What is this?

This is a glossary of my technical terms, professional jargon, aphorisms, anecdotes, influences, sclerotic prejudices, well-worn saws and study materials for my students. It is also a pedagogical experiment in the presentation of material.

But above all my intention is to defend and empower that most abused of artists, the actor: pimped and trafficked by agents and casters, manipulated by directors, sold as a commodity by producers, and idolized (i.e. dehumanized) by a public that has never properly learned to understand and appreciate the invisible craft of acting. And the actor, let us never forget, is the only indispensable creative element in theatre, and the artist who's work is closest to the raw bone of humanity.

Although written in English, there is a bias towards satisfying the needs of my Danish acting students, so there are some entries included that might seem rather basic to an English speaker. I am not an academic, and do not adhere to strict academic standards, but where I quote or borrow I will try to point to sources.

The site will be in a constant state of development and expansion.

I HAVE RECENTLY UPDATED THE CODE, A LABORIOUS PROCESS, PAGE BY PAGE, CHANGING THE DOCTYPE AND THE CHARACTER ENCODING, ETC. IT SHOULD MEAN THAT IT WILL DISPLAY BETTER ON MOBILE PHONES. IF YOU HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE, YOU MAY NEED TO CLEAR YOUR CACHE/HISTORY ON YOUR BROWSER TO SEE THE CHANGES.

There is a lot more material to come, so check in regularly for updates!

Eventually, the experimental goal of this project is to provide several criss-crossing guided voyages through the material, following different themes. A body of knowledge like this is multi-dimensional, and there are so many possible ways of presenting it.

As I am hand-coding the HTML myself, initially the emphasis will be on content rather than design. So think of it more as an ebook, heavy on the text. It is simple code, so should load quickly and easily on all platforms, and have a very small carbon footprint. But if I am to implement my idea about voyages, it looks like I will have to learn some Java Script...!

This project was initially supported by what was then The Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, Southern Denmark, now devolved into DDSKS and SDMK.

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Jonathan Paul Cook © 2010