Acting

Professional Reenacting

Certain parks, museums, or attractions have paid or contracted reenactors. These usually address the recreation of a specific town, village, or activity within a certain time frame. Examples include Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts, Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, and Old Salem in North Carolina.

Are you just getting started in your acting career? Do you know what you need to do first? Have you been consulting with other actors and searching the internet desperately for information, but still not really sure if you’re doing the right things to start?

For some looking to get into the acting field or have dreams and aspirations of being and actor/actress, it has not been uncommon for the starting place to learn at least some basic skills as an actor to be obtained by joining a historical or fantasy reenactment group.

Effects of Acting

Living history is bringing history to life by acting it out as if one was a person from another time rather than simply telling about it.

It requires a great deal of knowledge and ability on the part of the living historian for they must know their character and their character's time period thoroughly and possess the acting talent required to convincingly portray their character and thus be able to transport their audience back in time.

Done well, living history truly makes learning fun as well as giving it more depth and relevance. Audiences learn history effortlessly and can also be taught some of the knowledge and skills of the character portrayed.

Through effective techniques an actor can transport a person back to a particular period in time and can give them pause, even for a moment, and allow them to experience what it was like to glimpse into another time and place.

Improvisational Acting

Improv is one common set of acting skills used in by a reenactor are that of the improvisational actor. Improvisational theatre (also known as improv or impro) is a form of theatre in which the actors use improvisational acting techniques to perform spontaneously with the ability to stay in character and carry over their researched knowledge for interaction with the audience.

Actors typically use audience suggestions to guide the performance as they create dialogue, setting, and plot extemporaneously.

Many improvisational actors also work as scripted actors, and "improv" techniques are often taught in standard acting classes. The basic skills of listening, clarity, confidence, and performing instinctively and spontaneously are considered important skills for actors to develop.

For many Renaissance festival performers, Gary Izzo’s "The Art of Play” is an invaluable handbook for the guidelines to an effective portrayal of a realistic historic character, and how to communicate to your audience the subtleties and differences of the character in comparison to the modern person. More...