Acting Articles for Drama Teachers

One approach to character development is to identify the difference between what characters want and what they need. Sometimes students get the two mixed up. Which is more important? Do plays...

Characters come to life in the small details, the little things like personal preference, food, or music choices. These two exercises can help student actors discover those details and really get...

Student actors are frequently cast into a role that is totally outside their comfort zone. They might have to portray someone completely different than themselves, with radically different beliefs...

Monologues. The word can send shivers down the spine of the bravest actor! It’s just you up there on stage with all those words. When faced with a monologue, will you sink like a rock or shine like...

If you want your students to physicalize their characters, get them thinking about status. What is status?Answer this question for yourself. Write down a couple of different answers yourself, then...

Student actors tend to keep their limbs close to the body. When we think about creating physical pictures on stage, one of the easiest ways to present depth is through extension. How can we...

“Body language accounts for 60% of our understanding of emotions, our reception of subliminal messages and our grasp of relationships.” - Ron Cameron-Lewis, Acting Skills for Life Student actors...

How are your students at physicalizing nonhuman characters? Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream? One of the seven deadly sins? A banana in an improv scene? A god in a Greek myth? The Lint Roller in...

What is THE most important part of an actor’s job? To tell a story to an audience! No matter what, the audience needs to be able to experience what’s going on during the performance. Actors must...

A character’s physicality is part of the actor’s toolkit. Physicality, along with voice and imagination, helps to tell a story, no matter if you’re doing a mime, tableau, monologue, or scene. The...

What do Julie Andrews, James Earl Jones, and Jim Parsons have in common? Besides names that start with J, these stars are among the many actors and actresses that enjoy successful careers both on...

Breath control is so important for performers, whether they’re in rehearsal, onstage, or somewhere in between. Breath control affects the range, volume, and speed of both speaking and singing....

Need acting exercises for your drama classroom? Here are 5 of Theatrefolk’s most popular exercises to help inspire student actors, from monologues to ensembles. 1.“Channel That Fear”Fear is such a...

Beginning actors make mistakes. Mostly it’s because, well, they’re beginners! I prefer thinking of them is missteps rather than mistakes – they are things the beginning actor hasn’t considered. And...

The ensemble of your play is more than just set dressing; it populates the world of the play. A strong ensemble is the same as a strong cast: It is made up of actors who play well-defined...

Commedia dell’arte is an improvised comedic theatre form that flourished in Italy in the 1500s. The exact origins of commedia are fuzzy and hard to pin down; there is not much documented previous...

Here’s one of my favourite acting exercises.You start with a list of descriptive characters. Here are some examples: • A firefighter looking for occupants. • A jealous significant other. • A spy on...

It happens all the time in young or beginning actors. You’re sitting in the audience and out of the corner of your eye you catch it – an actor starts to shift back and forth on their feet. Their...