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Electronic Theses and Dissertations
5-2014
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David Elliot Galloway 1987-
University of Louisville
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Galloway, David Elliot 1987-, "Walking to my death : an actor's journey." (2014). Electronic Theses and
Dissertations. Paper 475.
https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/475
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WALKING TO MY DEATH: AN ACTOR’S JOURNEY
By
David Elliot Galloway
B.A., Presbyterian College, 2009
A Thesis
Submitted to the Faculty of the
College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Louisville
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of
Master of Fine Arts
Department of Theatre Arts
University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
May 2014
WALKING TO MY DEATH: AN ACTOR’S JOURNEY
By
David Elliot Galloway
B.A. Presbyterian College, 2009
A Thesis Approved on
April 15, 2014
by the following Thesis Committee:
____________________________
Dr. Rinda L. Frye
____________________________
Daniel R. Hill
____________________________
Dr. Lawrence A. Cooper
ii
DEDICATION
This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my grandmother Johnnie Galloway,
who passed away while I was writing. Grandma, I love you.
I know you are smiling down on us all.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would thank Dr. Rinda Frye for her continued support and guidance during this
process, and for helping me find my voice—on the stage and in these pages. I would also
like to thank Daniel Hill for teaching me to make bold choices and trust in the work.
Also thank you to Dr. Cooper for being my third reader, and for introducing me to
Cuthulu. Dr. Russell Vandenbroucke, thank you for entrusting me with such an
incredible role. Thank you Professor Thompkins for getting me out of my head and into
my whole body. Thank you to Valerie Jones for casting me in my first official play, and
setting me on a lifelong-journey of discovery. Thanks to Miriam Ragland and Lesley
Preston, for encouraging me to continue my training. Of course, I cannot thank my
family enough for their continued support through thick and thin. Mom, Dad, I finished!
iv
ABSTRACT
WALKING TO MY DEATH: AN ACTOR’S JOURNEY
David E. Galloway
April 15, 2014
In the fall of 2011, I began a course of graduate theatrical training at the University of
Louisville. Over my three years of study, I have developed a process for the creation of a
well-rounded and emotionally interesting character. I call my process three-dimensional
acting. This process is composed of: a keen and in-depth study of and adherence to the
text, careful and thorough voice work, and well-rehearsed and executed physicality. This
study shows, through its application to the character of Matthew Poncelet, in Dead Man
Walking, that my process is succeeds in creating a character of emotional complexity that
an audience will empathize with, even if that character is of an unsavory nature.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………………iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………………..iv
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………….v
INTRODUCTION………………………………………...………………………………1
DEFINING THREE DIMENSIONAL ACTING………………………………………..10
What Is Three Dimensional Acting and Why Use It…....................................10
The Text (or the Script)………………………………………………………12
The Voice…………………………………………………………………….17
Physicality (or the Body and Movement)…………………………………….21
TRAINING…….………………………………………………………………………...27
Text…………………………………………………………………………..29
Voice………………………………………………………………………....33
Physicality……………………………………………………………………41
Acting………………………………………………………………………...49
RESEARCHING THE ROLE……….…………………………………………………..51
Source Materials……………………………………………………………...52
Background Story……………………………………………………………54
Why…………………………...……………………………………………...56
Family………………………..……………………………………………....58
vi
Fear of Being Alone….…….………………………………………………..62
Fear of Losing Control………………………………………………………66
Writing and Art from Death Row…………………………………...............68
REHEARSAL AND PERFORMANCE……………..…………………………………..70
Read-Through………………………………………………………………..71
Before the Break…………………………………………………………….73
After the Break………………………………………………………………76
Performance and Audience Response……………………………………….81
REFLECTIONS AND CONCLUSION…………………………………………………85
REFERENCES..…………………………………………………………………………93
APPENDICES……………….…………………………………………………………..96
CURRICULUM VITA……………………………………………………………...….104
vii
INTRODUCTION
Some people go through their lives searching for what they really want to do.
Some find it, and others settle for what is comfortable and safe. There is a third sort of
person however—those who are fortunate enough to find what they love early in life. I
am one such person. I fell in love with the theatre at an early age. I have wanted to be an
actor for as long as I can remember. Someone once told me “if you can see yourself
being happy doing anything else, then you should do that.” I quite simply cannot see
myself doing anything else professionally. I considered (very briefly) going to law
school to become a trial lawyer, and most of my non-theatrical work to date has been in
the culinary industry. Both of these things involve creative expression and performance,
so I have always been a performer, and I have never considered doing anything that did
not have a creative outlet.
My earliest memory of theatre is of playing a role in my church’s Thanksgiving
play. Basically, it was a play about taking time to enjoy and be thankful for life, and not
rushing through it. All of the girls played flowers of one sort or another and the guys
were supposed to be snails. The only problem was there were only two parts for snails,
and we were one girl short for the flowers. So I ended up playing the dandelion. We
made the dandelion “butch” by painting whiskers on my cheeks; turning me into a
“dandy-lion.” This began my journey in theatre, and for much of it, I have played the
roles that others did not want to play, or that audiences found unsavory. The rest—as
1
Description:Galloway, David Elliot 1987-, "Walking to my death : an actor's journey." (2014). An actor's dexterity and coordination in his or her own life is.
