Learning the Stage & Other Techniques Pt.2

 The Actor's Position on the Stage

There are five basic body positions that may be assumed in relation to the audience.

1. Full front-The actor is facing the audience with both feet facing downstage and head also facing the audience.  This is the strongest and most “open” of all body positions.
2. Full back- The actor faces the back wall of the stage, both feet facing upstage so that the audience sees only the actor’s back.

A Black History Tribute: Ira Aldridge (First African American Shakespearean Actor)

Ira Aldridge as Othello, 1830 by Henry Perronet Briggs

In honor of Black History Month, I wanted to talk about the life of Ira Aldridge, the first African American Shakespearean actor.  Just this past weekend, Saturday, February, 18th, 2012, I was given the job to video tape a One-Act Play called Ira Aldridge: The African Roscius, written by Jacqueline E. Lawton.  The play was part of The 23rd Annual Savannah Black Heritage Festival and was featuring Avery Brooks (Ira Aldridge) and Jewell Robinson (Amanda Ira Aldridge, his daughter).  

A Brief History of Acting

You know the old cliche, you won't know where you're going until you know where you've been.  Well, it's the same for acting.  Of course, like anything, when you talk about history, it's always a little fuzzy.  It's been passed down through history and in many theater classrooms that the first actor was Thespis of Icaria.  Thespis was a part of a dithyrambic chorus that sang in honor of Dionysus, a Greek god of wine and