Inside A.C.T.

posted by Manoel Felciano, cast member of Round and Round the Garden Associate Artist Manoel Felciano plays Norman in A.C.T.’s production of Round and Round the Garden . He writes about his unique inspiration for Alan Ayckbourn’s endearingly lusty librarian. Character inspiration can come from the unlikeliest of sources. As rehearsals began for Round and Round the Garden , I was struck by how much my character, Norman, is compared to a dog in Ayckbourn’s text. He is lovingly described, with his “aimless sort of beard,” as “an Old English sheepdog . . . all woolly and doubled ended.” Norman’s long-suffering wife, Ruth, who knows him best, describes him as follows: “It’s a bit like owning an oversized unmanageable dog, being married to Norman. He’s not very well house-trained, he needs continual exercising—mental and physical—and it’s sensible to lock him up if you have visitors. Otherwise he mauls them. But I’d hate to be rid of him.” Of his philandering ways, Ruth wryly remar

posted by Courtney Thomas,  A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program class of 2012  The A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program class of 2012 makes its public performance debut in Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind . Courtney Thomas writes about preparing to take on this challenging play with her seven classmates at the end of her first year as an M.F.A. Program student. Funny: I could have sworn I was the bravest and most outspoken fighter. That is, until I was introduced to Beth, the character I play in Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind . That is what this journey has been about for me: finding my voice. Beth is not shy about saying what she wants, when she wants it, and, most importantly, why . So there is no room for me to be shy either, right? But it’s hard. I am rounding out my first year at A.C.T., where I have thrust myself into more uncomfortable situations than one could fathom with seven new people in my life. It was easy to get shy, and that shyness started to bleed into some of m