Location: Actio! Actio! Acio! Symposium, Leiden University, Netherlands

For the last year, I have been working with theatre professionals around the UK to develop rehearsal exercises inspired by eighteenth-century acting theory and practice. This paper tells the story of one such exercise, based on an account by John O’Keeffe of one of Charles Macklin’s actor training techniques, and developed in collaboration with the DJW School of Acting in Stockton-upon-Tees. Using this story, I will argue for the use of historically informed rehearsal exercises as a way of doing two things: connecting contemporary actors with the history of their craft; and disturbing current paradigms of theatrical tuition.