A Review of Declan Donnellan's "The Actor and the Space"

THIS IS A SEGMENT FROM AN EXCLUSIVE PATREON EPISODE

In this episode of Creative Risk, Mike and Joshua tackle Declan Donnellan’s latest book, The Actor and the Space, while reflecting on their own artistic journeys. Kicking things off, Mike shares his post-show blues after the closing of Anything Goes, questioning whether musical theater might be his next frontier.

From there, the discussion delves into Donnellan’s revolutionary ideas: rejecting traditional actor training, focusing on what happens outside the scene, and exploring how actors “live in the space” of the characters instead of transforming into them. They debate Donnellan’s rules of space and what it means to take a “horizontal” rather than a godlike perspective as an actor.

Passions run high as the duo argues over the value of “wants” and “objectives” in training, actor responsibility as team players, and the dogmatic nature of modern acting techniques. Joshua accuses Mike of elitism, while Mike defends his approach, leading to fiery yet insightful exchanges about what makes acting resonate.

Finally, the episode lands on personal revelations about their craft and the evolving journey of being an artist in a shifting creative landscape.

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“CREATIVE RISK”, is a new podcast hosted by actors Joshua Morgan and Mike Labbadia of Artist’s Strategy where they explore all things art, entrepreneurialism and everything in between. The acting industry is more volatile and competitive than ever before, therefore the artist must evolve in order to take radical ownership over their creative businesses. Each episode, Mike and Joshua will get raw and unfiltered, giving hot takes and cutting edge strategies on how to build a sustainable career in the arts.