Paul Moore
Dr Paul Moore
Paul is committed to the idea that academic work and practical involvement inform each other and hence remains engaged as an actor/director and researcher. Paul continues to publish research focusing on 'power' relations within the performing arts.
Research areas
Paul’s research has focused on performers, employment patterns in the arts, arts education, professional practice and artists professional longevity. Paul specializes in applying a sociological approach to performance phenomena and analysis and also in terms of his theatre making.
Professional Affiliations
Paul is currently an Honorary Research Associate of the University of Sydney
Paul is Co-artistic director of AnNua Productions working in Ireland and Australia. See https://annuaproductions.org/
In terms of practical engagement career highlights include co-founding Brink Productions (one of Australia’s prominent independent theatre companies) and involvement as a performer and co-creator on several successful intercultural productions to tour internationally. Paul currently is co-artistic director of
AnNua in Ireland working mainly in Ireland and Australia. https://annuaproductions.org/
Paul is committed to the idea that academic work and practical involvement inform each other and hence remains engaged as an actor/director and researcher. Paul continues to publish research focusing on 'power' relations within the performing arts.
Research areas
Paul’s research has focused on performers, employment patterns in the arts, arts education, professional practice and artists professional longevity. Paul specializes in applying a sociological approach to performance phenomena and analysis and also in terms of his theatre making.
Professional Affiliations
Paul is currently an Honorary Research Associate of the University of Sydney
Paul is Co-artistic director of AnNua Productions working in Ireland and Australia. See https://annuaproductions.org/
In terms of practical engagement career highlights include co-founding Brink Productions (one of Australia’s prominent independent theatre companies) and involvement as a performer and co-creator on several successful intercultural productions to tour internationally. Paul currently is co-artistic director of
AnNua in Ireland working mainly in Ireland and Australia. https://annuaproductions.org/
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of Cultures positive aims and effects and also to examine the power structures and particularities in the fields within which I currently produce—the fields of Irish and Australian theatre and performance and the field of performance studies.
Through training and experience as an actor, when teaching and while researching the lives of others, I have often witnessed the performing arts being celebrated as a site of cooperation – as being of benefit to participants, healthy, as encouraging critical debate and as being capable of commenting on broader society. Most often, and particularly in the minds of those committed to establishing careers, the performing arts are associated with creativity and play and both are viewed as positive and healthy. Yet most who have participated as producers – actors and dancers, writers, critics, producers, technical and administrative staff, agents, and no less academics/teachers – struggle to do so. We work under difficult economic conditions, coping with shortages and even the outright hostility of governments and other powerful institutions. In part due to these difficulties the greatest struggles we face, and often the least discussed, are the battles we wage between ourselves. Contests are fought for scarce resources, exclusive positions and the kudos associated with success. I believe this is the case in the academic world as much as in the world of performance production. In short, we fight each other. And yet often we fail to recognise, or misrecognise our self-interest. We ignore the thrust of our ambition or explain this in terms of the necessity of artistic and moral missions. We may even go as far as to claim disinterest. In this paper I will use the sociological perspective of Pierre Bourdieu to describe aspects of the field of performing arts – its history, structure and socially established logics. I will propose that these characteristics of the field encourage its struggles to be played out in obscurity. Specifically I will focus on the arts theatre for it here I believe that such conflict proceeds without comment, uncritically and unrecognised for what it is.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title : 2009: Longing to Belong: Trained Actors Attempts to Entre The Profession. PhD
Publisher : University of Sydney:
CIty : Sydney, Australia
Status : Available
Type : Book
Genre : Non-Fiction
ISBN# : Full Thesis digitized and publis
Purchase on amazon
Purchase from author
Longing to Belong: Trained actors’ attempts to enter the profession.
