I study the history of actors, emphasizing the historical conditions of their working and creative lives amid the ever shifting cultural and performance conventions guiding which bodies are privileged in the telling of which stories. My research expeditions have routinely prompted me to follow a given actor from the stage, often to screens large and small and, just as frequently, to the ostensibly nontheatrical realms of politics, community organizing, or education. Sometimes these actors return to the theatrical stage, but not always. But I go where actors go, no matter the industry, enterprise, or discipline. If they're an actor, and they're up to something, I'm interested. That's what I call my actor alibi.