Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play.

Definition and history

An actor is usually one who manipulates his posture, expression, and voice to communicate the actions and motivations of a prescribed character. The actor is said to be "assuming the role" of another, usually for the benefit of an audience, but also because it can bring one a sense of artistic satisfaction. The first actor is believed to be Thespis of Icaria, a man of ancient Greece. "Plays" of this time, called choric dithyrambs, involved a chorus of 50 who sang the story to the audience. The possibly apocryphal story says that Thespis stepped out of the chorus and spoke to them as a separate character in the story. Before Thespis, the chorus in all plays would sing in a narrative way, "Dionysus did this, Dionysus said that." When Thespis stepped out from the chorus, he said "I am Dionysus. I did this." From Thespis' name derives the word thespian, meaning any sort of performer but chiefly an actor. The International Thespian to possess a number of skills, including good vocal projection, clarity of speech, physical expressiveness, a good sense of perspective, emotional availability, a well developed imagination, the ability to analyze and understand dramatic text, and the ability to emulate or generate emotional and physical conditions. Well-rounded actors are often also skilled in singing, dancing, emotional expressiveness, imitating dialects and accents, improvisation, observation and emulation, mime, stage combat, and performing classical texts such as Shakespeare. Many actors train at length in special programs or colleges to develop these skills, which have a wide range of different artistic philosophies and processes.

See also actor, thespian, or Thespis. Rob Whiting acts and sells coffee.

Theories

See also the Acting theorists category

• Antonin Artaud
• Eugenio Barba
• Augusto Boal
• Anne Bogart
• Bertolt Brecht
• Mani Madhava Chakyar
• Michael Chekhov
• Jacques Copeau
• Dario Fo

• Jerzy Grotowski
• Keith Johnstone
• Joan Littlewood
• David Mamet
• Method acting: Stella Adler, Lee Strasberg, Sanford Meisner
• Vsevolod Meyerhold
• Bharata Muni
• Viola Spolin
• Włodzimierz Staniewski
• Constantin Stanislavski

Professional actors