‘A date with the script’: exploring the learning strategies of actors who are dyslexic

Abstract

There is a growing interest in the provision of specific learning differences (such as dyslexia) within conservatoire training, due to the Equality Act (2010) and the impact on teaching and practice. It could be argued that effective provision and inclusive practice should be grounded in research into the lived experience of those actors with specific learning differences. This article draws on accounts of the actors who took part in my research, and their experience of dyslexia, focusing on their learning process in the context of reading scripts and line-learning. The paper begins by outlining the link between dyslexia and memory and providing a working definition of dyslexia. The main body provides examples of the actors’ use of visualisation, multi-sensory methods and a holistic approach to meaning-making, in order to improve text comprehension and increase memory retention. The conclusion draws out some of the implications for training and rehearsal contexts and suggests avenues for further research.

Keywords:

• dyslexia
• actor-training
• strategies
• memory
• visual
• multi-sensory

Notes

¹ The methodology consisted of interviews with acting teachers and dyslexia practitioners, along with workshop interviews with actors who were dyslexic. The actor sample was drawn from members of the Actors Centre, an on-going training and professional development centre for actors. On joining, members are required to have Drama UK training/professional experience, Equity and Spotlight membership. The sessions were publicised in the Actors Centre course brochure, and participants were chosen on the basis of providing a diagnostic report. In total, there were 30 participants.

² See Leveroy (2013a) for a definition of these terms and for Grant’s information processing model of dyslexia.

³ The full quotation forms the basis of my own definition of dyslexia as it acknowledges disability theory, cognitive theory and a biological account of dyslexia. Like Uta Frith (1999), it acknowledges that ‘dyslexia’ consists of interacting biological, cognitive, environment and social processes.

⁴ The BDA has since incorporated the Rose Report’s definition ‘Identifying and Teaching Children and Young People with Dyslexia and Literacy Difficulties’ but with a caveat, due to conflation with other SpLD’s and over focus on literacy (see BDA, 2007).

⁵ Ramachandran and Hubbard (2001) argue that synaesthesia is the result of a cross-activation between neurons and areas in the brain, which are normally linked to discrete functions.

⁶ The anecdotal strengths of three-dimensional modelling, creativity and lateral thinking are by-products of holistic information processing.