Keywords
Young performers, acting theory, acting, theatre for young audiences, youth theatre
Abstract
An actor seeking to improve his craft can find numerous sources containing countless tips and techniques on the art of acting. However, the majority of these books target the adult actor often leaving young performers struggling to understand complex acting theory. With the goals of creating a nurturing learning environment and quality performance work within a compact rehearsal schedule, this thesis project created and evaluated a new synthesis of modern acting theory for directors to use when working with young performers. This technique adapted and coalesced several perspectives on foundational acting theory-specifically looking at the use of a character's wants and actions as described by Bruder et al., Caldarone & Lloyd-Williams, Cohen, Jory, Mamet, and Stanislavski. I tested the developed technique using an independent production of The Cat Who Ran by Naoko Kudo performed by a group of seventh through tenth grade actors. This thesis shares the process of creating this rehearsal tool with its readers. This process included researching and synthesizing the technique, documenting my process as director and acting coach for The Cat Who Ran, testing the technique throughout the production of The Cat Who Ran, evaluating the effectiveness of the technique through qualitative observation from production team and audience members, and theorizing the potential effectiveness for other scripts. The documentation of the project includes surveys, worksheets, text analysis, and production photos.
Notes
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Graduation Date
2014
Semester
Spring
Advisor
Wood, Vandy
Degree
Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)
College
College of Arts and Humanities
Department
Theatre
Degree Program
Theatre; Theatre for Young Audience
Format
application/pdf
Identifier
CFE0005278
URL
http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0005278
Language
English
Release Date
May 2014
Length of Campus-only Access
None
Access Status
Masters Thesis (Open Access)
Subjects
Arts and Humanities -- Dissertations, Academic; Dissertations, Academic -- Arts and Humanities
STARS Citation
Yagel, Brandon, "Digesting Modern Acting Theory for Young Performers" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 4498.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/4498