Untethered and terrified

Written to fulfill a partial requirement for a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting, this thesis describes Keri Eastridge’s journey and how her approach to character has changed over the past three years of her graduate studies. It begins with an attempt to define the most important elements of acting. Then she discusses her process before coming to graduate school to establish a baseline for comparison. The elements of an actor’s process are broken down at the university into three foundational classes: acting, movement, and voice. She details her journey in each performance throughout the years in order to examine how the concepts of presence, truth and spontaneity shaped her as a performer. She examines each production and assesses the challenges they presented and the impact of her classwork on performances. In the final section, an assessment is made regarding current successes, struggles, and what the future holds.