Who is Rebekah Lane?

When I was eleven my mother encouraged me to audition for Oliver!  with the local community theatre.  I was hooked.  Soon afterward I was involved in the creation of a local children’s theatre company, and later I started the Pasco High School thespian troupe #5763.  I watched the impact that exposure to theatre had on the people around me.  Theatre gave them confidence.  It brought them together in spite of their differences.  Theatre affected their lives.  Seeing this moved me.  This is my foundation.

I am a theatre-maker.  I earned my BFA in theatre performance at the University of Central Florida with an Honors certificate and the first Honors in the Major thesis from the UCF theatre department.  I thought I was a traditional actor.  Since then my identity has shifted to include a much broader concept of performance.  I learned how to build and tour theatrical productions while working for MicheLee Puppets.  I learned how to really interact with an audience from Monster Worldwide and Jeff Wirth.  I built on that interest with an MA in Communication, focusing on crafting persuasive, entertaining mesages through research in Entertainment-Education.  I've learned the value of evaluating the impact of your work.  Then I continued my training in devised performance at Towson University, earning an MFA in Contemporary theatre.  I've become a performance artist and storyteller.  I've become an academic.  I've become a teacher.

As you browse this site, you'll see that my work is diverse, but my skill set is specific.  I am a creative.  I believe in developing theatrical works through improvisation, physical movement, and play.  My vehicle is comprised of story, performance, science, and theatre.  I am driven to create positive change in my world.  

I am currently researching training methods for puppeteers utilizing a Laban/Barteineff foundation.  I am also practicing methods for training actors in puppetry, and for integrating puppeteers in traditional theatre.  Finally, I am researching the integration of Viewpoints training and Mindfulness practice.  I am most engaged with attention to kinesthetic response, awareness of audience, and structured improvisation.  I apply these concepts to movement work, devising, public speaking, acting, and directing.