ABSTRACT
Using a materialist feminist approach, this chapter analyses the use of time in actor-training. It utilizes quantitative data, such as gender-related statistics relating to employment and training from Purple Seven and the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. Writing from the perspective of an actor and actor-trainer, the chapter aims to raise awareness about the fact that temporality in actor-training, considered in socio-economic terms, is different for women. It also utilizes qualitative data, such as reports about undergraduate students’ rights under consumer law from the Competition & Markets Authority; key findings about employability from the Higher Education Academy; actor-training practices, such as classical text-based training and cross-casting; and anonymized participants’ testimonies. Frank Camilleri writes that actor training in the contemporary West is a commodity sold by institutions and bought by students, which echoes Brecht’s and Anderson’s description of knowledge as a commodity that is acquired to be resold.
