Although staging a play requires extensive preparation, its ultimate success depends upon the energy of the performers and their ability to engage a live audience. This program focuses on what makes that interaction successful, featuring segments on character interpretation, timing, underplaying, movement, positioning, dialects and accents, portraying pain and drunkenness, and other principles and elements of acting. Sections covering mime performance—one of the oldest forms of acting—and stage management are also included. The result is one of the most thorough and user-friendly guides to stage acting and directing now available to students. (1 hour 55 minutes)