Introduction

In author's thought-provoking, insistently current examination of actor training, Acting as a Feminist: Towards a Critical Acting Pedagogy, Lisa Peck identifies four ‘silences’, absences in the historiographic record, which, she argues, have haunted the discipline for years. Peck’s observation invites readers to consider what are the reasons behind the silencing of actors’ voices and why they are so often overlooked in theatre historiography. These may be summarised concisely as pragmatic, economic, and political. On the pragmatics, it is impossible to ignore the pressures intrinsic to theatre-making – intensive, short periods on projects, often with limited funds and an unmoveable deadline at the end. These circumstances fundamentally constrain time for reflection and can rule out entirely the chance for longer-term contemplation in the form of writing. Two UK-based theatre companies take the opportunity to reflect longitudinally on their relationship to Meyerhold, again as co-authored pieces.