🏆 Ethnoacting in VR for Resilience in Acting Students
Pilot Study | University of East London | January 2025
💪 Why Resilience?
Acting students often face high levels of stress, anxiety, and self-doubt, which can impact both their mental health and career progression. This project addresses that challenge by offering an innovative intervention grounded in dramatic practice and psychological theory.
🎭 The Approach
Rooted in the Interacting Cognitive Subsystems (ICS) theory from psychology, the intervention combines:
Ethnoacting – performance of lived experiences and real-life testimonies
Virtual Reality – immersive environments that simulate public performance settings
Resilience Modelling – repeated exposure to narratives of perseverance and growth
Through embodied storytelling, students encounter and internalise attitudes of resilience, self-belief, and emotional regulation — key traits for sustaining a creative career.
🧪 The Pilot
The pilot was delivered at the University of East London in January 2025. It involved:
Immersive VR sessions featuring real-world testimonies
Experiential learning grounded in actor training traditions
Survey-based evaluation of wellbeing and skill development
The results underscore the value of soft skill development through experiential learning, particularly for students from underrepresented backgrounds.
📚 Forthcoming Publication
Findings from the study will appear in the following Routledge volume:
Stamatiou, E., Thoma, V., & Sanni, O. (forthcoming 2025).
Ethnoacting in VR for Resilience in Theatre Students: A Vakhtangov-inspired Intervention.
In Stamatiou, E. & Carnicke, S. M. (Eds.), Stanislavsky and Actor Training for the Screen. Routledge.