The first actor is believed to be Thespis of Icaria, a man of ancient Greece. "Plays" of this time, called choric dithyrambs, involved a chorus of 50 who sang the story to the audience. The possibly apocryphal story says that Thespis stepped out of the chorus and spoke to them as a separate character in the story. Before Thespis, the chorus in all plays would sing in a narrative way, "Dionysus did this, Dionysus said that." When Thespis stepped out from the chorus, he said "I am Dionysus. I did this."
From Thespis' name derives the word thespian, meaning any sort of performer but chiefly an actor. The International Thespian is said to possess a number of skills, including good vocal projection, clarity of speech, physical expressiveness, a good sense of perspective, emotional availability, a well developed imagination, the ability to analyze and understand dramatic text, and the ability to emulate or generate emotional and physical conditions.
WHCC is proud to have the talented and professional actor Michael C Williams as our Acting Director. Michael has been a professional actor for over a decade. He received his Bachelor’s degree in theatre from SUNY New Paltz and has since gone on to work in theatre, film and television. Most notably, Michael has starred in films such as THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, ALTERED, and THE OBJECTIVE. He also recently shot the title role in the indy film TOM AND MARLO. He has had numerous guest starring roles on primetime television.
Michael has been teaching acting for the past five years and is excited to be a part of the WHCC. Michael believes that the study of acting is essentially the study of the self and others and how we, as humans, relate to one another. Through his classes, students will enhance their interpersonal skills as well as develop a sense of community, something that goes hand in hand with the mission of the WHCC.
