Morganne Davies
AEA
917.519.2611
morgannedavies@gmail.com
DEGREES
2007-2010 M.F.A , Acting, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
1998-2002 B.A., Theater, Fordham University, New York, NY
SPECIALIZED TRAINING and AFFILIATIONS
Voice and Speech Trainers Association, Member
Educational Theater Association, Member
Linklater Voice Designation Teacher Training Program
American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Evening Division
Shakespeare & Company, Month-Long Intensive, Summer Performance Intern
Williamstown Theater Festival, Acting Apprentice
Viewpoints and Ensemble-created work, Rachel Dickstein (Fordham University)
PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE
New York Theater
Henry V
Beckett’s Play
Stein’s Play I(-III)
A Midsummer Night’s
Dream
Enter
Les Trois Mouquetaires
Katherine
Woman 1
Ensemble
Oberon
Inwood Shakespeare Festival
The Chocolate Factory
The Red Room
Dark Lady Players
Ted Minos
Peter Cambell
Peter Cambell
Mahayana Landowne
2005
2006
2006
2007
M
Queen Anne
HERE
National Theater for the
Performing Arts
Eugenia Tzirtzilaki
Vincent Masterpaul
2004
2002
Alexandria, Petra Milnar & Capital Fringe Festival
Sally
Mrs. Chrisante & Ensemble WSC Avant Bard
Doug Krehbel
2013
Tom Mallan
2013
Elsbeth Van der Kellen
Beltway Drama Series
Stevie Zimmerman
2012
Lenore
Playwright’s Forum
Kathryn Kelley
2011
Kitty Verdun
Mrs. Dilber/Mrs. Fezziwig
Eunice Hubbell
Princess
Lorraine
Lady Britomart (u/s)
Maria
Mariana
Rosalind
Clarence Brown Theater
Clarence Brown Theater
Clarence Brown Theater
Clarence Brown Theater
CBT Lab Production
Clarence Brown Theater
Clarence Brown Theater
Shakespeare & Company
Southwest Shakespeare Festival
Kate Buckley
Edward Morgan
Cal MacLean
John Sipes
Brant Pope
Paul Barnes
Paul Barnes
Tina Packer
Katherine Graybill
2010
2009
2009
2009
2008
2007
2010
2008
2003
Regional Theater
The Politician
The Widow Ranter
Staged Reading
A Patch of Earth
Staged Reading
Crowded Eden
Staged Reading
Charley’s Aunt
A Christmas Carol
A Streetcar Named Desire
Love’s Labour’s Lost
Lie of the Mind
Major Barbara
Man of La Mancha
All’s Well that Ends Well
As You Like It
www.morgannedavies.com/teaching-artist
Morganne Davies
AEA
917.519.2611
morgannedavies@gmail.com
Film & Industrials
Kiss A Frog
Khani
Palo Verde Films
Rick Phillips
2013
Army SHARP (PSA)
Solider
Mind and Media
Evan Marshall
2012
Re-break
Valerie
John Lawrence
2012
House of Cards
David Fincher
2012
Don’t Tell Mom the Baby’s Dead
Politician’s Wife
(Background)
Cooper’s Assistant
Psychiatrist
Christine
Riley Tompkins
Wallingford Films
DC 48 Hour Film
Jack Takes King
15Four Productions
Bright Sun Productions
Joemination Films
Bigger Boat Productions
DC 48 Hour Film – Audience
Choice Award
J. Leland Malinski
Thomas Adjani
Joe Hancuff
Sam Membrino
2012
2011
2011
2011
Waiting on a Train
Emma
American University Student Film
Outstanding Local Short,
DC Shorts Film Festival, 2012
David Joyce
2011
Coffee
Maura
NYU Graduate Student Film
Carol Stanger
2005
Army SHARP (PSA)
Solider
Mind and Media
Evan Marshall
2012
Obalon – Push Back
Principal
Brainchild Creative
Jef Loeb
2012
Wave Logic – 3
Revenge on a Ghost
444
Commercials
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Undergraduate Theater, Public Speaking & Art Appreciation
2011 – 2013, DeVry University, Washington DC Metro Area
Public Speaking (Blended Learning (on-line and on-site) Course)
th
Art in the 20 Century (Blended Learning Lecture Course for non-majors)
2009 – 2010, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
Acting I for Majors and Non-majors
Shakespeare (Teaching Assistant)
Advanced Voice (Teaching Assistant)
Theater for Older Adults
2012, Educational Theatre Company, Arlington, VA
Creative Age , An interactive lecture & storytelling course for adults 55+ and
independent and assisted living seniors. Lecture and autobiographical
storytelling, culminating in devised theatre performance for the community.
