1 American Association of Dental Editors & Journalists Thespians as Communicators FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Daniel L. Orr II, DDS, MS, PhD, JD, MD Sixth century Greek, Thespis, is acknowledged as the first actor, someone who portrays another in sharing a story.1 In essence, he created a new form of communication that was immediately appreciated as an effective way to convey information. The written word is singularly effective in the promulgation of ideas, but actors seem to be especially adept at eliciting concomitant emotion. The written word can do the same, but perhaps not as readily. I recently was reminded of the effectiveness of actors portraying ideas when I attended a play, The Addams Family, featuring Alyse Orr (Figure 1), one of my daughters- in-law, at the Bastrop, Texas, Opera House.2 I was surprised about how effectively the production was in moving my crusty old self. My face was tired from smiling so much. I have to admit, until my recently reawakened appreciation for the profession of acting, I generally did not consider the craft particularly valuable. Actors specialize in pretending…of what objective worth is that? Well, the immediate benefit I found was not necessarily in the information conveyed, but in the emotions elicited, mostly joy with regards to The Addams Family. The ability of adept actors to create a structure that allows audience members, volitional co-participants in the work, to predictably feel a wide range of emotions is a powerful and wonderful skill. I really should not have grown so curmudgeonly about acting over the years. The USC School Figure 1. Alice (Alyse Orr) and Fester Addams. Figure 2. Laurence Oliver and Dustin Hoffman at The USC School of Dentistry. On the Cover: Thespians Oompa Loompa (Emma Orr), Willy Wonka (Casey Jones), and Helen Bucket (Alyse Orr).
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