Comments on Paul Moore’s PhD thesis by Author and Academic, Associate Professor Ghassan Hage:
“This is an ....excellent thesis. Its combination of experiential analysis with historical investigation, empirical surveying and theoretical reflections makes it a truly superior effort allowing us to discover the world of actors and acting. The thesis wants us to both experience the world of the trained actors attempting to become employed in their area of training and understand the historical and social conditions that structure this experience. It more than succeeds in doing so. A pleasurable text to read.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title : 2008: Longing to Belong: Trained Actors Attempts to Enter the Profession (essay)
Publisher : in Australasian Association for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies’
CIty : Sydney Australia
Status : Available
Type : Essay
Genre : Non-Fiction
ISBN# : ISBN 978-1-74210-012-8
Purchase on amazon
Purchase from author
This essay was originally read as a paper during the 2006 ADSA conference in Australia. It summerises my PhD researc into the training and working lifes of professional actors.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title : 2008: Practicing Faith: Actors in Rehearsal. Co-author Dr. Kate Rossmanith
Publisher : Australasian Association for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies
CIty : Sydney
Status : Available
Type : Essay
Genre : Non-Fiction
ISBN# : ISBN 978-1-74210-012-8
Purchase on amazon
Purchase from author
This essay, co-authhored with Dr Kate Rossmanith, presents the experiences of a created charecter who confronts the daunting world of the trained actor seeking professional recognition.
It was first presented during ‘Being There: After-Proceedings of the 2006 Conference of the Australasian Association for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies’
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title : Rehearsal and the Actor: Practicalities, Ideals and Compromise.
Publisher : About Performance Journal
CIty : Sydney Australia
Status : Available
Type : Essay
Genre : Non-Fiction
ISBN# :
Purchase on amazon
Purchase from author
In training, and ideally, actors aquire and practice specific technniques. Often, however, those who audition actors and indeed directors, may not be familiar with these. Production, casting and commercial imperitives also impede in terms of the actors ability to practice their 'craft' as learned. This can lead to misunderstanding and anxiety for all concerned. In this paper I discuss why this situation has arisen and suggest solutions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 Records Total"
Having worked as an actor in Australia, Asia, in America and across Europe, and now teaching actors in Ireland, I have been struck by the parallels that can be drawn between the actors practice and sociological theory. From Stanislauski onward trained actors have learnt various techniques in order to embody character – asking who, what, where and why actors seek in to find in the past the imperatives that drive a character in the present and so determine his or her objectives throughout a play. The actor seeks to embody the characters history and so to sign this, psychologically and physically, in a manner that is neither conspicuous nor self conscious.
Participants will carry out a simple and non demanding warm up and equally simple exercises in order to gain an experiential understanding of the social actor.
Authors: Moore, Paul
Issue Date: 2005
How do trained actors fare in contemporary Australia as regards employment and in terms of professional belonging? What can the actor expect to encounter, and how are they likely to react moving from the training institution into professional life?
In order to answer these questions I will first recount my own experiences as an actor and the difficulties I faced during the first year following my graduation.
Accepting that my own experience and position as a trained actor had the potential to greatly bias this work, in Chapter Two I introduce a conceptual frame into which my own, and the comparative experiences of other actors, will be placed. Engaging with the work of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu enables this thesis to retain the value of the phenomenological and ethnographic, while combining this with a field analysis of the acting profession. This approach deliberately counters the bias of the charismatic which exerts overwhelming influence in a world in which new stars rise and old stars fade into autobiography. Emphasising Bourdieu’s insistence that it is through competition that we find reasons to continue investing in our passions, I will explain how trained actors are primed to seek inclusion in a struggle which is very likely to deny them recognition as legitimate contestants. As a result many of these actors experience a crisis in terms of belief.
Explanations as to why trained actors in Australia have been placed, and place themselves, in such vulnerable positions require an understanding of the evolution of the Australian field of acting. History, therefore, forms Chapter Three. Localising Bourdieu’s framework I trace actors’ work patterns since Australia’s colonisation. Technological change and commodification are shown to have gradually reduced the actor’s ability to produce commercially on his or her own terms. Attempts to establish alternatives to commercial production have consistently faltered. Eventually, following World War Two, government funding enabled training institutions and publically funded ventures to establish a limited degree of non-commercial production. The focus of actor training has been to work in this area. It is, however, presently in decline.
