Acting Technique

Ensembles! It’s not about creating a divide about the leads and the chorus, it’s about a collection of parts that come together as a whole. Each element works in relation to the other. A production...

Breathing is more than just the inhale and the exhale. This is especially true for actors. As a beginning actor, the relationship between you and your breath might be exactly the same as in...

When young actors look for a monologue, sometimes their first stop is the movies. There are so many monologue moments available on YouTube these days, and certainly, some of those moments are...

Ideally, we want students to study characters and bring them to life through scene work. But what if you have students who have been away during rehearsals and you need a related activity for them...

If you’ve ever had a student ask, “Am I ever going to use this improv stuff in real life?” the answer is yes — we use improvisation skills all the time outside of the drama classroom. Improv isn’t...

Tableau is a fantastic introductory theatre topic for middle schoolers. The word “tableau” comes from the phrase tableau vivant, or “living picture.” In tableau, students use their bodies and...

Many students take drama class not because they want to, but because they have to. They might need an arts credit to graduate, or there aren’t any other options for them to have a full class...

Want to give your students some fantastic acting material that they can really sink their dramatic chops into? Consider doing an issue play for your next production. Issue plays explore problems...

Being aware of your surroundings is a vital part of being an actor. Students must know what’s going on around them at all times. This is important from a theatrical standpoint – unless otherwise...

Students will frequently be cast into roles that are vastly different from their real-life personalities. This is a good thing – it’s a great opportunity for students to grow their skills as...

It’s rare that a student will select the absolute perfect monologue to show exactly everything they’re capable of doing onstage. One monologue can only go so far in showing a student’s acting...

Cold reading (or sight reading) is where actors read aloud from a script, scene, or text with little to no advanced preparation. It’s frequently used in auditions either instead of or in addition...

In our last post, we talked about creating a monologue notebook to help students collect and reflect on various monologues that could be useful for any upcoming auditions. In this post, we’ll be...

This classroom exercise is a mash-up of two of my most favourite theatre games: Scenes from a Bag and Act It Out. This game works as a warm-up activity. It’s great for getting students to explore...

When students are looking to get involved in theatre, do they have the needed skills? We aren’t just talking about “hard skills.” Hard skills are the specific abilities or knowledge needed to do a...

In our recent post 3 Tips for Keeping Your Voice Healthy, we discussed three ways for students to focus on vocal health and vocal hygiene, working from the inside out (focusing on good health and...

Isn’t it funny how some students are loud and enthusiastic during break time, but once they’re onstage, their voices seem to disappear? No, you haven’t lost your hearing – it’s one of the many...

Student actors often find it challenging to create a character with a unique-sounding voice – that is, to make their character not sound just like they do themselves. Whether students are trying to...