Abstract Material collected or created through observations, discussions and interviews with a group of students studying theatre in the fist year of upper secondary school formed the base for this paper. The students that took part in the observations showed a variety of motivations for the studies in theatre, but the major aim was to obtain qualifications for further studies at university. Special focus was put on a student with dyslexia attending the course in theatre from the perspective to strengthen general learning abilities. The training and teaching in acting skills as performed in the theatre studio provided the arena for the observations. The aim was to investigate if an interactive process as defined by Lev Vygotskij and the acting method created by Constantin Stanislavski would create social and artistic development among the students in the study. Relational perspective, inclusive activities and interactive processes were key concepts in the study. Through a progression starting with a discussion about how the students had perceived an initial theatre performance in a castle, a drama workshop, exercises in the Stanislavski acting method and proceeding into production work of a classical myth and finally the task of writing of a short reflection about the connection between the concepts of fear and theatre. During the period of observation, a change in attitude could be discerned among the youngsters. From an initial atmosphere of doubt, mutual control and obvious polarizations the different individuals developed a sense of mutual acceptance and communicative relationship towards one another. This became evident in a concrete way when a dilemma about who was to play the leading role in a production was solved without intervention by the teacher. The final written task also showed the interactive process during the theatre work increased the students’ self-confidence. With this paper I wanted to take issue with the traditional hierarchy in professional as well as in school theatre and assert that artistic skill can be achieved with an inclusive and relational working process.