2026 Theses Doctoral

Living the Part: Stanislavski’s Acting Method Bringing Life to Shakespeare’s Plays through the Art of Reading

Abbott, Amanda Evangeline

This teacher research project explored the use of Stanislavski’s Method Acting as an interpretive reading strategy, specifically for reading Shakespeare’s plays. Drawing on both traditional and contemporary teaching artists, the study examined how the Method was applied to reading instruction with preservice educators in The Teaching of Shakespeare 4551 course at Teachers College, Columbia University, in New York City. By considering the perspectives of both the Method actor and the preservice English educator, the research focused on reflections of activities adapted from Drama Education and Method Acting, applying them to the teaching of reading in English Education.

Through dramatically reconstructed retellings of my teaching workshops and an analysis of practice, I sought to answer the following question: What happens when the Method Acting approach is used as a reading strategy for studying dramatic texts? My analysis of the collected data (observations, student writing, and interviews) revealed that through my adaption of the Method as an approach to Shakespearean drama study, my students connected with the text, both intellectually and emotionally, and intended to adopt a similar approach in their own teaching of Shakespeare and perhaps other literary works.