Within the framework established to this point Chapter Four draws inference from, and problematises, the little empirical research into actors’ employment and attitudes that currently exists. Who defines who is and is not an actor, and from what perspective they do so, is shown to have contributed to the invisibility of large proportions of the acting population. In the case of trained actors, the need for additional research is identified and my attempts to initiate this are introduced.
Chapter Five combines the statistical information I have collected and interview material within an account of what the trained actor is likely to encounter and experience. Actors move from relatively insulated positions within training were ideals of practice can appear realities, into a series of worlds which are often unfamiliar. Generally these actors attempt to negotiate with powerful interests who operate in comparative isolation. The actor moves from one locale to another attempting to belong.
In way of a conclusion I have provided an epilogue which seeks to re-engage with the actor’s ‘joy’, suggesting that despite the obvious hardships trained actors often persist in the knowledge that they do have access to rare experiential phenomena. Being, and remaining an actor, involves a constant struggle to relocate such experience and reinvigorate belief. While this is undoubtedly no easy task for most, the actor is shown to engage with ideas and experiences that may inform philosophy generally. It is our intimate bodily knowledge of such matters that ultimately may persuade us to continue.
Description: Item scanned for the purposes of Document Delivery
This thesis was digitised for the purposes of Document Delivery. It has been made available on open access by Sydney eScholarship and may only be used for the purposes of research and study. Where possible, Sydney eScholarship will try to notify the author of this work. If you have any inquiries or issues regarding this work being made available please contact the Sydney eScholarship Repository Coordinator - [email protected]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2005
Appears in Collections: Theses - Interlibrary Loans and Document Delivery
Talks by Paul Moore
By: Dr. Paul Moore
Linking the actors practice to the philosophies of sociology, particularly those of Pierre Bourdieu, this workshop will practically and theoretically relate ideas of 'conatus' to the actor’s drive, 'illusio' to belief (or lack of belief) in the world and 'habitus' to the imperatives that history instils within a character.
Having worked as an actor in Australia, Asia, in America and across Europe, and now teaching actors in Ireland, I have been struck by the parallels that can be drawn between the actors practice and sociological theory. From Stanislauski onward trained actors have learnt various techniques in order to embody character – asking who, what, where and why actors seek in to find in the past the imperatives that drive a character in the present and so determine his or her objectives throughout a play. The actor seeks to embody the characters history and so to sign this, psychologically and physically, in a manner that is neither conspicuous nor self conscious.
Participants will carry out a simple and non demanding warm up and equally simple exercises in order to gain an experiential understanding of the social actor.
Keywords: Acting, Sociology, Embodiment, Performance, Pierre Bourdieu, Stanislavski, Characterisation, Theatre
Stream: Performing Arts Practices: Theatre, Dance, Music
Presentation Type: 60 minute Workshop Presentation in English
Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.
of Cultures positive aims and effects and also to examine the power structures and particularities in the fields within which I currently produce—the fields of Irish and Australian theatre and performance and the field of performance studies.
Through training and experience as an actor, when teaching and while researching the lives of others, I have often witnessed the performing arts being celebrated as a site of cooperation – as being of benefit to participants, healthy, as encouraging critical debate and as being capable of commenting on broader society. Most often, and particularly in the minds of those committed to establishing careers, the performing arts are associated with creativity and play and both are viewed as positive and healthy. Yet most who have participated as producers – actors and dancers, writers, critics, producers, technical and administrative staff, agents, and no less academics/teachers – struggle to do so. We work under difficult economic conditions, coping with shortages and even the outright hostility of governments and other powerful institutions. In part due to these difficulties the greatest struggles we face, and often the least discussed, are the battles we wage between ourselves. Contests are fought for scarce resources, exclusive positions and the kudos associated with success. I believe this is the case in the academic world as much as in the world of performance production. In short, we fight each other. And yet often we fail to recognise, or misrecognise our self-interest. We ignore the thrust of our ambition or explain this in terms of the necessity of artistic and moral missions. We may even go as far as to claim disinterest. In this paper I will use the sociological perspective of Pierre Bourdieu to describe aspects of the field of performing arts – its history, structure and socially established logics. I will propose that these characteristics of the field encourage its struggles to be played out in obscurity. Specifically I will focus on the arts theatre for it here I believe that such conflict proceeds without comment, uncritically and unrecognised for what it is.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title : 2009: Longing to Belong: Trained Actors Attempts to Entre The Profession. PhD
Publisher : University of Sydney:
CIty : Sydney, Australia
Status : Available
Type : Book
Genre : Non-Fiction
ISBN# : Full Thesis digitized and publis
Purchase on amazon
Purchase from author
Longing to Belong: Trained actors’ attempts to enter the profession.
