the 60s and 70s (Hatterstone, 2018). Scher’s classes specialized in improvisation, which allowed the children who attended to be anything that they wanted to be and they were always supported no matter what. Improvisation can be tricky for some, because the ideas could naturally flow with people on the spot or it might not come so easy to others; but it’s the freedom of showing off what you can bring to the table in improvisation that is key. Having attended for a short period of time between February and mid-April due to other commitments at the time, it was a real eye opener as her mantra hasn’t changed in the past 50 years, so she has stayed true in what she preaches. “Don’t be late, don’t chew gum, be considerate of others,” These are very vital points, not only for drama but for life skills in general. Scher is obviously very passionate about the working class children, because she wants to teach them well manners within the industry as well as society. Many of the actors have had that mantra drummed into them that they are scared to be late to places, so she did a good job in what she teaches. Not many people would give working class children neither time nor day unlike Anna Scher, contrasting to today’s society, nothing has really changed in the last 50-30 years. Working class people, especially youths are seen as a burden or trouble makers, but nobody, For example; the local council or government don’t want to fund in youth centres anymore because on record 760 youth centres have been closed down (Booth, 2019). But it was somebody like Anna Scher, who would have tried to prevent the violence on the street by generating all that Teen angst and violent anger into performing and using improvisation as a means of expressing themselves.

The Anna Scher theatre is notable for quite a few career starters for some actors who made a name for themselves since attending the club. Susan Tully , born the 20^th October 1967, known for playing rebellious teenager Suzanne Ross in the hit children’s drama series Grange Hill from 1981-1984. It was in 1984 when she was only 16 when she landed the role of Michelle Fowler in EastEnders, and therefore became a household name and involved in the famous controversial storyline where she became pregnant by the Landlord of the Queen Vic and the Fowlers ex-close friend Den Watts. Since the late 1990s she has directed quite a lot of work, such as EastEnders, London’s Burning, The Bill (1999-2004), Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2007), Silent Witness (2010) and Truckers (2013). She grew up on a London council estate, and was educated in Barnsbury, Islington. Her father was a watch-case maker and her mother a housewife, so she has had a working class upbringing and with support of the Anna Scher theatre landing her the role on EastEnders which depicts life of working class people in a more serious way, was awe inspiring since they cast real life working class people in the roles made it even more so real and believable because to an extent the actors can identify with their characters. Kathy Burke was born 13^th June 1964, in Islington, London. She attended Anna Scher during the 1970s when she was 13. Some people didn’t know what to make of her, because of her working class lifestyle; she was an up and coming actress of the time. She didn’t wear make-up, attend red carpets or drink champagne; so she was never about the rich and lavish lifestyle. She describes herself as “a member of the non-pretty working class” (Marsh, 2017) in response to Helena Bonham-Carter’s statement that she’s not taken seriously because she is “middle Class and pretty”. Maxine Peak’s story is a factor supporting my argument entirely. She was questioned upon auditioning for a role, because the character had been to “University”, and Peak’s accent sounded too working class. Peak hit back with a response that she, “attended RADA and trained for three years”. At Rada, they provide elocution lessons to help you lose your accent; Peak also added that, “If [she] attended RADA and never lost her accent, then [she’s] pretty sure people at university will have an accent” (Sherwin, 2016).She also gave an insight that people, who happen to from up north, do receive education, can go to university and have electricity. I think that this is an appalling way to treat people from a different class to someone else, or even if you are educated make you feel uncomfortable from coming from an area where typical of a lower class.

George Wilson is an actor born in Liverpool, Merseyside. He had starred in Liverpool set soap opera Brookside and most famous for his role as “Ziggy” Greaves playing Robbie Wright’s (John Alford) best mate in Grange Hill as well as writing his own play material. I am in contact with him via social media and he kindly accepted to take part in the interview. He believes that working class actors are ”better”, that they have struggled a lot more than middle class actors and “appreciate it” a lot more when they get a break. I certainly agree with George here because a typical actor from a working class background doesn’t get handed roles as often as someone who has studied at drama school or if the casting director knows their social status. George continued to add that working class actors tend to grasp the naturalism to acting a lot easier because they haven’t been taught. For example the show “Grange Hill” was set in a state school, so someone of working class background acting in this school setting would already know what the certain setting feels like because they would have lived through it, just the situation the pupils get into may be different. He also feels that working class actors have an equal chance to anyone of a higher class once they get through the door of an audition; adding to my previous that talent shouldn’t be labelled with social caste. He agrees that the Anna Scher theatre and shows like grange hill encouraged working class actors into acting because they were natural actors from the streets, and many progressed because of Anna Scher. It’s a shame that shows like Grange Hill, which encouraged so many working class actors that they can do it, no matter what social class you belong to, have changed with the times and has faded with time. George says that you should’t “remake the actual show [Grange Hill] itself, but create similar shows set in a kids home or a council estate”, would work just as good. Having heard from a working class actor physically has really opened my eyes that I am not alone in my views. Even though my generation has since surpassed the times when Grange hill was at it’s height, I do personally enjoy watching episodes on YouTube, because that was the only time, other than shows like EastEnders, where the cast was made up entirely of working class actors.

To conclude, I have researched into valid points that back my argument up that is very hard for working class actors to enter the field of acting than those of a higher class. In Maxine Peak’s situation, she was judged by casting panellists before she even began the audition because her accent was very working class, yet it didn’t even cross their minds because they were to ignorant to realise that she may have attended higher education and got a degree. Due to cuts in the number of Youth centres being run, there is little hope for actors who live in an area where there is hardly anything for adolescents anymore, especially for acting. Yet my area is just a shell of what it used to be now, when there was a time when it was teaming with loads of people in common attending clubs. Our social class have even been defined as unintelligent; which I think is insulting when some of us could contribute a lot to society, one being acting, but sadly are hardly given a chance.

Works Cited

Booth, r., 2019. The Guardian. [Online]
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/may/07/youth-club-closures-young-people-risk-violence-mps
[Accessed 25 November 2019].

Collins, W., 2007. www.collinsdictionary.com. [Online]
Available at: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/working-class
[Accessed 25 11 2019].

Hatternstone, S., 2nd of April 2018. The Guardian. [Online]
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/apr/02/how-anna-schers-maverick-acting-school-created-so-many-working-class-stars
[Accessed 25 November 2019].

Hatterstone, S., 2018. The Guardian. [Online]
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/apr/02/how-anna-schers-maverick-acting-school-created-so-many-working-class-stars
[Accessed 25 November 2019].

Marsh, S., 2017. The Guardian. [Online]
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/oct/29/kathy-burke-interview-lifelong-member-of-the-non-pretty-working-classes
[Accessed 25 November 2019].

Sherwin, A., 2016. INews. [Online]
Available at: https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/maxine-peake-told-northern-play-barrister-silk-539505
[Accessed 25 November 2019].