Payson Burt - Faculty

Payson is an award winning actor and fight director. He is Certified as both a Fight Director and Teacher of stage combat through the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD).

As an artist in such diverse roles as: acting coach, fight director, stunt coordinator and director of physical comedy, Payson has been involved in hundreds of dramatic and comic productions including theatre, ballet, opera, film and television.

Payson has served on the faculty of many prestigious acting programs including: Temple University, where, in 1997, he was honored with the outstanding alumni achievement award. Other teaching credits include: North Carolina School of the Arts, University of Alabama, University of Colorado and others - Click on Curriculum Vitae for a comprehensive list.

Payson teaches internationally at various workshops including; Fight Directors Canada's National Workshop, the Paddy Crean Workshop, the Sword Spectacular Weekend, and the International Stage Combat Workshop.

Payson has had numerous articles about actor training and the art of stage combat published in various journals and is author of Of Paces, a stage combat training manual. Payson is past president and a founding member of the Los Angeles Fight Academy, chairman of various SAFD committees, and an associate editor of the Electronic Journal of stage combat.

Recent highlights include: working with August Wilson in the LA production of King Hedley II at the Mark Taper Forum, Guest starring as Oba Chandler on TLC’s "Scene of the Crime" episode "The Tin Man", and working as one of four sword fighters in the recently released "Second Hand Lions".

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