Law & Improv: A College Class on Character Development
The Program for Leadership and Character partnered with the Wake Forest Department of Theatre and Dance to develop a course that aims to cultivate acting students’ ability to develop their characters from the standpoint of character virtues.
“Part of what sets actors apart is that they constantly choose empathy,” says first-year acting student Mycah Pitman. “Empathy becomes like a habit to actors, it becomes so natural to actors because we’re constantly choosing it. One day it stops becoming a choice, because we do it everyday.”
This semester, Pitman was one of 8 students who took “Improv and Character Development” (THE 290). The course came from an idea that was originally developed by the Program for Leadership and Character in the Professional Schools and Wake Forest’s Department of Theatre and Dance in May 2025. Each semester, theater students would take part in client simulations with law students who attended character-focused courses. Student actors would play a role—say a high-profile CEO facing a possible lawsuit from an employee—and the law students would engage them as attorneys, balancing empathy and professionalism to successfully engage with them.
“Actors are all about empathy. When we’re particularly effective, we’re not standing outside of a character, we’re diving in.” – Brook Davis, Acting Professor
This semester, Director of Program Operations in the Professional Schools Lauren Iley-Spear partnered with theatre professor Brook Davis to take the simulations a step further and created a course that prepares the acting students for building strong characters. “Improv and Character Development” aims to cultivate acting students’ ability to develop their characters from the standpoint of character virtues. By weaving in the virtue of empathy, the acting students are able to create a fully realized person and engage with the law students with authenticity. “Actors are all about empathy,” said Davis, “When we’re particularly effective, we’re not standing outside of a character, we’re diving in.”
In this mini-documentary, we followed the students in the course for three weeks to see all that went into creating a more robust and engaging simulation. From rehearsal, to execution, to reflection; students were able to see a more meaningful and practical use of their skills, all the while developing their understanding of empathy. Watch the full documentary here.