Students trained to act alone are skilled at filling in the blanks on stage. These students understand character development and are able to apply their concepts to any role including those created in the spur of the moment during an improvised scene. Above all, these are students who own the stage they walk on, exuding confidence to the rafters and beyond. In reading Acting Alone, you—the drama teacher—will acquire a whole new way of looking at monologues and their multiplicity of uses in the classroom. You may choose to create a small unit devoted to monologue work in order to prepare your students for audition situations, or you may choose to use monologues to teach units on character development, movement, voice, acting, writing and directing. You will learn to teach your students how to write their own monologues and how to write monologues for your students. Or, use the author’s—100 are included! At the end of each chapter, a Survival Kit gives a concise summary of the important points covered in that chapter. While lesson planning, refer to the Survival Kit for inspiration or make it your "to do" list for the unit. So why not get started!

Demetra Hajidiacos is a writer, director, actor, and educator. She holds a BEd and a BA (Hons) in Theatre (Directing) from the University of Winnipeg, and is currently pursuing a MEd at the University of Manitoba. She has taught drama, improvisation, musical theatre, theatre arts, and public speaking in the school system. She has taught several courses at Prairie Theatre Exchange in Winnipeg (PTE)—including various acting classes for teens and adults, Young Company, and Drama in Education for teachers—and has written study guides and teacher manuals for PTE’s Mainstage productions.

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