Comments on Paul Moore’s PhD thesis by Author and Academic, Associate Professor Ghassan Hage:
“This is an ....excellent thesis. Its combination of experiential analysis with historical investigation, empirical surveying and theoretical reflections makes it a truly superior effort allowing us to discover the world of actors and acting. The thesis wants us to both experience the world of the trained actors attempting to become employed in their area of training and understand the historical and social conditions that structure this experience. It more than succeeds in doing so. A pleasurable text to read.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title : 2008: Longing to Belong: Trained Actors Attempts to Enter the Profession (essay)
Publisher : in Australasian Association for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies’
CIty : Sydney Australia
Status : Available
Type : Essay
Genre : Non-Fiction
ISBN# : ISBN 978-1-74210-012-8
Purchase on amazon
Purchase from author
This essay was originally read as a paper during the 2006 ADSA conference in Australia. It summerises my PhD researc into the training and working lifes of professional actors.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title : 2008: Practicing Faith: Actors in Rehearsal. Co-author Dr. Kate Rossmanith
Publisher : Australasian Association for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies
CIty : Sydney
Status : Available
Type : Essay
Genre : Non-Fiction
ISBN# : ISBN 978-1-74210-012-8
Purchase on amazon
Purchase from author
This essay, co-authhored with Dr Kate Rossmanith, presents the experiences of a created charecter who confronts the daunting world of the trained actor seeking professional recognition.
It was first presented during ‘Being There: After-Proceedings of the 2006 Conference of the Australasian Association for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies’
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title : Rehearsal and the Actor: Practicalities, Ideals and Compromise.
Publisher : About Performance Journal
CIty : Sydney Australia
Status : Available
Type : Essay
Genre : Non-Fiction
ISBN# :
Purchase on amazon
Purchase from author
In training, and ideally, actors aquire and practice specific technniques. Often, however, those who audition actors and indeed directors, may not be familiar with these. Production, casting and commercial imperitives also impede in terms of the actors ability to practice their 'craft' as learned. This can lead to misunderstanding and anxiety for all concerned. In this paper I discuss why this situation has arisen and suggest solutions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 Records Total"
Having worked as an actor in Australia, Asia, in America and across Europe, and now teaching actors in Ireland, I have been struck by the parallels that can be drawn between the actors practice and sociological theory. From Stanislauski onward trained actors have learnt various techniques in order to embody character – asking who, what, where and why actors seek in to find in the past the imperatives that drive a character in the present and so determine his or her objectives throughout a play. The actor seeks to embody the characters history and so to sign this, psychologically and physically, in a manner that is neither conspicuous nor self conscious.
Participants will carry out a simple and non demanding warm up and equally simple exercises in order to gain an experiential understanding of the social actor.
Authors: Moore, Paul
Issue Date: 2005
How do trained actors fare in contemporary Australia as regards employment and in terms of professional belonging? What can the actor expect to encounter, and how are they likely to react moving from the training institution into professional life?
In order to answer these questions I will first recount my own experiences as an actor and the difficulties I faced during the first year following my graduation.
