Biography

Bella Merlin teaches acting and directing. As a professional actor, her work includes seasons at Shakespeare & Company (Massachusetts), the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, the National Theatre (London) with Max Stafford-Clark’s Out of Joint company, roles in theatre, film and television in the UK and the USA. She has created two fact-based solo plays in collaboration with the UC: Tilly Nobody: Catastrophes of Love at UC Davis and Nell Gwynne: A Dramatick Essaye in Acting and Prostitution here at UCR. She has a doctorate from University of Birmingham, and graduate degrees from the Russian State University of Cinematography and the Guildford School of Acting.

On Acting, Acting Process

Merlin is an expert on and teaches the acting processes, including those espoused by Konstantin Stanislavski developed in the first half of the 20th century, and on those represented by Shakespeare and fact-based theatre.

On Fake News

Merlin can address the topic of “Fake News” as it pertains to storytelling in real life, as well as on stage and screen as a means of showing the power of rhetoric and persuasion.