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

The first actor is believed to be Thespis of Icaria, a man of ancient Greece. "Plays" of this time, called dithrombic chorus 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 is said 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 visual arts, emotional expressiveness, imitating dialects, accents and body language, 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 art.

Bibliography

• Boleslawski, Richard. 2001. acting die ersten sechs Schritte german translation from Uta Pongratz. Verlag (eigene werte) Wanna ISBN 3934080006.
• Brustein, Robert. 2005. Letters to a Young Actor New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0465008062.
• Uta Hagen ISBN 0025473905.
• Hodge, Alison, ed. 2000. Twentieth Century Actor Training. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415194520.
• Marston, Merlin, ed. 1987. 'Sanford Meisner on Acting' New York: Random House. ISBN 0394750594.
• Stanislavski, Constantin. 1936. An Actor Prepares. London: Methuen, 1988. ISBN 0413461904.
• Zarrilli, Phillip B., ed. 2002. Acting (Re)Considered: A Theoretical and Practical Guide. Worlds of Performance Ser. 2nd edition. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 041526300X.