Bella Merlin

Bella Merlin is an actor, writer and professor at the University of California, Riverside. She trained at Moscow's State Institute of Cinematography and Guildford School of Acting. Acting includes seasons at the National Theatre (London); Shakespeare & Company (Massachusetts), Colorado Shakespeare Festival, the award-winning film Mente Revolver, numerous television, radio and theatre pieces, including her one-person play Tilly No-Body based on Frank and Tilly Wedekind's biographies. From Australia to Zimbabwe, as well as online, she leads workshops on Stanislavsky, Active Analysis Shakespeare and fact-based drama. With a PhD from Birmingham University, UK, and an acclaimed practice-as-researcher, publications include Acting The Basics 3rd Edition (2023), Shakespeare & Company: When Action is Eloquence (2020), Facing the Fear: An Actor's Guide to Overcoming Stage Fright (2016), The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit Revised Edition (2014), numerous articles, chapters and online resources.