Our Stories
Twenty-Nine
I was 17 when I first attended Circle. I had high hopes for the summer program since it had been recommended by a friend. I had two experiences during those seven weeks that will stay with me forever.
Twenty-Six
It costs me to share what happened in my time at Circle in the Square — both in the summer program and then the two-year program. I share it to make sure this side of the systemic power abuse is heard, acknowledged, and addressed and specifically that Ken Schatz is permanently removed from faculty and not allowed to set foot in the school again.
Twenty-Five
During my second year at Circle, I was dealing with considerable mental health issues. There were times I had to leave early because of panic attacks triggered by overstimulation or over-exhaustion. Regardless, I always pushed myself to do more and more work, despite my declining mental and physical health.
Twenty-Four
My move to NYC in August of 2006 had been planned for well over a year when I decided to audition for Circle in the Square. One of my professors in Hartford was a Circle Alum and suggested I look into it. I started to research and the more I learned the more I knew that Circle was for me. It was where several of my favorite actors attended and it was the alma mater of a professor I respected very much.
Twenty-Three
I was physically and sexually assaulted on campus at the end of my first year at Circle in the Square Theatre School. A late night rehearsal on campus was being held for our first year Cabaret. Students were working one on one with Beth Falcone while other students were practicing in other rooms throughout the basement/foyer. It was after dark and the box office entrance was locked up - leaving the elevator as the only exit.
Twenty-One
At every level, Circle is plagued with problems. Instructors endorse physical and mental abuse for the sake of "truth telling." Women especially were repeatedly forced to detail or act out intimate sexual experiences in front of the teachers and entire class and repeatedly coerced into doing so even if she said "no" again and again. Circle lives in the 1950's, idolizing abusive white male actors and encouraging these white males in the institution to abuse others around them because other "great" actors did so.
Twenty
Calling my time at Circle “disappointing” would be an understatement. I thought that training in the basement of a Broadway theater was going to be the time of my life. However, I failed to realize that attending was a mistake for many reasons. Being a person with a learning difference, I found the environment and my interactions with some faculty members to be extremely toxic.
Seventeen
I’m that one person who dropped out two years in a row within the first month. I wish I could put into words the amount of shame and self-loathing that particular narrative brought me until I was able to work it the hell out in therapy. The feeling when you get a second chance and then screw it up for yourself once again. I mean, I made the big move to the big city…
Fourteen
I began my acting training at Circle in the Square Theatre School in the fall of 2015. I auditioned with the character Paul San Marco’s monologue from A Chorus Line. The monologue was about growing up gay and becoming a drag queen in a time when it was considered very taboo. This particular monologue meant a lot to me as it pertained to my own life experiences and I could relate to the character on a personal level. I had auditioned for quite a few acting schools in my original home state of North Carolina and felt as though I couldn’t be my true self in any of the schools I had auditioned for. I had a desire to explore queer and female characters…
Thirteen
Having a somewhat rare physical condition is a challenge in itself but attending Circle with it presented a unique, constantly uphill struggle in itself. I am already used to facing discrimination in certain areas but while at Circle I was never offered any empathy (something that actors’/artists’ hearts should be pumping along with blood). I was not afforded the comfort of knowing I would not be penalized if I physically had to spend a few classes working a lesser capacity…
Five
While my appearance has given way to many identity crises in my life, it has also given me privilege in the ability to be aligned with whiteness both by faculty at the school and the theatre industry in general. Teachers have openly named it an asset to be able to “turn my Latin-ness on and off” and while they meant that in a career context, being a Latina perceived as a White person (initially, at least) afforded me the experience of seeing exactly how I benefited from the system while also being stereotyped by it…
Four
During my time at Circle in the Square Theater School (September 2015-June 2017), I witnessed many instances of misconduct (mental, sexual, and racial) aimed at my classmates, as well as myself. I won’t speak on anyone else’s behalf, but I will speak on my own personal experiences. One incident immediately comes to mind. It happened one afternoon during our First Year Scene Study class. I had brought in a scene from the musical Spring Awakening…
Three
America’s main energy source is racism. The recent murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Dominique Fells and countless others has caused outrage throughout the nation. Circle in the Square Theatre School is an institution that has made it explicitly clear they do not care about Black lives. On June 1, 2020, Circle chose to demonstrate “solidarity” with their students of colour by posting a Black Lives Matter message regarding George Floyd’s murder. The school had willingly remained silent about Floyd’s murder for almost two weeks choosing instead to promote a white student in a modelling competition…
One
A scene from Stephen Adly Guirgis’ “In Arabia, We Would All Be Kings” was chosen for class work twice. It has copious use of the n-word. The first time it was performed in class, was with two White women. The second time by women of color, but neither of them were Black. Alan Langdon allowed both of these scenes to happen. As a teacher who felt a character’s written gender shouldn’t be messed with, I found it hypocritical to let non-Black actors do a scene with decidedly Black language…