Accepting that my own experience and position as a trained actor had the potential to greatly bias this work, in Chapter Two I introduce a conceptual frame into which my own, and the comparative experiences of other actors, will be placed. Engaging with the work of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu enables this thesis to retain the value of the phenomenological and ethnographic, while combining this with a field analysis of the acting profession. This approach deliberately counters the bias of the charismatic which exerts overwhelming influence in a world in which new stars rise and old stars fade into autobiography. Emphasising Bourdieu’s insistence that it is through competition that we find reasons to continue investing in our passions, I will explain how trained actors are primed to seek inclusion in a struggle which is very likely to deny them recognition as legitimate contestants. As a result many of these actors experience a crisis in terms of belief.
Explanations as to why trained actors in Australia have been placed, and place themselves, in such vulnerable positions require an understanding of the evolution of the Australian field of acting. History, therefore, forms Chapter Three. Localising Bourdieu’s framework I trace actors’ work patterns since Australia’s colonisation. Technological change and commodification are shown to have gradually reduced the actor’s ability to produce commercially on his or her own terms. Attempts to establish alternatives to commercial production have consistently faltered. Eventually, following World War Two, government funding enabled training institutions and publically funded ventures to establish a limited degree of non-commercial production. The focus of actor training has been to work in this area. It is, however, presently in decline.
Within the framework established to this point Chapter Four draws inference from, and problematises, the little empirical research into actors’ employment and attitudes that currently exists. Who defines who is and is not an actor, and from what perspective they do so, is shown to have contributed to the invisibility of large proportions of the acting population. In the case of trained actors, the need for additional research is identified and my attempts to initiate this are introduced.
Chapter Five combines the statistical information I have collected and interview material within an account of what the trained actor is likely to encounter and experience. Actors move from relatively insulated positions within training were ideals of practice can appear realities, into a series of worlds which are often unfamiliar. Generally these actors attempt to negotiate with powerful interests who operate in comparative isolation. The actor moves from one locale to another attempting to belong.
In way of a conclusion I have provided an epilogue which seeks to re-engage with the actor’s ‘joy’, suggesting that despite the obvious hardships trained actors often persist in the knowledge that they do have access to rare experiential phenomena. Being, and remaining an actor, involves a constant struggle to relocate such experience and reinvigorate belief. While this is undoubtedly no easy task for most, the actor is shown to engage with ideas and experiences that may inform philosophy generally. It is our intimate bodily knowledge of such matters that ultimately may persuade us to continue.
Description: Item scanned for the purposes of Document Delivery
This thesis was digitised for the purposes of Document Delivery. It has been made available on open access by Sydney eScholarship and may only be used for the purposes of research and study. Where possible, Sydney eScholarship will try to notify the author of this work. If you have any inquiries or issues regarding this work being made available please contact the Sydney eScholarship Repository Coordinator - [email protected]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2005
Appears in Collections: Theses - Interlibrary Loans and Document Delivery
By: Dr. Paul Moore
Linking the actors practice to the philosophies of sociology, particularly those of Pierre Bourdieu, this workshop will practically and theoretically relate ideas of 'conatus' to the actor’s drive, 'illusio' to belief (or lack of belief) in the world and 'habitus' to the imperatives that history instils within a character.
Having worked as an actor in Australia, Asia, in America and across Europe, and now teaching actors in Ireland, I have been struck by the parallels that can be drawn between the actors practice and sociological theory. From Stanislauski onward trained actors have learnt various techniques in order to embody character – asking who, what, where and why actors seek in to find in the past the imperatives that drive a character in the present and so determine his or her objectives throughout a play. The actor seeks to embody the characters history and so to sign this, psychologically and physically, in a manner that is neither conspicuous nor self conscious.
Participants will carry out a simple and non demanding warm up and equally simple exercises in order to gain an experiential understanding of the social actor.
Keywords: Acting, Sociology, Embodiment, Performance, Pierre Bourdieu, Stanislavski, Characterisation, Theatre
Stream: Performing Arts Practices: Theatre, Dance, Music
Presentation Type: 60 minute Workshop Presentation in English
Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.