The First Lesson for Any New Actor Isn’t About Acting at All

by Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder

Let’s get this out of the way: learning your lines is not the first lesson. Neither is stage left versus stage right. It’s not breath control, or diction, or even how to cry on cue. Those things matter. But they’re not first.

The very first lesson any new actor should learn — before they ever step into a rehearsal, before they ever break down a script, before they ever even think about auditioning — is how to listen.

That’s it. Listening.

Not the passive kind of listening where you nod politely while waiting for your turn to speak. I mean deep, active listening. The kind that requires ego to take a step back and curiosity to take the lead. The kind where you hear what’s being said, how it’s being said, and — maybe most importantly — what’s not being said. The kind where you actually receive what’s in front of you, not just react to it.

This is the foundation. This is the work.

Because the stage — no matter how elaborate the set or how dramatic the lighting — is nothing without connection. And you cannot connect without listening.

When I was first learning theatre, I thought acting meant performing. And performing meant projecting, emoting, doing. I was always doing. I was doing so much that I missed the moments. Missed the relationships. Missed the truth. I was so focused on my next line, my next move, my next cue, that I completely steamrolled over the present.

It wasn’t until a director stopped me — mid-sentence, mid-scene, mid-everything — and said, “Chris, I don’t need you to do anything right now. I need you to just hear her.”

And I’ll be honest, I didn’t get it at first. I nodded like I understood. But I didn’t. Because listening — truly listening — is vulnerable. It means not controlling the moment. It means giving space for someone else to surprise you. It means you might be changed by what you hear.

And that’s terrifying.

But that’s also theatre.

Because great acting isn’t about showing off. It’s about showing up. It’s about walking onstage with enough awareness and humility to let the scene unfold between you and your scene partner in real time. That takes bravery. That takes presence. That takes listening.

So when a new actor walks into a class or rehearsal or workshop, I don’t care if they’ve never spoken a monologue in their life. I don’t care if they don’t know the difference between Chekhov and Sondheim. What I care about is: can they hear another person? Can they be present, responsive, open?

Because if they can do that, the rest will come. The technique, the text work, the physicality — all of it can be layered in. But none of it matters if they’re not truly listening.

Teach them to listen, and you teach them to act.

Everything else is just rehearsal.

So how do you teach it?

Start with repetition exercises, like Meisner’s classic: “You’re wearing a blue shirt.” “I’m wearing a blue shirt.” Back and forth, again and again, until the words lose meaning and all you’re left with is behavior — tone, inflection, truth. It’s not about the sentence. It’s about noticing.

Or try mirroring: have two actors face each other in silence. One moves. The other follows. Switch. Let them feel what it’s like to tune in with their entire body. Noticing breath. Stillness. Intention.

Even a simple “yes, and…” exercise borrowed from improv can teach responsiveness and presence. It doesn’t matter if they’re funny — it matters that they’re engaged.

You don’t need Shakespeare to teach someone how to act. You just need a partner. And the willingness to really hear them.

Start there. Always there.