Subjects taught include:
Shakespeare, Greek Theater, Restoration Comedy, Chekhov & Development of the Modern Actor
2013, Sunrise Senior Living, Falls Church, VA
Activities & Volunteer Coordinator
Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits
www.morgannedavies.com/teaching-artist
Morganne Davies
AEA
917.519.2611
morgannedavies@gmail.com
Theatre History Lectures
Elementary & High School Theater
2013-2014, JEB Stuart High School, Falls Church, VA
Theater 1
Theater 2-3
Technical Theater 1-2
IB Theater
Serves as Drama Department Head
2011-2013, Educational Theatre Company, Arlington, VA
Exploding the Text (High School Freshman)
Animal Theatre Safari (Ages 5-7)
Creating a Character (Ages 9-12)
Creating a Character: Exploring Archetypes (Ages 9-12)
Shakespeare Camp (Ages 8-16)
Page to Stage Camp (Ages 8-12)
Director, Community Relations & Shakespeare in the Schools
2011, Governor’s School – University of Virginia, Wise, VA
Acting & Voice Instructor (High School)
2011, Imagination Stage, Bethesda, MD
Acting Scene Study (Ages 12-15)
Create a Character (Ages 7-11) & (Ages 7-9 Special Needs)
Acting Technique & Text (Ages 13-17)
Spring Break Camp (Ages 7-9) (Teaching Assistant)
2010-2011, Compass Rose Theater, Annapolis, MD (and surrounding area)
Welcome to Theater (Ages 8-12)
Create a Play (Ages 6-9)
Other Teaching Experience
Davies Coaching & Consulting, LLC
 Coach private students in Dialect Reduction, Audition Preparation, Shakespeare, Voice &
Text, Presentation Skills and Career Development.
VOICE AND TEXT COACHING & DIRECTING EXPERIENCE
Spring, 2010 Lovers and Madmen, Romeo and Juliet, Knoxville, TN (Text Coach, Lamentation consultant)
Summer, 2011 Governor’s School, Love’s Labor’s Lost, Wise, VA (Assistant Director, Text & Voice Coach)
Fall, 2012 Educational Theatre Company, Shakespeare in the Schools, Arlington, VA (Director)
Winter, 2013 HB-Woodlawn Middle School, Henry VI part 1, Arlington, VA (Voice & Text Coach)
Summer, 2013 In Series, Abduction from the Seraglio, Source Theater, Washington, DC (Dialect Coach)
Fall, 2013, JEB Stuart High School, Little Women, Falls Church, VA (Acting Coach)
www.morgannedavies.com/teaching-artist
Morganne Davies
AEA
917.519.2611
morgannedavies@gmail.com
Winter, 2014, JEB Stuart High School, Fuente Ovejuna, Falls Church, VA (Director)
CONFERENCES & PRESENTATIONS
2011, VASTA Conference, Presenter, Chicago, IL
“Looking for my authentic voice: a journey through voice, body and imagination explained”
2011, ATHE Conference, Presenter, VASTA First Time Presenters Debut Panel, Chicago, IL
“Looking for my authentic voice: a journey through voice, body and imagination explained”
2010, VASTA Conference, Participant, Mexico City, Mexico
OTHER RELEVANT WORK EXPERIENCE
2011, Director of Community Relations & Shakespeare in the Schools, Educational Theatre Company, Arlington, VA
2013, Activities & Volunteer Coordinator, Sunrise Senior Living, Falls Church, VA
SPECIAL SKILLS
Strong Dialect Skills (including writing and reading IPA), French Language Speaker, Stage Combat (hand to hand,
quarterstaff, broad sword, rapier), Fencing, Flute.
www.morgannedavies.com/teaching-artist
Morganne Davies
AEA
917.519.2611
morgannedavies@gmail.com
Statement of Philosophy of Teaching
Theater is an art form in which people have the opportunity to come together to share
and find common experience. As an actor, the act of telling a story for an audience is not
merely something that is transmitted from artist to audience, but provides an opportunity for
artist and audience to search for shared experiences. The communal excavation of individual
experience begets a shared experience, which begets questions. The act of examining these
questions leads to excavation, which leads to more experiences and more questions. From this
process fundamental human truth and community begin to emerge, which create the stories we
are driven to tell.
