Research

Craig Behenna’s work sits at the intersection of performance and screen studies, narrative theory, and contemplative practice. Across actor training, rehearsal processes, and screen performance, he is interested in how attention and narrative shape creative agency, professional identity, and sustainable creative practice.

Craig holds a First Class Master’s degree in Narrative Therapy from the University of Melbourne. His training emphasised narrative methodology, ethics, and post-constructivist approaches to identity and meaning-making, with a focus on qualitative inquiry and practitioner-centred research.

Alongside professional work in film and theatre, Craig teaches film acting at the Elder Conservatorium, University of Adelaide, and has taught screen acting and screenwriting in tertiary and professional contexts. His studio and teaching practice integrates narrative inquiry, embodied attention, and rehearsal-based experimentation with actors.

His research interests include: power and ethics in training cultures and the ways institutional practices shape performers’ identity formation; narrative identity as a context-dependent practice; contemplative attention as a mode of inquiry into embodied performance practice; and practice-based research methods that generate rigorous, publishable work grounded in studio processes.

Craig is developing practice-based projects with performers that bring narrative inquiry and embodied attention into dialogue with contemporary training cultures and professional screen contexts.