Paul teaches play analysis, all levels of acting, and directs plays in the Department of Theatre Arts and he is the Associate Dean for the School of Fine and Performing Arts. His book, Acting: An Introduction to the Art and Craft of Playing, was published by Allyn & Bacon in spring of 2006. His new book, The Actor’s Path: An Evolutionary Approach to the Art and Craft of Playing, will be published by Focus Publishing in 2013.
Professionally, Paul most recently directed Good People for Half Moon Theatre Company, God of Carnage for River Valley Rep in July 2012, and directed Mark Twain and David Ives’ Is He Dead for Half Moon Theatre Company in November, 2011. He played several roles in Seven Stories, directed by Roger Hendrick Simon, for the Company in March 2010. This fall he directed Macbeth for the Department of Theatre Arts at SUNY New Paltz. He will be directing David Lindsay Abaire’s Good People for Half Moon Theatre at the Cuneen-Hackett Center in Poughkeepsie in March 2013.
Prior to coming to New Paltz, Paul worked at Stony Brook University, where he taught acting, voice, movement, directing, and directed plays, and was Director of Undergraduate Studies for the department. He was Head of Acting at Bradley University from 1993-1998, directing eight plays and acting in three-both at the school and at professional theaters in the Midwest. In New York City for eleven years as a professional actor, director, and writer, Paul worked off, and off-off Broadway, in regional theaters, and as a guest artist. In addition, he has appeared in a number of films, several television shows, and industrials.
Paul has directed in New York City (most often with emerging playwrights), regionally, and at several Universities. He has written four original plays (including The Velvet Pumpernickel, which was produced at the Sanford Meisner Theatre in New York City). and several adaptations (including an updated, musical version of Lysistrata for which he also wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the music.
In addition to his books, Paul’s scholarly work includes several articles and many conference presentations on acting and performance theory. Publications include “The Four Fundamental Verbs ( Theatre Topics V9. N2) and “Random Acts”–an essay on applying an action-based approach to non-realistic theatre in Method Acting Reconsidered: Theory, Practice, Future (edited by Dr. David Krasner, St. Martin’s Press, 2000). He is the managing editor of The Players’ Journal, an e-journal by and for actors and teachers of acting.
Paul received his M.F.A. in Performance from the Florida State/Asolo Conservatory of Professional Actor Training. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and the Screen Actors’ Guild.