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Acting & Performance

This section contains content on the craft of acting, created by performers of all types.

The Latest

On Devising in the Classroom
Podcast
On Devising in the Classroom
by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder, Andy Paris, Emily K. Harrison
16 April 2024
Resisting “Yes, And” Culture and Learning to Say No
Essay
Resisting “Yes, And” Culture and Learning to Say No
by Sara Božin
8 January 2024
Evolving Our World Through the Power of an Actor’s Empathy
Essay
Evolving Our World Through the Power of an Actor’s Empathy
by Yura Sapi
2 November 2023
The Happy Accident
Essay

The Happy Accident

30 August 2015

Actor Jenna Turk describes some less-than-perfect on-stage moments that ended up adding a surprise element to the performances.

From the Village and Back Again
Essay

From the Village and Back Again

27 August 2015

Mncedisi Baldwin Shabangu writes about his career as an acclaimed actor and director in South Africa, and the decisions that led him to currently work exclusively in a rural village.

Blood Wedding
Essay

Blood Wedding

Oklahoma! at Bard SummerScape

27 August 2015

David Bruin on Daniel Fish’s production of Oklahoma! at Bard’s Fisher Center.

How (Not) to Write a Casting Breakdown
Essay

How (Not) to Write a Casting Breakdown

24 August 2015

Actor and Tumblr curator Lynne Marie Rosenberg shares her guide for writing inclusive casting breakdowns.

When She Speaks, I Hear Her Revolution
Essay

When She Speaks, I Hear Her Revolution

Salt Lake’s Feminist Open Mic

10 August 2015

Shauna Brock describes Salt Lake City’s monthly open mic series When She Speaks I Hear the Revolution and its strides for diversity and inclusion.

Bodies On The Line
Essay

Bodies On The Line

Able-Bodied Actors, Disabled Roles, and Praise

27 July 2015

Scholar Eli Van Sickel examines the casting of able-bodied performers to play disabled characters through the performances of Bradley Cooper, Daniel Radcliffe, and Kevin Spacey.

The Actor’s Body
Essay

The Actor’s Body

26 July 2015

Actor Natalie Osborne discusses the misconception that an actor’s body needs to be “perfect” through the teachings of Jerzy Grotowski.

Talk with Actors Keir Dullea and Mia Dillon
Video

Talk with Actors Keir Dullea and Mia Dillon

Wednesday 15 July 2015
New Hope, PA, United States

 

The Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania presented a talk with actors Keir Dullea and Mia Dillon of On Golden Pond with producing director Alexander Fraser livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 15 July at 5:30 p.m. EDT (New York) / 4:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 2:30 p.m. PDT (San Francisco). 

Flipping to Scripts
Essay

Flipping to Scripts

Why and How a Poet Becomes a Playwright

15 July 2015

Poet and playwright Tammy Gomez offers a look at the personal, political, and artistic landscape that poets have navigated to arrive at writing for the stage.

Notes on Impersonation
Essay

Notes on Impersonation

8 July 2015

Patrick Gaughan explores the ideas of fame, talent, and originality in the world of celebrity impersonation.

A Case for Casting Teens
Essay

A Case for Casting Teens

2 July 2015

Addie Gorlin describes the benefits of casting actual teenagers to play the roles of teenagers, despite what common practice is.

Inseparable? Being Funny Isn’t About Liking Each Other
Essay

Inseparable? Being Funny Isn’t About Liking Each Other

30 June 2015

Bob Leonard looks at historic duos who don’t get along, and compares them to his own experience with his long-time radio partner.

Jeff Zinn
Essay

Jeff Zinn

The Existential Actor

20 June 2015

Jayne Benjulian sits down with director and actor, and now, author, Jeff Zinn, to talk about acting and his new book The Existential Actor.

Theatre in a Mobile World
Essay

Theatre in a Mobile World

Critiquing Convention and Calling for Innovation

3 June 2015

Kyle Thomas discusses the benefits of incorporating mobile platforms into theatrical performance.

The Paradox of Repetition
Essay

The Paradox of Repetition

27 May 2015

Paul Zimet, Artistic Director of the Talking Band, speech to the New Center for Advanced Psychotherapy Studies on Repetition.

Mea Culpa
Essay

Mea Culpa

24 May 2015

Matthew Gray offers support from the academic arena for HowlRound contributor Seth Lepore’s charge that university theatre departments are not readying the next generation of theatre artists.

Performance of Helen Benedict's The Lonely Soldier Monologues at Cockpit Theatre
Video

Performance of Helen Benedict's The Lonely Soldier Monologues at Cockpit Theatre

14, 15, 21, 27 May 2015
London, UK

PMJ productions presented the European Premiere of The Lonely Soldier Monologues by Helen Benedict at the Cockpit Theatre, London livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv 14, 15, 21, 27 May at 7:30 p.m. BST (London) / 18:30 GMT / 2:30 p.m. EDT (New York) / 11:30 a.m. PDT (San Francisco).

How To Maybe Be a Generative Artist
Essay

How To Maybe Be a Generative Artist

16 April 2015

Jody Christopherson shares the piece she has been devising about Clove Galilee—what it was like for her to grow up around Mabou Mines, and the legacy of women generating work.

Your Guide to Theatre Education
Essay

Your Guide to Theatre Education

Shakespeare Academy at Stratford

13 April 2015

David Dudley talks to Colleen Sullivan of Shakespeare Academy at Stratford, where they are about to begin a second season of educating theatremakers in ensemble and Shakespeare.

Playwrights in LA and the Whole 99-Seat Thing
Essay

Playwrights in LA and the Whole 99-Seat Thing

12 April 2015

LA playwright Jon Caren discusses the theatrical Renaissance that’s currently happening in LA regardless of the 99-seat theater debate.

Message from the Appalachian Mountains
Essay

Message from the Appalachian Mountains

27 March 2015

Caridad De La Luz talks about her personal journey becoming Betsy, and the inspiration she has encountered in this play and in these mountains.

Embodying the Universal in the Particular
Essay

Embodying the Universal in the Particular

An Actor's Experience

23 March 2015

Elise Santora explores the women of BETSY!, her experience portraying so many of them, and the poetry with which she is now embracing her own story.

The Indian(s) in the Attic—Divining a Message from August: Osage County
Essay

The Indian(s) in the Attic—Divining a Message from August: Osage County

23 February 2015

Native voices week continues! August: Osage County’s Kimberly Guerrero explores her work on the show, and what lesson the American theatre can learn from it.

The Players Library Collections
Essay

The Players Library Collections

Legitimizing the Art of the Actor for 125 Years

15 February 2015

Martha Steketee looks at The Players, an 125-year-old club for actors and those that love them, and spends some time with all its history and archives.

Doing it Alone And In the Dark
Essay

Doing it Alone And In the Dark

14 February 2015

Scottee shares the inner workings of a solo performer’s mind, and offers advice for those who may be venturing into the art form.