First, acknowledge the talent of so many American actors. Why, then, is their acting so bad? Between talent and its expression on stage stands an Establishment which brutally uses its people, even while improving the theatre. Earlier still, the actor in training is confused and misled, over-worked and under-trained, frustrated and stunted. Training is so isolated, haphazard, and contradictory that it is hard to discuss it, almost impossible to evaluate it with anything but blanket condemnation. In no other profession is there so little agreement about standards and methods, so little active contact among those doing the work.