Actors have a creative responsibility to bring their full selves to the story they are telling.
This is a responsibility and a practice that is a life-long endeavor, and one that requires much of
the actor. Therefore the actor must develop and strengthen an awareness of self, voice and
body to the best of his/her ability. This endeavor requires commitment, focus, discipline and an
openness and availability to others and the world around them. It is also necessary for the
artist to find and nurture his/her individual voice. This voice is the fire that fuels the artist’s
inspiration and imagination and drives them to communicate their stories to an audience. The
voice is the vehicle through which the actor finds his personal connection to the story of the
play. It is also the means through which the audience absorbs that story (both directly through
hearing the words, and indirectly through absorption of sound). This sharing and receiving of
voice is the link though which the artists and audience find universality and catharsis in the
experience of performance. For me, the expressive voice forms the foundation from which
springs my passion and desire to connect with an audience and continue the search for shared
experiences and common ground.
As a teaching artist, I aim to develop fellow artists that are disciplined, curious, and
aware of themselves, others and the world around them. Above all else, an actor’s individual,
expressive voice is the most important tool he/she possesses. The pursuit of the craft of acting
is a journey that is specific to the individual artist. My teaching style reflects this belief and
pulls from a variety of techniques and methods to create an environment in which the student
is constantly exploring new ideas and questioning current tenets.
www.morgannedavies.com/teaching-artist
Morganne Davies
AEA
917.519.2611
morgannedavies@gmail.com
I teach primarily beginning actors in Acting, Voice and Shakespearean Text and
Technical Theater. Because I believe in a holistic teaching style, I incorporate principles from all
of these disciplines, in addition to various theories of movement and physical awareness,
filtering them through the lens of the subject of the course as determined by the needs of the
students.
In introductory acting classes, students must begin to learn how to think like an artist.
This means learning to ask questions: questions about the definition and purpose of theater,
what it means to be a theater artist, what the craft of acting is, who I am, and what it means to
communicate. Through class discussion and a variety of exercises which engage, stretch and
build awareness of the voice, body and imagination, students begin to search for their answers
to these questions. I also introduce Stanislavski’s principles of Objective and Action which form
the foundation for acting in the American Theater Tradition. Higher level acting classes
continue this pursuit for personal artistic definition, seeking to answer the question: what is the
theatre I am driven to create; as well as further develop awareness of habits and the ability to
make choices based in textual analysis, and impulse. Students are exposed to and develop an
understanding of various theories of acting techniques which may include: Michael Chekhov,
Jurij Alschitz, Sanford Meisner, Lee Strasberg, Uta Hagen, Declan Donnellan and others.
Through exploring scene work, students learn to analyze text, pursue an objective, take action,
communicate effectively and speak truth from a place of personal responsibility.
A beginning voice class should awaken and cultivate awareness of the voice and body in
order to produce a free and healthy sound that comes from the self. Using the principles of
Kristen Linklater, Catherine Fitzmaurice, Michael Lugering and others, I guide students through
various exercises that stimulate awareness of the mechanics of sound, as well as bring
awareness to habitual patterns of use. Voice and body are the tools an actor uses to tell
his/her story. Speaking truth from the self is a very powerful and moving experience; one for
which the actor is continually striving. A free voice is the vehicle through which that truth is
communicated with others. Therefore, students of voice must begin this practice through
application of vocal technique principles in various performance contexts. Through these
experiences, students discover their artistic voice, and can begin to step outside their familiar
patterns of use.
In an introduction to speaking Shakespearean text, students learn to navigate the
rhetoric of Shakespeare’s verse for practical application for the theater. This includes: a
www.morgannedavies.com/teaching-artist
Morganne Davies
AEA
917.519.2611
morgannedavies@gmail.com
historical introduction to Elizabethan and Jacobean England, Shakespeare’s texts and theatrical practices of
the time; investigation of personal connection to heightened text and imagery; First Folio and other textual
analysis tools; and practical application through exploration of scenes and monologues. Shakespearean text
is often viewed as archaic, scary, incomprehensible and inaccessible. This class gives young actors the tools
to feel confident and inspired in performing this playwright who has been so instrumental in the development
of English-speaking theater.
The practice of theater and the practice of teaching theater sustain my life as an artist. As an actor,
the way in which I relate to plays is through voice and text. As a teacher, I am interested in developing
artists that are in touch with their unique artistic voice and who use it responsibly to become valuable
citizens of society.
www.morgannedavies.com/teaching-artist